Situation
The City of Victoria committed to working with its partners, local businesses and residents to reduce the community’s greenhouse gas emissions by 33% by the year 2020.
iD2 was contracted by the City of Victoria to engage with the public to articulate the new sustainability department’s goals and to help launch proprietary software that would be used in consultation with stakeholders. Climate change is a complex subject so our goal was to make information accessible and communication streams accessible to those without deep knowledge of climate change solutions.
The software called “Climate Action Navigator” was developed by C2MP to identify effective community-wide strategies by allowing users to test their assumptions on different solutions. The tool was highly complex and inaccessible to the average person, even experienced industry experts were hindered by its complexity.
Audience
Climate change professionals, industry experts, city staff, climate action partners and utilities, transit authorities, businesses and Victoria residents.
Solutions
iD2 randomly selected and videotaped Victoria residents describe their understanding of the term “sustainability” and “resilience.” This helped us create more effective strategies that met the needs of stakeholders and informed the choices of vocabulary used to reach different publics.
iD2 developed and implemented an engagement strategy for internal and external audiences. This aspect was key to the project’s success due to the diversity of audience needs. Our strategy included having decision makers be the first users of the tool so that internal stakeholders saw that this initiative was driven from the “top down.”
We clarified potential media relations opportunities that could then be taken on by the Communications Dept. allowing them to build on their capacity to deliver outcomes. Graphics were also created throughout the process for reporting purposes.
iD2 redesigned the software interface and rewrote copy to make the dynamic greenhouse gas quantifier software easier to use and understand for non-technical stakeholders. This ensured the City of Victoria that almost all users could experience and test climate change options.
Results
The resulting work succeeded in providing the City of Victoria with a tool for engaging stakeholders. Several public and industry sessions were held.
Climate change planning options were more easily understood by Victoria residents, while given climate change and industry professionals a tool that produced accurate results that helped them in communicating alternatives to the public.
Although the City of Victoria dissolved the sustainability department, iD2 helped prove that through simplification and focus, even those without deep knowledge could meaningfully contribute to a discussion about the City’s climate change options. Urgent need was effectively created while stakeholders discovered for themselves the greenhouse gases reduced by investments in energy.
Project Management/Strategies/Copywriting/Creative Direction: Valerie Elliott
Art Direction, Design and Production: Stephan Jacob