Social Norms
Social norms action with informed and engaged societies
Social Norms
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Published 23 years ago
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Global Action Plan for the Earth (GAP)

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Established in 1989 with the aim of helping people live more environmentally sustainable lives, GAP is the nonprofit research arm of the US-based Empowerment Institute. It carries out programmes to encourage people to adopt "green" behaviours and to allow them to see that their efforts make a difference on a global scale. Peer support groups, campaigns, and school programmes are central to GAP's efforts, as evidenced in programmes like Journey for the Planet, which was offered to school children, and the Community Lifestyles Program, which addressed adults.
Development Issues

Environoment.

Key Points

Within participating communities, information on recycling participation rates was one of the criteria that enabled GAP to focus on neighbourhoods where "early adopters" resided. GAP estimated that such neighbourhoods represented about 15% of the population. It believed that, by building enough momentum within these neighbourhoods, the behavioural changes that GAP brought about would diffuse throughout the rest of the community's population.


Working closely with municipal resource managers, GAP customised the campaign to fit local conditions and the specific resource conservation needs of each community. Local staff were hired and supervised by GAP. A two-day training seminar for the community officially launched the local campaign, providing coaching support for five to ten EcoTeams. GAP also offered participating municipalities help in strategic plan development for community mobilisation, consultation to project potential financial savings, programme materials, assistance in the development of local promotional materials, and ongoing consultation in managing recruiting and monitoring programme quality.


As of 1996, over 8,000 households in 15 countries had participated in GAP's EcoTeam programme.

Partners

GAP, President's Council of Sustainable Development, UNEP.

Sources

Tools of Change website.