INNOVATIVE AND INSPIRING CAMPAIGN — JOY WITHOUT JUNK!
The Kelaa!-project is an example of how you can communicate about serious matters with a positive and inspiring touch. The project guides people to adopt a sustainable lifestyle, reminding them that happiness doesn’t require growth of material consumption.
Campaign with a complex target group
The Kelaa!-project combines innovative use of media and inspiring events. A visionary campaign is needed when targeting the masses that are not yet actively combating climate change. It is important to step closer to everyday life and to find means to act that people find interesting, motivating and easy. Through a positive approach you can find your way to talk about the issues in everyday life that are not only very personal but also have the greatest climate impact: What do we eat? How do we live? How do we organise our family transport?
With funding from the European Regional Development Fund, Kelaa! is a three-year project and service centre for sustainable development and energy in Southwest Finland; Valonia is the leading partner. Started as Local Agenda 21, Valonia is a dynamic campaign office owned by the municipalities of Southwest Finland.
Hundreds of events with a vast media campaign
The Kelaa!-project organised hundreds of events during 2008–11 and had almost 20,000 face-to-face contacts. Events include dozens of different types of workshops, a hardware store campaign targeting middle-aged men, a free concert on ‘Buy Nothing Day’ and an ecological fashion show as a part of a local fair, to name but a few. The media campaign has covered television, radio, internet, newspapers and outdoor advertising. An important part of the media campaign has been a series of articles, columns and cartoons in local papers and programmes on local television and radio. Activities have drawn a good deal of positive public attention.
But what have we accomplished? Change in behavior happens slowly, so the true consequences are seen in the long run. What is safe to say is that people have been inspired, and they have seen that a sustainable lifestyle can be fun and fulfilling. Of course, a lot has yet to be done. We need to inspire and motivate people to act in their everyday lives, and we need to create communities where the sustainable choice is also appealing.
