Love Food Hate Waste
Developing a successful education project
EPA12/0949
Successful education projects
• Are well planned• Start with identifying the problem you are addressing• Don’t try to fit the “tool” to the project• Drive behaviour change• Involve stakeholders and participants from the start• Support and strengthen existing community networks and
help create new ones• Respond to the diverse needs of a community• Motivate and encourage community ownership
Project planning considerations
Focus on the issue • All projects should focus on food waste avoidance, not recycling
Project objectives • These need to be measurable and achievable within the ten month timeframe• Aim for no more than four objectives in dot point form
Links to other programs/ projects/groups
• Don’t re-invent the wheel• Consider tapping into existing initiatives in your community or think about how you can adapt what others have done to suit your community
The target audience • Identify the best target audience for your project• How can you most effectively work with this audience?
Managing risks • Identify the potential risks and consider the degree of risk – minor, major, disaster• What are the strategies you will have in place to guard against and manage these risks and what is your Plan B if these strategies don’t work?
Project planning considerationsLasting links • Include longevity in your project design
• Make lasting links with other projects
• Have you created a Love Food Hate Waste legacy with your community?
• Have you created something that can be used again in the future?Work together • What partners and networks could you work with to help give the
project a life after the grant has ended and extend your reach during the project?
• Involve them early Value • What is going to achieve the biggest ‘bang for buck’ given the
resources you have?
• Consider staff, financial inputs, other resources, time frames, existing commitments. You may have a great idea but it might not be feasible within the current timeframe, budget and/or resources
• Could you adapt this idea so that it could be built upon later?
Promotion • How will you promote the project and its achievements during and at the end of the project?
Tips for monitoring and evaluation
Length of project Be realistic about what you can measure in ten months. Factor in time for monitoring during the project and evaluation at the end
EPA support Talk to us, and be open about the challenges your project is facing. If things aren’t going to plan we can work together to look at options to guide your project
Follow up with participants
If you are engaging with your community and aiming for behaviour change, consider how you will ask if you can catch up with them down the track to evaluate your project’s impact. A simple tick a box on an evaluation form can provide you with permission to contact them later
Evaluation Benchmark participant attitudes, knowledge and behaviour to help you measure success. Options include pre and post event surveys and records of food waste volumes.
Tips and tricks for an excellent project
Keep it simple This makes your project easier to understand
Use different engagement options
People are drawn to things for different reasons. Some come to see a celebrity others want a prize
Create buzz and make it fun Make your project something people want to be part of
Use incentives Give people a reason to change their behaviour
Show the benefits Tell and show people what they can gain
Make it accessible Offer activities at different times, dates locations, online, face to face
Use social proof Show that other people are already doing it
Engage group dynamics People follow what other people do
Use labels People like being able to name things
Pledges Allow people to make a commitment
Be active Show people what they can do and get them to do it, don’t just offer information
Online resources
Does Your Project Make A Difference? www.environment.nsw.gov.au/community/projecteval.htm
Guide to using research in sustainability programswww.environment.nsw.gov.au/education/researchguide.htm
What we need is…A community education project
www.environment.nsw.gov.au/community/edproject/index.htm
