Outreach Documents

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Getting In Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns, Dec. 2003, EPA 841-B-03-002 (PDF, 3.3 MB).

The Getting in Step watershed outreach guidebook provides some of the tools you will need to develop and implement an effective watershed outreach plan. If you're a watershed practitioner trained in the sciences, this manual will help you address public perceptions, promote management activities, and inform or motivate stakeholders.

Watershed groups and public agencies conduct outreach activities every day, but often not in a planned, coordinated fashion. Many times someone in an outreach brainstorming meeting will exclaim, "We need a fact sheet!" But is that really what's needed? The step-by-step approach to outreach planning and implementation in this guide will help you determine if a fact sheet is really the appropriate format for your information, or whether some other vehicle might be more effective for reaching your target audience.

Getting in Step is divided into two parts and a series of practical appendices:

Part I provides the overall framework for developing and implementing a watershed outreach plan. It presents the outreach process in six discrete steps, with each step building on the previous ones. It offers tips and examples for developing and enhancing outreach materials; includes suggestions for creating eye-catching materials, using artwork and photos, and making your products more attractive, as well as approaches to layout and composition; and gives specific tips on working with the news media to get your message out through improved media coverage of polluted runoff and other water quality issues.
Part II includes practical information on implementing a watershed outreach campaign to generate and maintain momentum and overcome barriers to success.
Appendices provide worksheet templates to help you decide where to place your efforts and maximize the effectiveness of your outreach campaign.

Order the companion video Getting in Step: A Video Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns June 2003, EPA-841-V-03-001 by calling the National Service Center for Environmental Publications at (800) 490-9198, or by visiting epa.gov/ncepihom. This video reinforces the steps outlines in the guidebook and includes four very different examples of watershed outreach campaigns from different parts of the U.S. It is suitable for viewing by stakeholders, educators, or others interested in generating watershed outreach campaigns.

Getting in Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns - a web-based training module, revised in 2007

Getting in Step: Engaging and Involving Stakeholders in Your Watershed, Jan. 2003 (PDF, 1.3MB)

This document is a companion to Getting In Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns, described above. This stakeholder guide provides the tools needed to effectively identify, engage, and involve stakeholders throughout a watershed to restore and maintain healthy environmental conditions. Key concepts highlighted in the guide include the following:

Identifying driving forces
Forming a stakeholder group
Differentiating between positions and needs
Keeping the process moving forward
Dealing with conflict and hidden agendas
Making decisions using a consensus-based approach

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Outreach Documents

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