One of the topics discussed when I was working on a Fundraising project with NTU was how to get people to care about environmental issues such as Recycle, Reuse, Reduce, especially starting in schools and having it permeate to parents and families. Whereas “convenience” has proven to be the most compelling feature in the US (although some who want to make it a penalty-based campaign just don’t get it), we could brainstorm what it would take to successfully launch such a program in the student’s own “backyard” (probably school). Here are the main elements:
(1) Financial support. Such a campaign will have expenses. Can one get a grant for such a project, or should starting funds be raised personally by donations or borrowing? Can the program eventually become self-supporting?
(2) Expectations. What do you hope to accomplish? Can you justify the effort by the results?
(3) Opportunity. Is this timely? Can you engage the target audience? What is the CREATIVE element you would incorporate?
(4) Problem-Solution Pairing. Can you clearly and persuasively explain the framework of this project in terms of an “attention-grabbing” problem and a competitively advantageous solution?
(5) Can you list the tasks/action items involved in accomplishing the project goals? How will you get from point A to point B? Who are the stakeholders? Who will be actively involved? Who will be passively involved?
(6) What are the project risks? What will you have learned if the project fails? Will you still emerge as a leader?
(7) Materials. Create a materials list. Add alternative materials and justify the selection of the primary materials.
(8) Content. What are the main ideas? How are the main ideas connected? How are the main ideas supported? What is the single most critical take home message? How innovative is this?
(9) Delivery. How will your platform be deployed? How will you measure your level of effectiveness and success? How will your project be sustained? For how long will it be sustained?
(10) Give your project a name. Create a byline that clearly but briefly describes your project. Do you need to differentiate? Optional: create a project roadmap.
Note: this could be a program for plastics, glass containers, water, or even batteries – just select something that has not been implemented but is needed in your school (or home). There are many such programs already in the US, so we could pose this a porting project or one of “localization” – language translation or cultural adaptation. This reminds me of the green carbon footprint calculator a few of the CEE 277E students did in 2010.