Appendix 1: Public Education and Awareness Programme Outline
The need to incorporate guidance on developing a public education and awareness programme as part of the Microbiological Water Quality Guidelines for Marine and Freshwater Recreational Areas was identified through feedback from councils and health authorities. Communicating risk, changing attitudes and behaviours towards monitoring programmes and water-quality issues, and inter-agency communication were among the main drivers for developing this appendix.
The goal of the Guidelines is to protect human health. In many cases, there is no ‘quick fix’ to bacteriological contamination of recreational waters, so one of the goals becomes risk communication. Relevant information must be communicated in an effective, efficient and timely way to the public, allowing them to make informed choices about whether to swim. Implementing a public education and awareness programme will help the public better understand what the guidelines mean to them, how they can minimise their chances of becoming sick as a result of swimming, and what – if anything – they can do to help improve their local water quality.
Designing and implementing your own programme
This appendix aims to provide councils and health agencies with a broad template for designing and implementing their own public education and awareness programme, to help achieve the broad aim of the guidelines:
to ensure that the public are informed of the microbiological health risks in time for them to make informed decisions about whether or not to enter the water.
Local variation and differences in the learning methods of the different stakeholder groups (e.g. informed versus uninformed) will to some extent determine the best means of delivering a message or forum for consultation. Taking the process in ‘bite-sized chunks’ and providing local context is a good basis for local programmes.
For additional information on designing, implementing and evaluating an environmental education programme, contact the education officer within your organisation or visit the Sustainable Management Fund website (www.smf.govt.nz) and download a copy of Environmental Education: A guide for programme providers – how to develop, implement and evaluate strategies and programmes.
Objectives
While the objective of the Guidelines may be met through risk communication in response to contamination events, mitigating contamination events requires a more detailed approach. Longer-term goals to clean up where poor water quality exists and where the community demands good water quality will inevitably require some action from individuals. In order to facilitate a change in attitudes and behaviours from the community, they need to be aware of their impact on water quality and what they can do to minimise those impacts.
Therefore, the two objectives of a public education and awareness programme are:
- to protect human health through the efficient, effective and timely communication of the health risks associated with using recreational waters
- to prevent, and where necessary isolate and remedy, bacteriological contamination of recreational waters.
Other objectives of this type of programme will be to:
- develop a base level of understanding of the issues within the community
- gain public support for the monitoring programme
- build confidence in the authority carrying out the monitoring
- accentuate the positive areas and use them as a selling point for the region
- build an image of responsibility for the council
- inform beach users of the immediate health risk
- manage community concern and public outrage
- maintain a responsible image
- encourage and facilitate community ownership and participation.
What is public education and awareness?
The following hierarchy defines public awareness and education:
- information: pamphlets, posters, etc.
- communication: public meetings, submissions, call centres, etc.
- education: consultation, developing knowledge, awareness, attitudes, values and skills that contribute to maintaining and improving the environment (Ministry for the Environment 1999).
The level at which councils and health agencies enter into a programme will depend on their statutory functions and their agreed role in implementing the guidelines. It will also depend on what level of participation or action the community expects. For example, one community may wish to be directly involved in a local monitoring programme, while others may be content to see weekly results published in the local paper.
Whatever the intention, this should be clear from the outset, and care taken not to raise expectations beyond this, as it will inevitably result in community backlash and mistrust in the council or health agency.
What is the environmental issue?
New Zealand has an extensive coastline and freshwater recreational area, which is used for a wide variety of recreational activities. Primarily usage is highest during the summer months (November to March), but there may be areas of the country or user groups that use recreational sites all year round. While water quality at New Zealand’s recreational beaches and freshwater sites is good most of the time, there are occasions when water may become contaminated with bacteria or viruses that cause respiratory or gastrointestinal illnesses, or skin infections. Susceptibility to illness is increased in those who have a compromised immune system, the very young and the elderly, and in severe cases may result in hospitalisation.
