Addressing Communication and
Public Relation Issues
Public Outreach
Reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time to produce a change in
behavior is the core concept of a successful education program. To be successful the project
needs to move past the awareness stage and move into the educational information/action stage.
Communication efforts should be based on educational enlightenment which leads to action.
Effective educational projects move an audience from ignorance through awareness, knowledge,
understanding, ability and desire to active participation.
Public awareness campaigns are passive and frustrating. The recipient learns that problems
exist but receives little direction about actions needed to solve the problem and insufficient
information to make up their minds about solutions. By contrast, a public education program
results in problem-solving actions, whether there are single actions by a limited number of
individuals or hundreds of actions by various agencies, groups, businesses and individuals.
Effective communication and education efforts are designed to speak directly to an audience in
language and symbols that are interesting and meaningful.
Effective communication efforts should include:
 | The problems that exist and their significance |
| Available pollution prevention controls and their effectiveness |
| Number and success of these controls currently in the watershed |
| Number and locations where the controls are still needed |
| Specific actions needed from the audience to implement practices |
| Training or assistance the project can provide to individuals in installing and maintaining BMPs or other pollution controls |
| How controls will be evaluated, once installed |
The most effective education efforts involve one-on-one interactions with the individuals whose
behavior or actions need changing. Communication/educational efforts structured as activities
(eg., canoe floats , stream walks, tree planting days) can result in a meaningful or useful
product or outcome for the community. News articles and pictures of the public actively doing
the work are outstanding ways to express progress accomplished and its importance. By taking
the bureaucracy out of the headlines and putting in public participation gives news articles a
local importance and a local connection. The public needs to feel connected to the project
before they will take a role in taking active steps to make improvements.
The following material contains suggestions of effective media communication methods which the
project can use in meeting the public relations, communication and education ideas addressed by
the public.
Communication and Educational Target Actions
 | OSU Extension Agents |
| Indian Lake State Park Education Coordinator |
| Soil & Water Conservation District Education Coordinators |
| Logan County Litter Prevention and Recycling |
| Representatives from School Districts in the Watershed and Lake Area |
| The Many Divisions of Ohio Department of Natural Resources
|
 | Newsletters |
|---|
| | - | Continue and expand Indian Lake Watershed Link Newsletter |
| | - | Include action photos and articles of public involvement |
| Newspaper Articles |
|---|
| | - | Provide additional awareness and local citizen success stories |
| | - | Photos of citizens in action |
| | - | Feature articles can address information about problems and solutions |
| Demonstration Sites |
|---|
| | - | Continue to demonstrate new technology to the public |
| | - | Target groups to see demonstration sites |
| | - | Signs, brochures and assigned staff to answer questions and work to increase awareness and knowledge, but most importantly increase the understanding of why the practice is important |
| Fact Sheets, Videos, Printed Material |
|---|
| | - | Explaining current practices, future needs, new technology, evaluation and facts about success are important |
| | - | Increase awareness, knowledge and understanding |
| Signs Promoting the Watershed |
|---|
| | - | Mark watershed boundaries for project promotion and watershed area identification |
| | - | Identify critical areas, promote successful projects, identify cooperators in the project |
| | - | Signs increase awareness, understanding, knowledge but they show actions taken and promote successes |
| Meetings |
|---|
| | - | Interaction with the public is a crucial part of communication |
| | - | Share information, plan actions and public evaluation of program progress |
| | - | Working with smaller groups will make the corrective solutions more obtainable |
| Field Trips with On-site Inspections |
|---|
| | - | Observe resources to be protected and BMPs installed |
| | - | Learn how the BMPs operate |
| | - | Detail how monitoring will determine project success |
| | - | Identify problems with recommended corrective actions |
| | - | Evaluate effectiveness of controls |
| | - | Educate individuals and implement action steps |
| Training and Technical Assistance |
|---|
| | - | Provide new skills to stakeholders |
| | - | Empower people to take action |
| | - | Promote understanding and the desire to take action and the ability to act |
| | - | Trained people become trainers and will become examples to their peers |
| | - | As people become educated on the problems and solutions they also become better evaluators of the solution's effectiveness |
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