Engagement Autumn 2006

Lisa Browning from the Wildlife Trusts takes a look at public education and engagement in the marine and coastal environment

“Engagement, engagement, engagement”, as Tony Blair might have said. ‘Education’ seems to be a dirty word in the environmental sector these days. It reeks of the one-way, didactic and teacher-centred indoctrination of yore. In its place we have ‘engagement’, suggestive of a participantcentred, experiential and thoroughly modern approach. And yet engagement has its own baggage, not least the military connotations. But on closer inspection, it’s clear that educators and other practitioners have been facilitating ‘engagement’ for many years. Nearly 30 years ago, the objectives of environmental education were outlined by the Tbilisi Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education: 1 Awareness – to help social groups and individuals acquire an awareness and sensitivity to the total environment and its allied problems (and/or issues) 2 Sensitivity – to help social groups and

Coastal survey and species recording projects Among the first projects to appear were those that sought to engage the public in marine and coastal survey work and species recording. Good examples of current initiatives include: v Seasearch A habitat survey programme for divers, coordinated centrally by the Marine Conservation Society and delivered locally by Wildlife Trusts, partnership projects and/or individual volunteers.

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The edge Autumn 2006

individuals gain a variety of experiences in, and acquire a basic understanding of, the environment and its associated problems (and/or issues) 3 Attitudes – to help social groups and individuals acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and motivation for actively participating in environmental improvement and protection Skills – to help social groups and individuals acquire skills for identifying and solving environmental problems (and/or issues) 4

5 Participation – to provide social groups and individuals with an opportunity to be actively involved at all levels in working toward resolution of environmental problems (and/or issues). Just as education can be seen as a tool for promoting engagement, so engagement can be seen as a tool for achieving education. Raising awareness, eg through

v Shoresearch Seasearch’s intertidal sister project, delivered locally by Wildlife Trusts. v Adopt-a-Beach and Beachwatch. Beach litter survey programmes run by the Marine Conservation Society. v The Great Eggcase Hunt A mermaid’s purse survey run by the Shark Trust. v Seaquest South West A reporting scheme for large marine fauna, coordinated by the Cornwall and Devon Wildlife Trusts. v Basking Shark Survey Holidays Delivered by The Wildlife Trusts’ Basking Shark Project.

events such as The Wildlife Trusts’ Marine Week, is clearly part of the process, but how do you take people beyond mere knowledge, increasing their sensitivity, changing attitudes, sharing skills and activating participation? In the marine environment, this question is even more challenging than on dry land due to a lack of access and familiarity. But things are slowly changing, and there are now more opportunities for people to engage fully in marine and coastal conservation and management. Clearly, all of this activity demands an enormous amount of time, money and creativity, but is it actually working? Those working face to face in the field would surely give a resounding “yes”: you just know when you’re getting through. But does the effect last? Are we really winning hearts and minds? Does public engagement represent good value for money when compared with other approaches to managing environmental problems? Unfortunately, due to practical difficulties and cost, most

Projects promoting stewardship Other initiatives promote a wider stewardship role, with participants acting as the ‘eyes and ears’ of their local patch of coast, as well as undertaking specific survey tasks. Examples include: v West Sussex Beach Wardens A scheme developed by the Nature Coast Project in partnership with BTCV. v Thanet Coast Wardens Led by the Thanet Coast Project.

Projects influencing behaviour Some projects seek to influence consumer behaviour by offering sustainable lifestyle choices:

Gillie Hayball, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Terms of Engagement

Jolyon Chesworth, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

Nature Coast Project

Different ways to engage. Left to right: Seaside fun at a land-locked site during Marine Week; West Sussex Beach Wardens; Wildlife Trust volunteers at Westminster. engagement projects assess only the immediate reactions of their participants or at best the short-term changes in attitudes and behaviour (measured in months, rather than years). Even fewer projects have attempted cost-benefit analysis. I’m not suggesting for one moment that these techniques are not effective, but wouldn’t it be great to be able to demonstrate it beyond all doubt, especially given the perpetual struggle for funding that many projects experience? There is also a need for higher level assessment and monitoring of public attitudes to the marine and coastal environment. As a contribution to this goal, next year The Wildlife Trusts will undertake a UK-wide public poll on attitudes to marine protected areas, and we intend to repeat the exercise periodically.

Environment, where practitioners identified actions to make their work more effective. Following the conference, a working group was set up to take forward key actions, including further conferences and

v Wise Scheme A training and accreditation scheme for marine wildlife tourism boat operators.

Adoptabeach: www.adoptabeach.org.uk Basking Shark Survey Holidays:

marine education providers.

http://baskingsharks.wildlifetrusts.org/holidays.php Coast: www.arrancoast.co.uk/form.htm Fishonline: www.fishonline.org

The range of opportunities and choices for

The Great Egg Case Hunt – Shark trust:

engaging people in the marine and coastal

www.sharktrust.org/eggcase/index.html

environment has expanded greatly with a community of practitioners sharing ideas and experiences. What unites these diverse initiatives is something that is critical to public engagement: passion. As Antoine de Saint-Exupery put it:

Making the most of the islands:

workshops and a dedicated website for

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up

people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach Another area that merits greater attention is them to long for the endless immensity the sharing of good practice among public of the sea”. engagement practitioners. In January 2005, Lisa Browning is Marine Development Manager at The Wildlife Trusts held a UK conference on the Wildlife Trusts. Contact her on: Public Understanding of the Marine [email protected]

v The Good Fish Guide and FISHONLINE Two seafood-related projects run by the Marine Conservation Society.

Projects and organisations featured

v Ocean Defenders. Greenpeace is building a team of activists pushing for protection of the world’s oceans. v COAST The Community of Arran Seabed Trust’s campaign to protect Lamlash Bay.

Advocacy and activism projects

Projects engaging in decision-making

Meanwhile, some organisations are attempting to engage the public in advocacy and activism in the marine and coastal environment: v The Wildlife Trusts’ Marine Bill Campaign. A campaign for Highly Protected Marine Reserves, including petitions, polls and letter-writing activities.

Finally, there are initiatives designed to engage the public in decision-making on the coast. Examples include: v North East Kent European Marine Sites Management Scheme English Nature’s management scheme for this protected area was developed using innovative engagement techniques.

www.dialoguematters.co.uk/docs/goodpracticeguide.pdf North East Kent European Marine Sites management scheme:

www.thanetcoast.org.uk/cgi-bin/buildpage.pl?mysql=15 Ocean defender:

http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/ocean-defenders Seaquest South West:

www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature/marine/ seaquest.htm Seasearch: www.searsearch.org.uk Thanet coast wardens:

www.thanetcoast.org.uk/assets/Wardenleaflet.pdf West sussex beach wardens:

www.naturecoast.org.uk/beachwardens Wise scheme: www.wisescheme.org

v Making the Most of the Islands. A process to engage the local community in the development of the Isles of Scilly AONB Statutory Management Plan for the Countryside Agency.

The edge Autumn 2006

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