At the local/regional level specific environmental issues may vary. Consultation with local communities will help to identify these issues.
Who are the stakeholders?
It is important when designing an education strategy to identify the key stakeholders and how they use the beach in question. This will vary across the country and within each region or district, and may depend on the type of recreational site. There will also be variability over time within each user group; for example, there may be walkers who use the beach every day throughout the year, and those that only visit two or three times a season.
The main point is that baseline levels of awareness between and within stakeholder groups will vary considerably, as will the way in which they want/need to be involved in the programme. It is important to recognise this when designing a programme and to ensure the programme can be delivered at a variety of levels to suit the needs of those involved.
The following is a list of potential stakeholders, divided into those within monitoring agencies and those within the wider community.
Within council
Council staff
Council staff will inevitably have contact with the public, particularly after a pollution event when signs are posted advising against swimming. Frontline staff in particular should be trained appropriately to deal with possible irate members of the public, and be informed when they might expect such calls. Field staff may also come into contact with members of the public who are angry with the council for closing a beach. It is vital these staff are prepared for such encounters, and that the information they give the public is consistent with what other staff are communicating.
Councillors and potential councillors
It is important that councillors and potential councillors are aware of the issues surrounding beach water quality as they have a great deal of influence on what priority programmes are given. They are also directly affected by bad press and will need to be prepared should a pollution event result in media coverage.
Outside the council
Beach users
This group includes a variety of users that will vary locally. It is important to identify all user groups and how best to involve them in the programme, or at least how to communicate information. Some potential user groups are:
- local clubs (e.g. surf life-saving, Lions, waterski, sea scouts, walkers, kayakers)
- national and international groups (e.g. triathletes, boaties)
- schools
- parent networks
- iwi
- Pacific peoples’ groups
- other community groups
- ratepayers (including community boards).
These groups may be unaware of water-quality issues. They are also directly affected by poor water quality, beach closures and health impacts. The level of understanding and awareness should be established and programmes set accordingly. It is important that beach/river users are brought up to speed on the issue and kept informed throughout the monitoring season.
Local community (non-beach users)
Not everyone in the local community is interested in going to the beach. However, everyone will be affected by publicity about poor water quality at bathing beaches in their region. For example, homeowners may suffer a drop in property values and local businesses may notice a drop in trade. As with beach users it is important the local community is informed about the issue, and kept informed throughout the monitoring season.
Environmental interest groups
Environmental groups may have a greater level of understanding of the issues, so communicating with them at the same level as the above groups may be redundant or even detrimental. Instead, support from these groups should be sought. Environmental groups have the ability to sway the opinion of the general public, and if supportive of the council’s programme may be a real asset.
Media
The way the media interpret and report events will inevitably influence the community. Efforts should be made to ensure the message being reported by the media is accurate and factual, and that the positive aspects of the monitoring programme are highlighted.
Business
This includes:
- retail outlets, cafes, dairies, etc.
- tourism operators (including the Tourism Board)
- dive clubs.
Local businesses can be dramatically affected when a water-quality problem is identified. They can also be very influential in the community. Keeping them informed and getting their support for the monitoring programme at all stages is essential. Encouraging tourist operators to use clean beaches as a selling point will benefit the whole region, and provide an incentive to clean up beaches that experience water-quality problems.
Public health agencies, hospitals, GPs and laboratories
These groups need to be made aware that gastric and respiratory illnesses as well as skin infections can be caused through contact with bacteriologically contaminated bathing water. These agencies have a lot of contact with the public, so they are able to disseminate information effectively. This can be done through posters, fact sheets, and advice from staff.
What are the key outcomes sought?
If the objective of a public education and awareness programme is to encourage public participation, then the key outcomes of a programme should be developed in consultation with the community and be prepared to deliver what is jointly agreed. Developing outcomes in consultation with local communities will ensure they relate closely to regional or local issues.
On the other hand, if the intention is purely to communicate the results of your monitoring and to alert the public to specific contamination events, then consultation would be inappropriate, as it would raise false expectations and inevitably result in backlash.
