To date we have largely relied on people supporting campaigns by dragging them in with their conscious. This has worked to a certain extent but what we haven’t been so successful with is communicating the ‘why’ behind campaigns. Why do children live in poverty? Why does it matter that the earth’s temperature is increasing? More importantly we are struggling to package messages in a way that works in today’s environment that is saturated with information and distractions.

Unfortunately, advocacy campaigns aren’t selling a product that has a clear storyline or a million dollar advertising budget. For example, selling a new pair of running shoes is relatively straightforward. You should buy a pair because you will look good, they will help you get fit and healthy and they’re (hopefully) great quality. Then you pay a superstar athlete a million dollars and film him running on a deserted beach. Selling climate change is another story. To start with, unless you have studied and/or worked in the industry for at least a few years most of us are going to struggle to explain ‘climate change’ to our best friends let alone ‘sell’ it as an issue of public interest.

Luckily there are some really creative people out there who are working out new ways to actually educate people and get them onboard with global campaigns. I want to share with you four of my favourite video campaigns that demonstrate the direction we need to move in order to ‘re’engage people with the key issues of our time.

All of these videos have different messages and these are the things I like about them:

1. They are emotive without inciting ‘compassion fatigue’
2. They tackle the complexity of the issue and aim to educate viewers
3. They are not depressing and they don’t leave viewers feeling helpless
4. They keep the viewer interested and get them asking questions
5. They are online, short, easy to share, inspirational and are great design

I recommend you watch these clips fullscreen.

Number One
My number 1 favourite is a clip developed by the project ‘Mama Hope’ that aims to “Stop the pity and unlock the potential” of poor communities. The project advocates that telling the story of connection instead of contrast is an essential first step in ending poverty. The clip is fantastic and features Paul Simon’s hit song You Can Call Me Al. Watch the clip below or here.

Number Two
WWF’s latest clip – ‘Change the way you think about food’ is a great example of how to use animated infographics to start to explain the complexities of why we need to balance and manage the finite resources of the earth.

Number Three
This Miss Representation Trailer is a hard hitting clip about how “American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality”.

 Number Four
The Climate Reality Project’s (founded by Al Gore) latest stop motion video ‘Climate Change 101’ is a pretty sterling effort to engage and educate viewers in under 4 minutes about why climate change is important.

What is your favourite campaign video?

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My little clothing challenge has also made me think about why we are encouraged to support one of the biggest industries in the world, the fashion industry. We have been taught (and I’m talking from a female perspective) that being fashionable makes us feel beautiful, attractive, worthy of the men we pursue, unique, and often gives us confidence. These feelings have motivated many women to consume more and more. Way more than we actually need. I put myself in this category as well.

During my holiday I was constantly reflecting on what influences in my youth I could pin to this desire to consume clothing and of course there were many. On a sunny dry day in Australia’s capital city, Canberra, I was treated to a DVD showing of one of Roy Orbison’s live shows, featuring the famous single Pretty Woman. It was the first time I visually experienced the song that didn’t involve the gorgeous Julia Roberts in the blockbuster film of the same name. It is an awesome song as was the clip of the live performance that features  the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, James Burton, Tom Waits, kd lang, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, JD Souther, T Bone Burnett, Steven Soles and Jennifer Warnes.

After watching this I realised that for over 20 years I have associated this song with a particular scene in Pretty Woman featuring a shopping spree, where Richard Gere spends ‘an obscene amount of money’ on clothes for his lady, who is transformed into an even Pretty(ier) Woman. Check out the infamous scene below (sorry for the captions).

I must have seen this movie about 50 times, I loved it when I was 8 and I still love it now, although I can now recognise that films like this have negatively influenced my behaviours as a young girl and woman. This negative influence on my behaviours has not only made me feel the need to buy new clothes to look good but it has also contributed to mass consumerism which is directly linked to the destruction of our environment, the latter upsets me more.

I have begun to change my behaviours when it comes to clothes. I am buying less clothing, buying better quality and whenever possible ethically made clothing. I encourage all women to do the same.

