Green Vision. Child-Made.

Scope of Good Practice

The essence of this project is environmental education via social advertising.

The project is unique because children create it. It is focused on positive, humorous and constructive approaches to ecology rather than the typical gloomy and even catastrophic visions. The project’s success is reflected in its growth. Only 200 people saw the first experimental movies filmed in 2010. Videos shot in 2012 won awards in Russian and international festivals and were broadcast on TV and on social networks. The project will be repeated in other Russian regions. Starting as a local experiment, the campaign has become an all-Russian project in less than two years.

The Problem Addressed by the Campaign

Modern Russian society is characterized by a low level of environmental culture. People are generally indifferent to environmental protection. Pollution thrives because of ecological illiteracy: forest and city park zones resemble landfills, and it is acceptable to wash a car on the shore of a lake. One who acts in this manner will never pay attention to the issues of industrial pollutants. According to the data of the NGO Ecological Foundation of Russia, Russia is 74th in the world on purity and is 3rd place in the emission of pollutants into the environment.

Background Research

The team studied materials of the first Russian international festival of environmental films, Green Vision, conducted in St. Petersburg since 1996. The analysis of the films shows that every year about a hundred works come to the festival, but only 4-5 of them are Russian. Moreover, the quality of Russian films is generally lower than the quality of other entries. The main question that arises is: “Why is Russian interest in ecology so low?”

The reason is a low level of environmental literacy. As reported by UN consultant and academic V.F. Protasov, “The issue of environmental protection and use of natural resources is not given adequate attention in universities, schools and technical institutes. Ecological disciplines are excluded from most educational programs. The Ministry of Resources declared that it is not required to be engaged in environmental education.”

The situation is aggravated by the fact that there is no federal environmental television channel in Russia. Ecological programming sometimes appears on different channels, but they are more often signals of calamity than attempts to encourage people to solve problems.

Strategy

The team developed a strategy that could raise ecological literacy with a fresh approach. The aim of the campaign was environmental education, and social advertising was selected as a main tool of communication. However, people in Russia hardly abandon their habits, so the influence of social advertising on the adult population is low. Because of this, the team concentrated efforts on the education of children and adolescents.

The main strategy was to not simply address youth as the target audience, but make young citizens into the actual social advertisers.

Creative

Teenagers were to become educators and trainers for their peers as well as for adults – primarily their own parents. To achieve that goal, a children's educational film studio called Giraffe Studio was established in 2010. The organizers of the campaign taught kids acting and directing for free. There was only one condition — an environmental message should be the basis of their future movie.

Children's ideas were turned into scripts and storyboards with the help of Giraffe Studio. Professionals filmed social advertisements under the guidance of the young film directors.

In 2010 the first social spot was filmed. It was calling to dispose hazardous waste in a specially equipped auto “Ecomobile” which was operating in the city. In 2011 six videos were screened; in 2012 there were nine spots.

Media

High-quality social spots created by children are funny, fresh, touching and create interest in different media.

Social networks: the creators of the spots — teenagers — were enthusiastically posting their videos on social networks and specialized websites, receiving thousands of hits and “likes”. After each release, a new discussion formed around the movie. Participants actively communicated about the environmental problems and creativity in social advertising.

Special events and mass media: the main event in 2012 was the inclusion of social spots from Giraffe Studio in the International Contest at the XVII annual international festival of environmental films, Green Vision. To attract attention to the event, “Premiere Screening of Child-made Social Spots” was included in Festival program.

Invitations and press releases of “Premiere Screening” were sent to more than 30 Russian mass media outlets. As a result, Baltic Information Agency posted information on its homepage and in the top of the news. Five stories dedicated to the work of the studio were released on TV; articles were published in six magazines and newspapers; reports and interviews were made at three radio stations; and 12 news agencies and 16 environmental and educational portals disseminated information.

Impact

The campaign showed the power of social advertising in environmental education.

Social advertisements from Giraffe Studio occupy a worthy place in the video library of the Committee of Nature Use in Saint Petersburg. Together with other instructional videos, they are spread throughout the schools of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region.

Further, Giraffe Studio became a partner of the International Forum of Social Advertising, held in St. Petersburg in April 2013.

15,000 application forms for a scenario-based competition were distributed among St. Petersburg students. A special edition of the magazine for children “Positive” was dedicated to the work of Giraffe Studio.

In 2013, the government of the Republic of Tatarstan (one of the regions of Russia) will distribute Giraffe Studio films to local schools and open a new branch of the program.

In 2012 Giraffe Studio was a participant in the international film festival Film Without Barriers — it won “Best Film Shot by Children." In the Green Vision festival, it won “Optimistic View of the Future” and an award for "an original approach to the coverage of environmental problems.” In the national competition of social advertising, Pure View, the studio won "Best Short Film."

The films of Giraffe Studio have been invited to several 2013 festivals.

Conclusions and Recommendations

There was no other time in Russia when environmental education was so popular among children. The key to success lay in a humorous and positive attitude toward issues, and also in a universal interest in the magic of cinema.

While working on the films, the students of the Giraffe Studio got professional skills that can serve them well in the future.

The campaign is still in its beginning stage. The team hopes that other regions will follow the example of Tatarstan and that branches of the film Studio will be created throughout Russia.