Change.ie - Reply

.

Change.ie Reply

I have receieved a comprehensive reply from Change.ie. I reproduce it here in full:



Dear Tony,

Many thanks for you email and comments. I want to assure you that the Change campaign is much more than an advertising or public information campaign about climate change.

• Since January we have been meeting with and listening to the private and public sectors and shaping a comprehensive stakeholder engagement process that will help them to change their behaviour in order to tackle climate change. We have developed this stakeholder engagement process through the years over many awareness campaigns, including Race Against Waste which resulted in organisations across the public and private sector, reducing, recycling, composting their waste materials. As part of "Change" we aim to engage with individuals, communities and key sectoral stakeholders to help them identify barriers to dealing with climate change in their sectors and see how the campaign can help them to overcome these barriers. Feedback that we obtain throughout the campaign from this engagement processed, through the website, emails and lo-call information line will go towards informing and shaping the campaign as it progresses over the next number of years.

• A carbon management tool for the public and private sectors is being developed and will be piloted across a broad section of the business, agricultural, forestry, education, construction, tourism and public sectors.

• A series of seminars for the public and private sector will be held every few months throughout the two-year campaign to inform the public and private sectors how to change their behaviour to tackle climate change.

• Nationwide events are also being organised starting in June to make climate change local and relevant to the general public and to encourage the public to take action.

• A carbon calculator is being finalized for the website and will be brought out to the public through events as well. The campaign will encourage people to keep checking their carbon number and advising them how to reduce it throughout the two years.

People are the engine of the Change campaign and have to be if we want to change behaviour rather than merely raise awareness. On the advertising, it was developed following extensive research among people across all backgrounds and geographical areas in Ireland from August 2007 to March 2008. The ads are sign-posts to the sectoral events, the website, and are intended to highlight the issue rather than attempt to change behaviour. We will be launching the next phase of ads very soon whereby we will be providing individuals, communities and businesses with practical advice and actions that they can implement to combat climate change, starting by encouraging them to find out their carbon number through our carbon calculator.

Do please keep in touch with us – it's most useful hear all opinions and ideas throughout the of the campaign because we will ensure that it evolves in response to people and organisations' uptake of the messages.

Kindest regards
The Change Team


Here is my letter to Change.ie sent on 13th April last:



Hi,

I am passionately concerned about our climate and about sustainable
energy. I have a sustainable energy blog that has to date received
75,000 hits and is now averaging about 2000 hits per week. I take this
level of interest (in the blog) as a sign of awakening interest and also as a sign
of the desire for critical evaluation by the public.

The tone of my blog is at times cynical about much of Ireland's efforts such
as the botched approaches of organisations like SEI. The party line does not
come over as fully "Kosher" with joe public anymore.

I challenge the "Department" to be open to public opinion, including
voices which are cynical or strident at times. It is only by taking an
open and inclusive approach to this vital subject will there be
anything other than the usual "backslappers" fully on board.

Regards,
Tony McGinley



.