Let’s reclaim the idea of the ‘pretty woman’ to be less like Julia Roberts after she buys half of Hollywood and be more like one of the women dancing freely in the crowd of Orbison’s Black and White night. Let’s turn her into a woman who cares about the world she lives in, celebrates life, cares less of what other people think and doesn’t pin her identity to the things she owns or the clothes she wears.

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Click through to the four episodes of 2011 Boyer Lectures below:

Lecture 1: Our Only Home

Lecture 2: A Home on Bland Street

Lecture 3: At Home in the World

Lecture 4: A Home in Fiction

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Could you go a month or even a year only wearing 10 pieces of clothing?

Well I’m going to try for just under a month. I am heading to Australia today for a holiday until the beginning of February and have packed 10 items of clothing to last me for the whole trip (not including underwear, swimmers and running gear. I am taking 3 pairs of shoes, one of which is a pair of runners). I am only taking carry on and my bag weighs 6.4kg. For some of you this may seem totally doable but for others it could be regarded as bit of a challenge especially considering I have my best friends wedding and my engagement party to attend during my holiday.

 Why am I doing this?

I buy too much and I want to change my consumer habits. In order to change these habits I need to change my behaviours and attitude to things I consume and clothing makes up a big part. As with the Winter B-icicle Challenge I want to walk the talk of sustainable living.

There was one statistic I heard at a recent Greennovate event relating to consumer behaviour that shocked me – Over a 5 year period we will throw out approximately 85% of all purchases. The Ethical Fashion Forum based in the UK says:

 UK consumers send 30kg of clothing and textiles per capita to landfill each year and that 1.2 million tonnes of clothing went to landfill in 2005 in the UK alone.

This level of consumption is alarming and so unsustainable it’s just not funny.

Recently the designers over at We Are Ultra have inspired me to rethink how I wear my clothes and how many items I actually need in my wardrobe. Ultra produce beautiful clothes made from approximately 75% recycled and organic materials. It is becoming more and more clear to me that you don’t have to have a full wardrobe to dress well and look good. Basically I need to buy less but at the same time buy clothes that are good quality items that will last. I need to get smarter with my purchases.

So below are my 10 items I will be wearing for January. I have chosen them based mainly on their comfort and suitability for the climate. All the items can be worn with each other to make different outfits.

You never know I might just find 10 items is too much.

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So here is my Christmas message to you.

I am a big fan of “praying with your feet” — doing what you can when you can with the realization you may not change the world, but maybe something in your little part of it.

You seem to do this quite well. I thought you deserve a thank you for this.

Wishing you the absolute best; certain you well keep up the good work.

Love Emily

…..

I’ve met some inspirational (and I use this word carefully) people this year who are doing some amazing work in a wide variety of areas to create a world we all want to live in. Here are just a few of them and I suggest you check out their work.

At the beginning of the year I met the lovely guys, Brendan and Weh, behind a development blog called WhyDev who are absolutely committed to getting ‘development’ right. Soon after moving to Beijing I met some of the crew, Fern and Stephen, from the Australian Broadcasting Centre who are out there dedicated to telling the world what is actually happening in China. In July I came across the guys at Operation Smile who help transform the lives of kids with cleft lips and palates.  In October I was involved in the Australia China Youth Dialogue founded by Henry Makeham who has poured blood sweat and tears into improving the relationship between Australian and Chinese youth. Last month I met up again with the team from Greennovate, who for the past four years have been researching, training, documenting sustainable business practices in China. The founder Mihela Hladin is nothing short of an amazing women. Finally my friend Monica, who I started Lane Change with has inspired a new of way of thinking and most importantly is great at keeping me honest.

That’s it from me for a month or so. I’m going to hang out with friends and family, swim in the ocean, ice-skate on lakes, go to weddings, crack champagne and generally take advantage of how lucky I am.

