Education and Outreach

The purpose of education and outreach in a Bear Smart initiative is to provide people with information and activate them to participate in reducing human-bear conflicts. You want people to clean up attractants at their house, show support for Bear Smart efforts at a town council meeting, or carry bear spray when they’re recreating.

When approaching education and outreach you first need to know 1) what you’re trying to accomplish, and 2) who you need to accomplish it. Then, you can determine 3) how to accomplish it. We dive more into these ideas below, splitting it into the what (Establishing Goals), the who (Understanding Your Audience), and the how (Getting the Information Out).

It's important to remember that education is an ongoing activity that will require resources over the long term. It's often easy to develop motivation and support for the first year or two, but in order to be effective, your education program will likely need to continue indefinitely. New people will move into the community, tourists will visit every year, or people may have missed information in the past. Adding a section on education and outreach to your management plan will help efforts continue.

Note that information and education alone may not get everyone to change their behaviour permanently. In addition to information and education, look in to removing barriers to behaviour change, like implementing cost-share programs to reduce financial burdens or making sure conflict-prevention tools are readily available in communities. Find more about social marketing to create change in resources at the bottom of this page.

Establishing Goals

Before diving into passing out brochures, sharing press releases, or hosting events, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the purpose of your education and outreach efforts.

The ultimate goals of education and outreach in a Bear Smart initiative will likely be similar to these, as outlined in B.C.'s Bear Smart Community Program Background Report:

  • Help individuals/communities reduce the frequency of human-bear conflict within and around their communities,

  • Eliminate bears’ access to sources of non-natural foods by providing support, solutions, and encouragement for removing and securing attractants, and

  • Increase individual/community awareness and understanding of bears and human-bear conflicts.

As these are large, long-term goals for a Bear Smart initiative, it’s helpful to break things down into smaller chunks. Ask yourself, “What do we need to accomplish at this particular moment that will work toward our larger goals?”

The answer to this question will change depending on where you’re at in developing a Bear Smart initiative. Are you trying to build community support to show local officials that residents care about addressing human-bear conflicts ahead of an upcoming town council meeting? Do you need people to know about (and follow) a new ordinance requiring them to clean up attractants? Do you want recreators to know bear safety basics in response to increased bear activity on local trails?

Understanding what you want to accomplish will allow you to better determine who your target audiences are, what the best messages are, what educational activities and communication vehicles will be most effective, how much they will cost, who will implement them, and how they will be implemented over what period of time.

If you’re in the beginning stages of starting a Bear Smart initiative, education may be a big part of how you’re getting people involved in your effort. Check out our Getting Started page to learn more.

Understanding Your Audience

Once you know what you’re trying to convey, you need to know who you’re trying to reach—your target audience. Who does your working group need to participate, donate, or engage in conflict prevention efforts to be successful?

Your target audience is a relatively homogenous group of people in terms of current knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors and who is instrumental in addressing human-bear conflict. You will likely have multiple target audiences, which can include:

  • Homeowners and other residents

  • Visitors, tourists, and vacation rental owners

  • Farmers and ranchers

  • Recreationalists

  • Hunters and anglers

  • Industrial and construction workers

  • Commercial businesses

Keep in mind that not every audience is going to have the same motivations or interests as you. In identifying your audiences, you need to understand what they want, and where that overlaps with what you want. For example, bears may be getting into a local dump site. A wildlife enthusiast and potential donor would want to secure the site because they don’t want bears to eat garbage that can be harmful to consume or lead to them getting euthanized if they become food conditioned. Meanwhile, the garbage hauler in charge of the site might not be as motivated by bears’ wellbeing but want to decrease the time spent cleaning up garbage that wildlife scatter around the area. Ultimately, the end goal is the same: secure the dump site so bears can’t access the garbage. When approaching the garbage hauler, it would be more effective to focus on increased efficiency for the business, whereas the wildlife enthusiast will care more about the benefit to bears.

On a more basic level, certain information won’t be relevant to all audiences. For example, most audiences will need to know how to store trash in a bear-resistant manner to reduce conflicts (even though tactics will differ between audiences), but people outside of the ranching community likely don’t need to know about carcass management (although potential donors can find a less technical version of this information interesting!). Determine what information is most relevant to the audience you are trying to reach and is likely to make them engage.

Conducting a conflict assessment can help determine who stakeholders are in your community. You can use that information to better understand your relevant audiences.

Getting Information Out

Once you know what you want to accomplish and who you’re trying to reach, you can choose how you’re going to reach people.

