Behaviour Change for Conservation Online Course launched on World Wildlife Day
Cambridge, UK, 3rd March 2020—to mark World Wildlife Day, TRAFFIC has launched a new online course in Behaviour Change for Conservation to help inspire, invigorate, and guide anyone with an interest or involvement in this rapidly developing conservation topic.
Launched during the “2020 biodiversity super year” in which the role of behavioural science in conservation will be emphasised as never before.
The course comes hot on the heels of the 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) study that found direct exploitation of organisms as the second most significant driver of global impacts on nature.
The new course is available through the consumer behaviour change portal managed by TRAFFIC that hosts a range of resources, including 250+ research reports, consumer datasets and other technical and information resources in the “Wildlife Consumer Behaviour Change Toolkit”.
Practitioners are increasingly interested in changing behaviour through conservation communications, community engagement activities and other strategic approaches, but have requested more capacity building tools, technical resources and training materials to help maximise the effectiveness of their efforts.
The new Course aims to deliver against that request and has been developed through a year-long engagement with Social Marketing @ Griffith, as well as numerous experts from the Social and Behaviour Change Community of Practice and beyond.
The Course includes 54 lessons across 5 Modules on key themes of interest, such as Messaging, Messengers, and Mechanisms of Change, and features succinct summaries of some of the core concepts in behavioural science, as well as short videos, quick quizzes and various other interactive elements to explore key themes.
The Course complements a range of resources TRAFFIC has prepared for the Community of Practice, including 250+ research reports, consumer datasets and other technical and information resources in the ‘Wildlife Consumer Behaviour Change Toolkit’. The Toolkit will be housing the Course alongside other numerous other features, including an "Expert Directory", Newsletter back-issues, a Changing Demands Webinar series and Workplace discussion forums.
Beyond the Toolkit, TRAFFIC’s suite of services for all those with a passion, interest or mandate in delivering behavioural science for conservation impact, has included the first (2016) and second (2018) International Conferences on Behaviour Change in Conservation, as well as Expert Roundtables on M&E, Messaging and Messengers, and associated Good Practice Guidelines. Feedback on these services has included from government officers;
The toolkit provided an excellent platform of resources to consult throughout our Demand Reduction project. The resources provided insight into designing effective messaging giving us an understanding of how we could best communicate with audiences to influence behaviour…Overall the toolkit was a fantastic library of resources and we are very grateful to have had these so easily accessible. The wealth of knowledge and information in this toolkit has assisted us and supported us through our project considerably.”
New Zealand CITES Management Authority Feedback on the Course is welcome and will help inform additional material being developed by TRAFFIC, including Guidance for CITES Parties implementing the Demand Reduction Resolution (Resolution Conf. 17.4). This is in collaboration with the CITES Secretariat, per Decision 18.86-7.
Notes:
The Course has been produced through support from the American people delivered through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Wildlife Trafficking Response, Assessment, and Priority Setting (Wildlife TRAPS) project. The contents are the responsibility of TRAFFIC and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of USAID or the U.S. Government.
Additional contributions have been made through the German Partnership project, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU); and the Asia Wildlife Enforcement and Demand Management project, funded by the European Union.
About USAID
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is responsible for the majority of overseas development assistance from the United States Government and works to end extreme poverty and promote resilient, democratic societies while advancing security and prosperity for America and the world. www.usaid.gov/
About Wildlife TRAPS
The Wildlife TRAPS Project, implemented by TRAFFIC and IUCN with funding support from USAID, is helping to forge cross-sectoral partnerships with government and experts in inter-governmental organisations, NGOs, academia, and the private sector to identify risk mitigation strategies to prevent future zoonotic spillover potential associated with trade in wild animals.
As well as social and behavioural change interventions, the Wildlife TRAPS project is supporting policy and regulatory reform efforts, including strengthening supply chain management systems. The identification of critical control points within wildlife trade supply chains will help target illicit and other high-risk wildlife trade practices that may facilitate the transmission of zoonotic diseases.