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This is especially true in collective cultures (where the group has precedence over the individual) which is the majority of Asia, including China. Promoting individual social and environmental sustainability is extremely important in China but without the companies where individuals work and the government that tightly control the country, pushing sustainability will be difficult.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit the ancient city of Pingyao in Shanxi provence in China. During my stay at a lovely hotel I experienced how both individual and corporate responsibility are important in influencing sustainable practises. During my few days stay one of the other guests (the individual) requested that house keeping do not change their towels and bed sheets everyday as it was not necessary. While the hotel (the corporate) would only light the fire when asked by guests to avoid unnecessarily burning wood. Furthermore in the feedback form there was a section to provide recommendations on how they could make the hotel more sustainable, something I have not seen before in China. While this is only a very small example it does highlight how both the individual and companies can promote responsibility in relation to sustainability.

Corporations and how they engage with the issue of sustainability is extremely important. This is new ground for many companies and CSR as an industry helps corporations to be more environmentally and socially responsible. CSR is no more but certainly no less important than the individual or any other ‘stakeholder’ that collectively make up the world we all live in.

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We have the other sites like Facebook and Twitter up and running too, so check it out!

Ms Elin Hansson and Calvin join in

Mr Riaad van der Merwe
with his Specialized Langster London that he’s been riding for three years

Me on my secondhand ‘princess battle’

Ms Minhui Jia 贾敏慧
with her second hand Beijing bike

Why am I doing it?

• To see if I can put my money where my mouth is in regards to living a greener life and not just when weather permits
• Also a good time to reflect about those people who have no home in Beijing during winter
• I love riding my bike and don’t want to go 3 months without it
• I hate Beijing taxis
• And I hate Beijing traffic jams even more

What I want from you.

• Join me! If you’re in Beijing or other Northern Hemisphere cities.
• Music requests. What are you favourite winter sound tracks? Send them my way. Listening to music will keep my mind off the icicles forming in my hair (It really is not that dangerous I only listen at a very low volume).

Rules – I will ride to work everyday unless:

I don’t want to over exaggerate the influence that aid agencies have had on combating poverty in China. The Chinese government has done a remarkable job of lifting millions of people out of poverty and they will not stop achieving this, but 150 million people still living in extreme poverty is a huge number. As with most issues in China it is the scale that makes them so significant.

Since working in CSR in China I have noticed a further shift towards engaging corporations to contribute to NGOs who work in poverty alleviation. This concerns me for two main reasons.

1. CSR in China is currently not mature enough to significantly contribute to poverty alleviation and is still often used as a tool to improve companies guanxi 关系 (relationship) with governments.
2. Unless there is a shift in the way we view capitalism, corporations will never view themselves as part of a social security system.

Corporations in China, both international and domestic, will not fund NGOs or GONGOs (Government Organised Non Government Organisations) to the extent that is needed to support to poorest of the poor. This is not to say that companies do not engage in successful community investment, they do, but it is by no means at the level necessary to significantly contribute to poverty alleviation. At this stage corporations can do more to alleviate poverty by focusing on improving their internal supply chains and employee working conditions.

International aid agencies in China have worked with (and therefore supported) domestic NGOs. Civil society in China, or the lack of it, is a real problem. Civil society, including community organisations and NGOs has the potential to play a huge role in poverty alleviation. However local NGOs are getting little support and now that aid agencies are leaving the situation for some is dire. I have spoken to a number of NGOs in China who are desperate to engage companies under the guise of CSR to fund their organisations. One of these NGOs was supported by an international aid agency that has now, in an official capacity, pulled out of China. It is my feeling that unless you are an international NGO or a GONGO in China you are going to struggle to get support under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility.

So who will provide enough support to domestic civil society that in turn support the most disadvantaged and poor?

Well, in my opinion, it will not be CSR departments of local and international corporations. Ultimately the responsibility lies with the government. The Chinese government have the money but currently, still lack the capacity and infrastructure to develop a social safety net that will support those living in extreme poverty. The issue around the government not supporting NGOs from a political perspective is also a contributing issue. The domestic philanthropy sector is rich (and making some progress) but riddled with challenges ranging from weak laws and regulations to outlandish corruption. China may get there in the end, but between now and then, the holes in the social security system are here to stay.