Donors: Foundation Bureau de Helling Democracy Development Abroad, Nederland.
Implementation time: 01/2021-12/2021
Budget: 32.000 EUR
Overall objective: More green activists to be elected in the local councils, in order to improve and solve environmental problems in the country.
Specific objective: To strengthen capacities of councilors and candidates for councilors, as well as youths, for upcoming local elections 2021.
Brief description: The project consists of education/trainings for the local green activists in effective use of online tools; their engaging in new advocacy initiatives for solving local environmental problems; defining local election campaigns.
Activities:
1. Training candidates for councilors - Local trainers-mentors, with combined agenda - small regional groups due to COVID 19 and zoom meetings both, 60 participants in total. Detected local problems, created local initiatives and networks for support, finding a way for solving and reporting by video-clips.
2. Training green youths for online campaigning skills/graphic design – The aim is to learn them of using and upgrading techniques for preparing graphic messages and video-clips, practicing online campaigning on the social media.
3. Strengthening online capacities of green activists on national level - Professional PR team will assist in upgrading their knowledgment in effective use of online tools, by creating informative posts and video-clips.
4. Survey on the citizen’s opinion about environmental issues - A professional journalist will make a questionnaire about the priorities/needs, making interviews in different municipalities afterward. The analysis will give an overview to better understand local environmental problems. Up to 60 people in video-interviews.
5. Building local network of environmental watchdogs - Once mapped local problems, supported in advocacy on local level, cooperation with local or national authorities to solve the problems and public reporting by video-clips. Technical assistance from professional PR team, for up to 60 people.
6. Meeting on mobilizing support and developing local election campaigns - Strengthening skills to design local election campaigns and strengthen visibility in a two-day workshop with local green activists and candidates for councilors. Preparation of the Local Election’s campaign plan, up to 60 people present.
Results: Increased online social skills of the green activists; better networking and understanding the citizens’ problems regarding the environment; solving smaller problems by advocacy, networking and cooperation; reporting by video-clips; higher visibility of green activist and environmental problems in general; participation in creating a wide-spread awareness among the citizens that green activists should be elected in the councils, in order to improve and solve environmental problems in the country.
Products:
- Written and video-survey on the citizen’s opinion about environmental issues;
- Campaign #GreenCircle (mapping envir. problems all over the country with green; circles, making 27 videos, posting; 106,5k Post reach, 14,3k Post engag./1month);
- #EcoAction (initiatives for solving the environmental problems);
#Eco-Reaction (reactions/or not by the institutions in solving the problems).