Define City Vision and Communication Strategy

An important question to ask is: Where do we want to be? Use the Carbon Reduction Matrix to assess firstly, where the city is now, and secondly where you would like to be as a result of the city-wide carbon reduction plan.  

Successfully implementing Carbon Reduction across your city will require the commitment of the key stakeholders identified in the previous task. Gaining this commitment is dependent on a range of factors. For example, stakeholders may see climate change itself as relevant to the city’s activities, through the extent to which reducing CO₂ emissions will contribute to existing strategic objectives, such as minimising overhead costs or improving the city’s public profile.

You may like to use the Data Capture Questionnaire as a template for gathering the views of stakeholders which will inform a simple Communications Strategy and Plan that will define how you will tailor your message(s) to target groups or individuals within the city. This will form an integral part of your project plan, identifying which communication channels are appropriate, and when they should be utilised during the course of the programme. A template Communications Strategy and Plan is provided.

A key message to communicate at this step process is the theoretical possibility for carbon saving within a city context. This will help prime the core team and other stakeholders for the later steps. You could use the Vision and Strategy Presentation template as part of a workshop to achieve this.