Coastal Resources Management Project (CRMP)

From 1995-1997, GreenCOM (the environmental education, and communication project of the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID) facilitated strategic communication interventions for the mission's environmental portfolio. Because of the pilot programme's limited geographic focus (municipal rather than regional or national), GreenCOM determined that mass media were not appropriate channels for the pilot sites' communication strategies. Those strategies instead focused on interpersonal communication interventions, capacity building, organisational strengthening, and alternative livelihood promotion and training.

The pilot process began with a gender-segregated research process to assess audience needs, knowledge, attitudes, and practices in the 3 sites; in addition, local universities conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. This research was used as a foundation for informed decision making during a participatory planning process that involved a wide variety of stakeholders. As this process unfolded, participants expressed the need for a communication framework that was more systematic and collective than individualistic and audience-centred. What emerged was a "transformational communication framework" reflecting the following ideas:

1. People must first become aware of the urgency of the country's natural resource situation.
2. People and organisations must become organised for action.
3. People and organisations need to be mobilised through strategies that emphasise advocacy and participation.

This framework was refined through face-to-face participatory approaches. For instance, workshops at the national, regional, municipal, and community levels were held with stakeholders, including governmental officials, businesspeople, community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community leaders, fisherfolk, and residents. Participants reviewed research findings, identified and discussed environmentally sustainable behaviours, and identified specific actions they could take.

Having built this strategy, organisers of the pilot project drew on a variety of communication techniques and tools, such as: audiovisual and interpersonal information traveling caravans, alternative livelihood training courses, synergy group coordination in design and production of audiovisual materials, media advocacy and training, leadership and community organisation training, communication planning training, youth theatre and video production workshops, and public forums to resolve conflicts and disputes and to train local stakeholders in communication processes to reduce conflict and develop consensus.

As part of the building of this strategy, linkages and coalitions were formed among and between municipalities, government agencies, NGOs, and national and provincial media networks and groups. Once the pilot expanded, CRMP picked up this strategy when it implemented the project beyond the pilot - also mobilising the private sector, the church, and schools. For example, a visit to the Olango Island bird sanctuary by what organisers characterise as a prominent Filipino cardinal conferred status on and enhanced the spiritual stature of the sanctuary. The visit reportedly generated considerable mass media coverage and community participation and initiated interest in developing the Olango Island synergy group.

To support the replication and sustainability of the project, activities were designed to enhance the capability of national and local governments and the communities themselves to develop and implement resource management processes and systems. In addition, CRMP conducted public education and social mobilisation activities to ensure that CRM would be prioritised in the national social agenda.

The strategy of engaging local leaders is illustrated by CRMP's Agrisiyete project, which used the medium of television to address agriculture technology transfer. Project staff worked with a commercial TV station to produce 10 episodes on coastal resource management. The objective of the series was to increase the general public's perception of marine and coastal resource issues as a priority that required action by both national and local governments and private citizens. Local leaders participated in the series. According to GreenCOM, "[t]heir participation provided local color in the productions and the actors were celebrated in their respective communities whenever the series was aired on national television or in community 'video houses.' The actors also traveled around the country and continued to be coastal resource management advocates in their respective communities." The series was also used as a training and education tool, and was provided to interested municipalities, NGOs, and governmental institutions.

As part of the Agrisiyete project, GreenCOM also worked closely with the academic sector to develop a culturally appropriate environmental interpretive plan that included architectural design for an expanded biological laboratory and marine interpretive centre to foster access to the productions described above. Also, one of the original university buildings was renovated to incorporate an interpretive and adult education centre with integrated marine, terrestrial, and anthropological themes.

Natural Resources Management, Environment.

The Agrisiyete television series won Best Educational Tool in Video in the 1997 Gawad Florendo Awards issued by the Public Relations Organizations of the Philippines.