Communications, Outreach and Engagement
The Communications, Outreach and Engagement project is quite broad and wide-reaching.
It has several aims;
- To enhance communication within the CoLab and associated networks. To connect individuals and organizations. To try to create a sense of belonging.
- To do engagement research into network weaving practices and processes, from the local level to the international level.
- Focusing on network weaving, in particular offering cross-network training and knowledge sharing events.
- To do outreach work from the CoLab to the wider permaculture audience. This will bring attention to the work we are doing in the CoLab and the resources we offer.
- To prototype bringing in national and regional networks in order to support the CoLab and the wider permaculture movement. Aiming to bridge projects across bioregions through resources and cross-community engagement.
Team
Charlie Wilson, Aimee Fenech, Kate Swatridge, Hans Ryding
Reporting Officer: Charlie Wilson
Area
Network weaving, Diversity, participation and engagement, Next Steps project
objectives
February 2023
Updating the CoLab website and keeping it up to date with projects. Monthly newsletters for the general mailing list ie external comms. Uplifting the great work already happening in the CoLab & allied networks.
A. Identify our audiences and prioritize audience for year 1 activities. Prototype an “outreach package” i.e. a set of information on Colab and available services and information resource / course schedule etc. including contact information and possibly cost, as a “pitch”. Go for a specific size/scope. For instance: 30 min presentation, and 2 page summary. Finish within specific timeframe, for instance before the end of June.
B. Get feedback from within Colab on the “outreach package” (especially from the people offering/responsible for the services/information resources/courses etc. and adjust it accordingly. Have a specific timeframe for feedback, for instance July and August. And a timeframe for integration, for instance September.
C. Try contacting external organisations during September, and offering to give “pitch” using the “outreach package” at events, or directly to the board of the organisation etc. according to their preference. Reach out to a specific number of organisations in a specific timeframe (for instance 20 organizations the first year), do a specific number of “pitches” in a specific timeframe depending on response received.
D. Gather notes/feedback from the communication and adjust as we go along.
E. Track adoption from external organisations given a “pitch”. Do they partake of Colab services? Information resources? Courses? Did they end up joining the Colab? Aim for a specific amount of uptake over a specific timeframe. i.e. 3 new digital circle “customers” 2 new funding circle “customers”. Increased access numbers to information resources (views/month?), document engagement with the colab ie how are they active here in what capacity?
Revise the outreach package based on feedback. (for instance: Create a document of “bulk” feedback/notes after pitches (gathered by the persons giving the pitches), go through it last week of every month, make suggestions for changes to the “outreach package” within the following 2 weeks. Give time for gathering feedback from within Colab if necessary and do further changes accordingly, then adopt new version. Repeat process for each new version. Aim for, for instance, one revision the first year, and 3 every year for the rest of the project.)
OUTCOMEs
September 2023 Update
Aimee is acting in a consultancy role in this project. She is giving training. She attended the EUPC where she shared about the CoLab funding circle. She has promoted the funding circles service in GreaterThan for a possible collaboration.
Charlie and Aimee are working on a major overhaul of the Perma Earth website, so that everything is up to date, and easy to understand for people with no knowledge of the CoLab. The website will be used as a major tool for outreach work.
We have updated the History of the CoLab and the Projects pages. We are adding Services and Resources pages. We are creating different points of access on the website for different service users.
Kate and Hans have created a taxonomy of the permaculture movement to aid the comms, outreach and engagement work and the Global Permaculture Map project, and hopefully other projects.
Once the website is more up-to-date, Kate and Hans can begin their outreach work.