The COM+ Communications Award

In 2007, COM+ issued a new prestigious award to recognize excellence in the field of communications, demonstrated through clear impacts and real changes in support of sustainable development. The Award aims to increase awareness about how effective communications can help meet sustainable development objectives by improving understanding of issues and promoting transparency and dialogue between government and other stakeholders. Two COM+ Communication Awards were offered in 2007, each with a cash value of US$10,000: one for a campaign that communicates science for people and the planet; and another for a climate change campaign.

 

The science award was announced at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) on December 4 in Beijing, and the Climate Change Award was granted on December 12 in Bali.

 

2007 COM+ Communications Award winners

The winner in the category of communicating science for people and the planet is the "Environmental Soap Opera for Rural Vietnam" implemented by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and partners from the Philippines and Vietnam. This campaign used a radio soap opera to reach out to thousands of farmers in Vietnam and provide them with information and motivation to reduce and make more efficient use of fertilizer, pesticides and water to mitigate environmental pollution and degradation. In partnership with Visayas State University of the Philippines, the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Voice of Ho Chi Minh City, IRRI reached approximately 10 million rural households, yielding results such as a 31% decrease in insecticide sprays.

 

In the climate change category, the winner is an innovative initiative of the Beijing-based Shanshui Center for Nature and Society in partnership with Conservation International (CI-Shanshui) entitled “For Our Natural Splendor, Gateway to Music”.  The campaign turned a popular summer music series at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing into a public awareness raising opportunity and the first “carbon neutral” event in China. The 126 tons of CO2 emitted from electricity and local and international travel to the 60 concerts was offset by planting 1,132 camphor trees in southwest China. This campaign is also part of CI-Shanshui’s comprehensive Green Olympics Campaign, For Our Natural Splendor, which aims to spread the spirit of a green Olympics to the general public.

 

Noteworthy runners-up

There were many excellent submissions under both categories. The four “runners-up” in each category are described briefly below:

 

Communicating science for people and the planet:

 

• In an inventive partnership, UNEP teamed up with Google Earth – Google’s 3D virtual world browser to feature data from UNEP: Atlas of Our Changing Environment in the Google Earth interface. Through the partnership, satellite images of 100 environmental hotspots from around the world can be visited, offering users an interactive medium to see how our world is changing.

• To improve communication of agricultural technologies to the poor, Africa Rice Center (WARDA) developed a new approach, called “Zooming-in, Zooming-out”, which creates educational videos made with farmers. For example, in Bangladesh and Benin, local farmers made videos about rice seed health and post-harvest technologies. More than 70% of the women in Bangladesh who saw the videos improved seed drying. The use of botanicals such as neem, to deter problems with insects during storage, increased from 9% to 67%. As a result, seed quality and crop yields improved.

• The Great Turtle Race campaign by Conservation International used satellite tracking devices to follow the migration of 11 female leatherbacks turtles from a “starting line” at Playa Grande, Costa Rica, to a “finish zone” near Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands. The 14-day event reached 28 million individuals in North America and more than 100 million internationally, educating them about the migration of this endangered species.

• Through their campaign Communicating for Popular Conservation and Science Led Tropical Forest Landscape Management, CIFOR has improved understanding of local people’s priorities in relation to biodiversity conservation. One tool used by the campaign was a ‘score card’ with symbols for forest fruit, clean water, hidden graveyards, and other locally important areas. Local people were asked to indicate priority areas by placing more or less chips on the images. The results were then communicated to government, NGOs, development organizations and other stakeholders to improve their understanding of local priorities.

 

Climate change:

·         Implemented by the Center for Social Markets, Climate Challenge India seeks to reframe the climate debate in India and create a pro-active, opportunity-led approach to addressing it. A broadcast series entitled “Climate Conversations with CEOs” and city dialogues held in 12 cities across India are examples of Climate Challenge India’s innovative approach.

·         Zoom-Kids on the Move carried out by the Climate Alliance is reaching out to children around the world to educate them about environmentally friendly forms of transportation by inviting primary schools and kindergartens to join in activities dedicated to sustainable transport and climate change. Children are encouraged to make their daily commutes on foot, bikes or scooters.

·         The Combat Climate Change campaign engaged European students 14-19 years old through a competition to come up with an idea for a sustainable energy project. Implemented by Vattenfall in partnership with National Geographic Society, the campaign reached 30,500 schools across Europe an estimated 89 million contacts saw promotional materials through print, broadcast or internet

• The Philippine Efficient Lighting Market Transformation Project implemented by the Department of Energy (DOE) of the Philippines is promoting widespread use of energy efficient lighting systems (EELs) in the Philippines. The increase in sales of energy efficient lighting systems by as much as 59% in the Philippines is strong proof that the campaign is working.

 

About the Award nomination and selection process

Over the summer of 2007, a call for nominations was announced via the networks of the COM+ members, which have a significant reach throughout the world. Nominations were open to any communications campaign related to sustainable development within the two award categories. Entries received were reviewed by panels of communications experts against the following criteria:

 

-          Campaign design in terms of promoting sustainable development objective(s);

-          Campaign outcomes and impact such as audience reached, shift in behavior or change in policy or practice, achieved within less than one year of nomination; and

-          Creativity and innovation in communications.

 

Contact: Laura A. Ivers, CGIAR Secretariat, Washington, DC.  tel: 1-202-473-2396