Think like a movement.

If  we were serious about saving the world, we'd unite, wouldn't we?

Ours is the most branded movement in all of history.  Some of it is good, especially at the local level where individual campaigns are a reflection of individual passion and creativity.  At the more senior levels, however, we are often left with the impression that campaigns and brands are more about praising the messenger than actually delivering solutions.

This must change.

We've changed.  From the point the Conservation Council of Ontario realized it was our role to support a voluntary transition to a conserver society (shifting from our traditional role as a policy think tank), we have changed our mission and strategy, guiding principles and membership:

• our mission is to foster a conserver society and our main strategy is to support the development of a united conservation movement
• taking our mission and strategy to heart, we emphasize "thinking like a movement".  All our material is shareware, meaning that it can be freely used by anyone who "shares" our values and mission.
• we have opened up our membership to include businesses and municipalities as equal partners in the conservation movement.

We challenge our colleagues, members, and governments to adopt a similar approach.  Retain your niche and areas of expertise, by all means, but where we are working towards common goals (such as the Top Ten actions), we need to create a higher level of integrated campaigns.

Here's two examples:

We Conserve:  To the best of our knowledge, "We Conserve" is the first integrated, high-level voluntary transition strategy in the world.  We're building it as we go, but we are happy to share our knowledge, experience and resources with other jurisdictions that wish to replicate our campaign.

Doors Closed: we designed Doors Closed as an example of "movement-based social marketing".  It tackled a hot button issue (stores that air-condition sidewalks) with an innovative "procott" campaign and literature that was printed free of charge with the logo of any organization in Ontario that could distribute at least 200 copies to local stores. 

Where we go next is up to the movement.  We can only think that a common strategy, more solutions-oriented networks, and strong lead organizations will lead to a much better approach to promoting the voluntary transition of Ontario to a post-oil, climate friendly, conserver society.