Please find below the
Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' ratings
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Judges'' comments
The judges thought this proposal was a worthwhile approach to focus on solutions rather than guilt. A clear audience and geographic location makes the project tangible. Your challenge will be moving beyond consumer behaviors to engaging millennials in policy solutions.
Superb design. Love the images. More of these are welcome. Excellent update on the positive positioning. The particular collaborations sound solid, and in general, Etho's spirit is refreshing -- Creative Commons, call to other contest entries for collaboration is perhaps an additional value of the Climate CoLab contest. Love this idea of focusing on solutions, showing people what the future looks like. This is excellent leadership. Smart demographic targeting on Millennials, and on Metro Vancouver. Good strategic selection of the social channels that will work best for the first phase: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Again, the local focus works well for action and impact. Every article, video or image will come with a clear call to action. This actionable item should hinge on where the viewer lives. Why not tie the articles and action recommendations to on-the-ground local activities. Etho becomes the local hub for events, restaurants, people, businesses, etc that all want to be part of this positive change. Goal: Is the idea that this catches on, across other urban centers? Within a certain time frame Etho will be copied in other metro hubs? Your team might develop a replicable model for scaling Etho; e.g., to include affiliation with a university (as Etho does) and or a thoughtleader launch (as you've done with Dr. Shiva), partnerships with other local partners, advisory council, etc. Perhaps work with the C40 initiative to accelerate this process: http://www.c40.org/ The judges like the story of the Etho team. Eager to see a photo of the three of you! On your organizations not-for-profit status, again you might want to really confer with someone savvy on this aspect. Are you absolutely sure you want to be not-for-profit. Why? For instance you might want to be a B Corp. Thinking ahead, what's the five-year plan? Where do you see yourselves? Think big! Do you three want to be the team that is hired globally to advise on climate communications strategies? Again, your advisory council can help with this. Great that you are aligned with Creative Commons, but you want to be sure that you get credit so that you can grow your expertise and influence, and never feel that you're being ripped off. Love the References section. This is really valuable, and hope you will keep it on your new site!
Cautions:
1) "Social Justice, Health, and Human Rights Groups: Climate change is a public health issue. Climate change is a human rights issue." Judges worry when they hear this tone. It is a bit shrill, and urge you to be mindful of this. Admire your passion, but strongly advise against offending the business community that can help make this happen, even if you perceive that they are part of the entrenched establishment. Yes, climate change is a public health issue, and it is a human rights issue. It is also a financial opportunity and it is a leadership opportunity. You are smart to target your audience, and at the same time you don't want to exclude anyone. There are a ton of successful executives and financiers who want to be part of the change, who have children in the Millennial cohort, who want to be supportive. Suggestion: form an advisory council of influential people who can be helpful, an easy focus group. Include people from cities that are next on your list. (Boston? hint hint!) Make it clear that you are going to use them as a sounding board, and at the same time you will stay true to your fresh spirit.
2) Media: "From Netflix to corporate twitter accounts, all media can have a role in creating a positive culture around climate change. Lets challenge other platforms to rethink what norms (and underlying beliefs) they are perpetuating." Challenge? Hmmm. In a constructive way? Or 'challenge' as in a duel? How, exactly. We recommend you flesh this out a bit and be specific. 3) Metrics and goals section is weak compared to the content, vision, and social execution plan. Maybe you need a fourth team member who specializes in analytics.
3) Everything in this proposal is 'right' according to the academic literature on 'how to' communicate climate change to younger audiences, but judges are still not sure if we need a wiki for this type of content. The group should partner with someone like Climate Advocacy Lab.
4) Unrealistic / misguided ambition: 'Though our users do not self-report lifestyle changes, we can forsee large emissions reductions in the arenas of: 1. Transportation: as cycling, car-sharing and ride-sharing become more popular. 2. Diet: as the health benefits of a fresh, local, plant-based diet become known.' These actions do give 'large emissions reductions', but - much more importantly - can contribute to building bottom up policy support for ambitious climate structural solutions, at city, state and nation level. This is the potential large cultural-political impact, not 'large emissions reductions'.
Overall, this this is very a strong proposal that shows a great understanding of some of the foundations necessary (hope, compassion, clarity) to shift climate behavior. However, this proposal seemed to be an extension of the contest description - telling us more about what is needed 'as a concept', but without as much detail as they would like on how you will actually shift behavior. For example, the judges loved that you address that current communicators are missing an opportunity to create messages that actually resonate with audiences ('Advertising has long known that to connect with your audience, you need to imbue a message that resonates messages like just do it or think different. Think about the messages our media is currently broadcasting about climate change. Do they inspire you?'), but you merely say you will do it differently, without providing an example. What message will you use, how will it motivate the public?
Semi-Finalist Evaluation
Judges'' ratings
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Judges'' comments
Thank you for your submission to the Climate CoLab.
The Judges felt this was an important initiative to help address the lack of balance between disaster vs. opportunity framing in climate communications. They liked that it included a focus on learning at the local level, the use of established communication networks, and the possibility of expansion.
The Judges felt the proposal could have been more refined around a smaller number of objectives. Additionally they felt the proposal would benefit from more measurable goals and impacts, along with how they would be evaluated.
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