Projects

The following is a list of representative projects we have undertaken over the past thirty years. 

• 20/20 The Way to Clean Air  Conducted a best practice and market research literature review. 

• Best Practices in Reducing the Cosmetic Use of Pesticides on Residential Property    Researched the relative effectiveness of outreach approaches being used in Canada, USA and Europe for reducing the cosmetic use of pesticides on residential property, both with and without legislative intervention (e.g. pesticide by-laws.)

• Best Practices in the Monitoring and Evaluation of Program Impacts  Contacted  well over 100 ‘experts’ from all six of the world’s major continents, and reviewed fifteen international examples of best practices in the area.

• Canadian Clearinghouse on Environmental Learning and Sustainability   Facilitated a group of key stakeholders from across Canada in developing the concept proposal for a Canadian Clearinghouse on Environmental Learning and Sustainability. By the end of a three-day session, we had helped the group reach consensus on all key items.

• Clean Air - Anti-Idling  Served as external reviewer for the development of Natural Resources Canada’s anti-idling promotional materials and website.

• Clean Air Day   Helped Environment Canada and the Clean Air Day Steering Committee to assess options for Clean Air Day. 

• Clean Air Website   Assisted Environment Canada in assessing options for its Clean Air web site. This included user testing, automated usability testing, user interviews and benchmarking interviews. 

• Change Management Communications Engaged municipal staff and external stakeholders in supporting and contributing to upcoming changes at the Region of Ottawa-Carleton.

• Climate Change Public Education and Outreach. Developed various research and strategy papers for the Public Education and Outreach (PEO) and Municipalities Issue Tables of Canada's National Climate Change Process.

• Community-Based Social Marketing Tool Kit   Developed, tested and disseminated practical information on community-based social marketing tools for promoting environmental citizenship.

• Domestic (Canadian) Markets for Indoor Environment Products and Services The first characterization study of the Canadian Indoor Environment Industries.

• Energy Efficiency / Demand Management   Supported BC Hydro with its demand management programs.

• Energy Innovators Survey  Helped the Canadian School Board Association understand how to better support member school boards in making energy efficiency improvements through the Energy Innovators Program. Provided recommendations, based on in-depth telephone interviews with school boards that had registered with the program. 

• Export Markets  Prioritized export markets for clean air technologies.

• Green Communities Canada Served as a social marketing advisor and trainer, developed a social marketing toolkit for use by the communities, and provided ongoing planning and implementation assistance.

• Green Commute  Assisted Nortel Networks in developing a program for engaging its employees to carpool, telecommute, walk, bike and/or skate to work more often.

• Healthy Housing Helped Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) develop a national communication strategy for its Healthy Housing initiative, and increase awareness of CMHC as an information company.

• Healthy Indoors  Organized a national, multi-stakeholder strategy development, consultation and alliance-building process for creating healthy indoor environments in Canada.

• Indoor Environment Workshops Organized full day multi-stakeholder workshops in six cities across Canada to communicate recent and upcoming advances in the indoor environment marketplace, and to strengthen working relationships among its stakeholders.

• One Tonne Challenge  Was selected to participate in a panel of international social marketing experts providing advice to this Government of Canada climate change mitigation program.

• Power Smart  Helped integrate CBSM approaches into BC Hydro's Power Smart behavioral program over a period of ten years. Assisted with behavior selection, barriers and benefits research and planning, consumer engagement, selection of celebrity spokespeople, and launch of a Climate Change Cafe video library.

• Product Launch  Created trade awareness through advertisements, articles and case studies, conference sessions, and trade show exhibits, to support the launch of a new chemical waste treatment system from a young Canadian company into the U.S. marketplace.  A short video was also produced, documenting the company's first high profile American installation, and the resulting client benefits.

• Sustainable Community Planning - Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation  Developed a national strategy for our client to use, in cooperation with its partners, to engage consumers in adopting more sustainable community planning alternatives.  Five product concepts were tested, and strategic directions for each were recommended.

• Sustainable Community Planning - FCM  Advised and supported the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' Sustainable Communities group during its early years.

• Synthesis of the Community Animation Program (CAP) Provided a national synthesis of the approaches taken and lessons learned from  a community-based environmental health animation program, run cooperatively by Environment Canada and Health Canada.

• Tools of Change Web site  Founded on the principles of community-based social marketing, this site links a growing bank of case studies and ‘lessons learned’ with planning guides and worksheets, to help program planners and implementers learn more quickly from their collective experience. It highlights approaches that have been particularly successful so that they can be replicated and built upon, as well as "turnkey" programs that have been ‘pre-packaged’ for use by others. The site is full of examples that are presented to each user in a customized manner, according to his or her interest profile. Users can save their planning work between sessions, and can download the resulting draft plans and work summaries to common word processors for further refinement.  This widely acclaimed website has become the most extensive, freely-accessible collection of full-length voluntary behavior change, social marketing and CBSM case studies available on the web. 

• Trade Association  On the basis of interviews with a variety of environmental stakeholders, advised the Ontario and Quebec trade associations for grain corn producers on 'building bridges' with the environmental community.

• U.N. Biodiversity Clearinghouse Mechanism Developed the inaugural strategic plan for the global Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM) operated by the United Nations Environment Program's Convention on Biological Diversity, and conducted an independent evaluation of its Pilot Phase.  

• UNEP OzonAction Clearinghouse Service  Conducted an Independent evaluation of the global OzonAction clearinghouse operated by the United Nations Environment Program in support of the Montreal Protocol.

• Virtual Clearinghouse of Canadian Housing Innovations  Helped scope out the viability and form of a Virtual Showcase of Canadian Housing Innovations. 

• Voluntary IAQ Initiatives  Co-authored a report covering the legal aspects of indoor air quality in Canada. The report included market drivers and barriers, reviews of selected voluntary initiatives, findings from expert interviews, an analysis of barriers and key elements for success, and a proposal for a national strategy emphasizing voluntary initiatives.

• Waste Management Plan  Prepared a chapter for the City of London's Waste Management Plan identifying attractive social marketing opportunities.

• Wood Stove Combustion   Served as a key strategist for assessing the feasibility of and then planning for a national health promotion program focused on residential wood combustion.