Some key outcomes of a public education and awareness programme might be:
- increased understanding within the community of what the monitoring
programme is about including:
- how, when, where and why monitoring is done
- what the indicator bacteria are and what their presence means
- costs and other resourcing issues
- how the results will be used
- the scale of the issue: put it into a local, national and international context
- sources of contamination and problem areas (e.g. stormwater, ageing infrastructure)
- causes of contamination are not always predictable
- even if a beach is ‘clean’, councils will monitor anyway to identify unexpected risks
- participation in ‘care’ groups
- a decrease in the number of swimming-related illnesses.
What methods should you use and what materials do you need?
The methods and materials used to get the message across will vary locally and with each stakeholder group. Consultation with the community will help to identify the level at which various groups wish to be involved and how they prefer to receive material and information. Consulting within the council will also help to identify existing programmes that can be tapped into to avoid reinventing the wheel and creating confusion.
The urgency of the message/information will also determine the methods used; e.g. if there is a contamination event and the message is a public health warning.
See Note H(xvii) for information on issuing health warnings.
The following are a variety of methods that can be used to deliver a range of materials:
- media – press (local and regional papers, magazines), radio
- a internet
- fact sheets (see Appendix 5)
- pamphlets
- community meetings
- school visits
- notices in local businesses
- notices/pamphlets in medical centres and hospital waiting rooms
- presentations to council committee meetings
- meetings with specific user groups
- establishing ‘care’ groups
- signs at beaches (see Appendix 3)
- 0800 numbers
- getting influential community members on board.
Practical considerations for delivering the programme
Identifying up front the practical aspects of how the programme will be delivered will avoid confusion and frustration when it comes time to implementing it. The following factors should be considered in advance of implementing the programme.
Who?
Clearly define who is responsible for delivering the programme. This is critical. Identify which agency will be responsible and the roles of individuals/officers within each organisation. The roles and responsibilities set out in Section B of Part I will help to identify which agencies and officers should be involved in a public education and awareness programme.
Clearly defined lines of communication within monitoring agencies, between agencies (regional council, territorial local authority and Medical Officer of Health) and to the public should be documented in the monitoring plan. This will include identifying the agency and officer responsible for notifying the public of health risks.
When?
Determining the timing for the programme is also very important, especially when communicating information about contamination events, which requires an immediate response. Starting the programme with sufficient time to lead in to the bathing season may also be useful. Timing of programmes will vary considerably across the country and will need to be decided locally.
As there is likely to be a number of agencies involved in the programme, it is important to define exactly when each of those agencies becomes involved and how.
Where?
Defining the extent of the programme will also affect how it is delivered and will depend on which agency is implementing the programme. Local authorities that co-ordinate programmes regionally may also wish to co-ordinate the public education and awareness programme. More specifically, this will affect what venues are used for public meetings, etc.
How will you monitor implementation and effectiveness?
It is important before beginning a programme such as this to establish a base level of awareness. This will enable progress to measured using this pre-programme information. User-group surveys, household surveys and council staff surveys are some of the methods that can be used to achieve this.
It is also important to review the programme on a regular basis. It will take time before changes in attitudes and behaviours are noticed, so a long-term plan for review is essential. Again, annual surveys are useful for this purpose.
Summary
An open, honest and transparent policy with the public is essential if the council is to gain support for their monitoring and remediation programmes. Authorities who have adopted this approach have received additional funding for infrastructure upgrades and increased community and media backing.
A number of councils have implemented programmes that utilise the community resource, such as training community volunteers to monitor water quality. Volunteers are trained and perform some monitoring functions. This approach has proven to be successful in raising levels of awareness and understanding of the issues surrounding beach water quality and in gaining support for monitoring programmes.
For further information on designing and implementing environmental education programmes, refer to the Ministry for the Environment’s Environmental Education: A guide for programme providers – how to develop, implement and evaluate environmental education programmes (1999).
