When developing strategies for promoting education and public awareness of MEAs, States and Secretariats may wish to consider structured and strategic approaches that respond to specific needs within the specific contexts. Considerations could include:
- developing a communications strategy, rather than an uncoordinated series of isolated activities;
- this strategy should clearly state the objectives, methodology, and specific project activities for a targeted and time-bound campaign for promoting compliance;
- the strategy should identify the target audiences, which could include (for example) civil society, specific business sectors, and end users;
- this strategy should be integrated into, or at least cross-referenced with, comprehensive plans such as a Country Programme or sectoral strategies (such as Refrigerant Management Plans);
- link ad hoc awareness and communications components of larger projects to one another and to the broader communications strategy. One way to do this is by disseminating the results and ideas of the project outside the immediate context of that particular project;
- in addition to mainstreaming communications components into other projects, communications activities should emphasise more intensive, repeated, and synergistic awareness-raising and educational activities;
- communications activities should follow the communications strategy. This may include event-driven activities (such as Ozone Day), but communication activities should not be limited to such isolated efforts; and
- according political support to education and outreach; this can be done in part through adequate staffing:
- designating communications or educational professionals, rather than government officials or technical experts, to be responsible for developing and implementing the communications strategy;
- ensuring that the designated communications person has adequate time and resources to focus on public awareness activities and working with the media, in part by focusing their terms of reference on those activities;
- in order to foster political support, the strategy could include activities directed toward high-level politicians to ensure sustainable commitment and attention for compliance.