Communicating Stewardship to the Unconverted

At most watershed conferences, we hear the complaint: ‘We are preaching to the converted! How do we get beyond talking among ourselves to change attitudes of the public?’The challenge, more specifically, is to create an understanding of stewardship attitudes and techniques in the agents of change – including the politicians, developers, landowners, farmers: and especially, the people who hold the levers of the machinery that changes our landscape.Communicating Stewardship to the Unconverted provides a stimulating oral and multimedia presentation demonstrating use of various forms of print, video, and internet media as well as direct contact to communicate watershed stewardship to politicians and the general public. The presentation draws from many examples of stewardship communication efforts by Lanarc Consultants Ltd. and their client agencies. These efforts have included all media, and have been at many levels: communicating stewardship problems & principles, policy & regulations, community and site planning, construction details and practices. The scope of topics includes leave areas, stormwater management, erosion control and instream works including habitat restoration.A stewardship communication program needs to draw from the experience of educators. It also includes ingredients of marketing. The presentation reviews education and marketing principles, and shows how they have been applied in various stewardship publications and projects.