Goldstein, Wendy

Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) are important instruments for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. CEPA provides the link from science and ecology to people's social and economic reality. It supplies the oil for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and deals with the processes that motivate and mobilize individual and collective action.

Communication, Education and Public Awareness (CEPA) are important instruments for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. CEPA provides the link from science and ecology to people’s social and economic reality. It supplies the oil for the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and deals with the processes that motivate and mobilize individual and collective action.

Protected areas operate within complex ecological and social systems, presenting challenges that cannot be resolved by technical solution alone. Achieving the management objectives of protected areas requires a social approach in which strategic communication is a key instrument.

CEPA tools have been identified as one of the keys to achieving better outcomes in a broad range of environmental projects – increased community engagement, higher levels of collaboration among stakeholders, better targeted public awareness materials and increased sustainability of results.

The text provides an overview of environmental communication and education practice and lessons from Asian governments, NGOs and the media. Drawing from papers presented at the IUCN, Unesco, UNEP organised workshop for Asian environment ministries and partners held in 1996, the text provides examples of government communications strategies, government interaction with NGOs, strategies for orienting formal education to environment, and NGO programmes

Case studies and contributions from around the world, most of which were presented at the 1994 IUCN General Assembly. Part 1: covers some research and theoretical bases for planning communications and education programmes. Part 2: reports case studies from NGOs which draw out elements for success in planning education programmes.