Early formal efforts to promote environmental sustainability began by encouraging teach-ins on college campuses. These lively events were popular programs to debate the Vietnam War, and after Senator Gaylord Nelson was moved by an oil slick large enough for him to see from an airplane, he proposed shifting the topic to the environment.
So, the infrastructure was created, a crew assembled and national efforts were made to promote environmental teach-ins on college campuses. It went nowhere. The war generated lots of emotions and diverse opinions, but no one was passionate about ruining the planet. The teach-in was the wrong format.
The advocacy could have ended there but the astute national director Denis Hays realized that college students were still intensely focused on war activism, so he turned instead to K-12 students. The organization shifted its focus, enlisted the help of the major education organizations, and for the first Earth Day in 1970, over 10,000 primary and secondary schools were involved. Today, over 95% of K-12 schools in the US will observe Earth Day, and educators in 149 countries participate in activities.
Keep the early Earth Day organizers in mind the next time your organization needs to pivot. The shift from college teach-ins to K-12 education was not an easy one, but it made all the difference. Be willing to reevaluate — even assumptions as fundamental as your target audience, format and focus — and remain focused on the ultimate goal rather than wed to the strategies to achieve it.
Source: Wikipedia and EarthDay.org
