Public Engagement and Awareness Raising Programmes: The UK's Best Practice Guide to Doorstep Recycling Promotions

摘要

London Authorities are currently responding to the new recycling challenge laid down in the Mayor of London's Waste Management Strategy (2003), and one of the key areas they are focusing on is how to ensure that their recycling services are used effectively and frequently by their residents. Increasing interest by these authorities on using home advisors (doorsteppers) to promote, encourage, engage and motivate residents to recycle more, and the lack of apparent guidance, led the Greater London Authority (GLA) to commission a study of best practice in this area. The key objectives of this exercise were to: 1. use experience gained from previous doorstepping projects to provide best practice guidance to waste authorities intending to deliver similar projects; 2. offer advice to ensure that doorstepping campaigns are successful and value for money; and 3. provide case studies as examples of best practice. The research used existing local and national case studies of doorstepping to produce a best practice guidance note for authorities when bidding for project funding and when designing their promotions campaigns. The guidelines were developed using the experiences from over 20 major UK doorstepping campaigns from the last 5 years. This paper will discuss the background and context to the development of the doorstepping approach to recycling communications in the UK, and use some of the case studies to highlight best practice in this form of communication. The partnership were contracted to produce the necessary guidance for the London Boroughs. The guidelines were designed to help waste authorities decide whether they would benefit from delivering a project in their area, provide some guidance on how to deliver such a campaign and advise on the factors that need to be taken into consideration, such as, if the authority has the capacity to deliver the project themselves (internally), or whether to outsource the project to an external delivery organisation. The guidance document, is now a key document for al UK authorities who are interested in designing local promotions campaigns, and is being used by the London and national funding bodies when reviewing home advisor project submissions. The paper will conclude by reviewing the appropriateness of this form of communication, its value for money and how it could be adapted to suit authorities around the world.