EcoPeace annual Conference Nov 2016 with government support
Top Down - National and International initiative
Meeting
Basin commissioners and representatives from around the world at EcoPeace's 2016 conferenct
Top-Down is the process to create broader political awareness of the issue. It includes advocacy for national and international support. Commonly a concept paper that explains the problem initiates this process with further research to support and document the issues.
It is important to appeal to the news media, as their attention is necessary to heighten the political awareness of the issues and to convey the information to the public, resulting in the creation of a broader public demand for action. Media attention mobilizes national and international engagement and can foster domestic and international resource mobilization.
In our experience, public opinion plays a decisive role in dictating the political agenda to local leaders as well as national decision makers.
Strong community engagement and public initiatives create the demand for political action.
It is important to create an environment in which it is politically safe to discuss the solutions, if the solutions are truly in the national self-interests then politicians will more easily embrace the change and even lead it.
Good relations to media and the international community can facilitate government involvement.
In an unsteady political landscape, environmental issues are held hostage, used as pawns in the overarching political conflict and within the framework of the official peace process. In order for the initiatives to produce a real change, a careful balance must be maintained: to achieve the explicit approval of officials without losing momentum to the tedium of politics.