This project aims to empower the Palau youth who are involved in conservation by training them on communications and outreach strategies to promote environmental conservation in Palau, and develop an online social network to engage their peers around the world to share, learn, and support their campaign and amplify their Palauan voice in the global community.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Koror
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
Palau is a small island (540 sq. km) in the midst of the huge Pacific, a dot on the globe. We are often underrepresented in the global arena, and we have limited and often outdated information online. We hope that our youth today who are extremely familiar with online technology will be the generation to expand Palau's visibility and raise our small voice in the international environment and conservation forums with support from their peers around the world.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
The youth participants will engage other youth in the community(s) of their campaign site to carry out the campaign via fun youth activities, e.g., sports, games and entertainment. They will present their concerns to community leaders and develop posters to post in their communities. They will also report their experiences through their network online and YouTube for feedback and support. They will document their campaign and produce an educational video to broadcast on the local public television network.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
Our local partners who will be involved in this project are Koror State, HOPE, Ebiil Society, and the state governments of the project location. Our regional partners include Humatak Community Foundation and UOG Sea Grant Program. We would like to establish international partnerships to support and expand our youth-in-conservation campaign.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
We anticipate for 10-12 youth workshop participants who will conduct the campaign. The participants are volunteers and interns of local NGOs and the community. The project leader is a college student intern who made a short video of a site in her state that she feels needs critical attention that you can access on the YouTube link below. We have sustained our youth programs through local fundraising efforts, and our local and regional partners also provide in-kind and monetary contributions to support our youth programs.
Describe which technologies, tools, and media you will focus on when training participants.
We have facilitated youth programs and have led conservation campaigns for almost 20 years. Our local partners have 8-10 years of conservation programs that engage their community youth. We are knowledgeable about conservation in Palau and will educate the participants on the ecological, cultural and social value of the project site of their choice. We will also provide computers, digital video camera, digital cameras, and internet access for the for the participants who are already skilled on such tools and technologies.
Describe the facilities where you will hold the workshops.
Workshop trainings will be held at PCS Conference Room which can accommodate up
to 30 people and equipped with a multimedia projector and screen; DSL unlimited internet access; white boards; digital library of professional articles, case studies, and other resources and references; and indoor kitchenette and restroom facilities.
What is your current relationship with the community with whom you plan to work? What makes you the most appropriate individual or organization to implement this project?
Palau Conservation Society is a community based organization and a trusted
name in local conservation. We work directly with all the communities in Palau to promote conservation. We have helped communities identify and establish protected areas, develop site management plans, and build capacity for site managers. We have led most of the environmental campaigns in Palau . We have conducted
successful youth educational campaigns such as “Turtle is Our Friend”, a RARE Pride campaign, and “The Ridge to Reef Road Show” among others. We have hosted successful youth and community learning exchanges with Guam in the Micronesia region. In a nutshell, we have the most experience in Palau regarding youth engagement and education in conservation.
What specific challenges do you expect to face when planning and implementing your project?
Slow internet connection, a general issue in Palau; exposure to scams, criminal offenders, pornography and other graphic materials; viruses and spyware complications. We will provide wi-fi access to the participants so they can access our DSL base at anytime; provide internet user measures and agreement for our participants; and ensure regular updates of our anti-virus and security system.
How will you measure and evaluate the project’s impact, specifically: your primary participants, the wider regional community, or the global digital community?
We will conduct pre- and post surveys to measure participating community knowledge about the promoted site and report any actions taken by the community to protect the site; keep a record of attendance for our workshop and community outreach participants; monitor the network activities and number of regional and global participants, and report major partnerships that may emerge through the social network.
If your project were to be selected as a Rising Voices grantee, what would be the general timeline of project activities in 2013?
The timeline would be 6 months with activities as follows:
Month 1 – Conduct workshop and establish online social network site and develop campaign work plan.
Month 2,3,4 – Implement campaign work plan, conduct pre- and post surveys
Month 5 – Produce an educational video to play over the public TV network to promote the site.
Month 6 – Draft a report as a team to share experiences; aggregate documents, photos, videos, educational materials, and etc. & Finalize to submit to Rising Voices.
Detail a specific budget of up to $4,000 USD for operating costs.
Workshop costs
-meals – $120 x 2 days = $240
-supplies & materials = $150
Community Outreach
-print materials (t-shirts, surveys, posters) = $2000
-travel (fuel cost for car and boat @ $6/gal x 100 gals) = $600
-travel (youth stipends for meals, $15 x 12 x 5 days) = $900
Besides the microgrant funding, what other resources and support are you seeking for your project to ensure its success?
We would like Rising Voices to connect us with other youth programs that promote conservation for their future, college scholarship opportunities, and potential donors who are interested in supporting youth and conservation programs.
Contact name
Joyce K. Beouch
Organization
Palau Conservation Society