Choose an avenue that is relevant to your audience and is sure to reach them. If you’re in a rural ranching community, partnering with 4H groups or providing information at local extension offices might be a good approach. If you’re trying to reach recreators, look to put informational signs at trailheads. Urban residents can be reached through direct mailings, local events, yard sign campaigns, and many other avenues. There will likely be some overlap in the audiences reached via certain approaches (a broad range of people may follow your social media pages, for example), so keep that in mind when crafting your messaging.

When it comes to creating educational materials, there's no need to reinvent the wheel. There are several groups already delivering Bear Smart-type programs in North America. There's no shame in using the same ideas or pamphlets as another group within reason, but be sure to ask for permission before using any materials. Also be sure that the information you’re sharing is accurate. Look to wildlife agencies, local bear managers, and other trusted organizations for help.

Funding is a key piece to sustaining education and outreach efforts. Refer to our Fundraising Strategies page for more information, and consider how you can combine some of the below activities with fundraising efforts.

Here are a few ideas for getting information out and engaging with people:

  • Social media: Don’t feel like you need to be on every social media platform. Pick one or two that is relevant to your target audience. On platforms like Facebook, don’t forget to post and share information in existing community pages.

  • Direct mailings: USPS offers EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail), allowing you to send mail to specific zip codes and neighborhoods without needing a mailing list of individual addresses. Canada Post offers a similar service called Neighbourhood Mail.

  • Media coverage: Write letters to the editor, share press releases, or invite local media outlets to events you’re hosting.

  • Advertising campaigns: Take out ads in local print publications or develop a series of billboards with clear messaging that will be seen around town.

  • Stickers: People love to grab stickers (especially at events), and they can promote Bear Smart programs or provide reminders about preventing conflicts whether they’re on a car bumper or a water bottle. Some communities have developed window sticker campaigns that let individual households or businesses declare “We are Bear Aware.”

  • Signage: Add permanent signs at trailheads, dump sites, parks, and other public spaces with relevant conflict-prevention information. Put up temporary signs with warnings or reminders at hot spots for bear activity.

  • Kiosks and information displays: Add brochures and other education materials to kiosks or displays at hotels, libraries, and local businesses.

  • School and youth education programs: Join a classroom to give a presentation on bears, partner with a teacher to develop a project (like this film project from students in Alberton, MT), or find youth programs that are interested in incorporating bear education.

  • Events: Read more below!

Events

Events can be a great way to meet community members, provide trainings, hand out informational flyers, and more. If you’re just getting started on a Bear Smart initiative, it might make more sense to set up a table at an already existing event, like a farmers market, rather than host an independent event like a bear fair.

Before diving in to hosting or participating an event, ask yourself these questions:

  • What audience are you trying to reach, and what type of event will they be most likely to attend? Keep timing in mind. Pick a day and time of day that people will likely be able to attend. Location is important, too.

  • What’s your capacity? Do you have enough materials printed, volunteers/staff, funding, and time to organize everything?

Here are a few ideas for events:

  • Host how-to workshops. Teach people the basics of building electric fences to deter bears, composting in bear country, or using other conflict prevention tools.

  • Host a presentation with local bear managers. People are often interested in learning what bears are doing in their area, especially if bears are just beginning to move into the area.

  • Teach people to use bear spray. Get inert training canisters so people can practice using spray. Bear spray trainings are a great follow-up to bear safety presentations.

  • Join in a local harvest festival. Fall is a great time to talk about reducing conflicts as bears enter hyperphagia. You can also share information and resources about gleaning.

  • Host a bear fair. These events can capture all of the above ideas and include presentations, bear spray trainings, displays of conflict prevention tools, and tables from relevant organizations.

More Resources

  • Manuals: Find more information on incorporating education programs into management plans in section 8 of B.C.'s Bear Smart Community Program Background Report, or section 3 of the IGBC Bear Smart Community Framework manual.

  • Materials: People and Carnivores has flyers and educational kits (folders that include flyers, checklists, magnets, stickers, etc., targeted toward specific audiences).

  • Materials: BearWise has a number of educational materials available for purchase and to print.

  • Materials and Messaging: The IGBC offers some educational materials, along with pre-written messaging you can use in communications with different audiences including hikers and campers, hunters, residents, and farmers and ranchers.

  • Book: Communication Skills for Conservation Professionals by Susan Kay Jacobson

  • Book: Message Matters: Succeeding at the Crossroads of Mission and Market by Rebecca K. Leet

  • Book: Fostering Sustainable Behavior (An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing) by Doug McKenzie-Mohr & Jennifer Tabanico