My Tamar Campaign & Festival
As part of the WaterLIFE project, WRT organised a 6 week tour of the Tamar Catchment, culminating in the Tamar Festival. The tour aimed to unite people living and working in the Tamar catchment, raising awareness about the resources the river provides and the health of freshwater ecosystems.
Aims
Raise awareness of the activities of the Tamar Catchment Partnership
Help communities understand the ecological, sociological and recreational value of the Tamar
Encourage local businesses to get involved with the Catchment Partnership
The Initiative
Creation of a brand
Working with the PR company ‘Stranger Collective’, a public-facing brand, tone of voice and campaign strategy were created, to unite the partnership and provide a hook to draw in individuals, businesses and civil society groups.
Media campaign
The tagline of the campaign was ‘Make your Mark on the Tamar this Summer’, which was promoted via a variety of local and national magazines, blogs, radio stations and newspapers. The campaign got people involved on social media using the hashtag #MakeYourTamark.
Tour and Festival
The tour visited 6 locations in the Tamar Catchment, with the final festival held at Cotehele Quay in October 2015. Throughout the tour members of the public were encouraged to ‘Tell your Tamar tale…’ and draw or paint a ‘TaMark’. These were then showcased at the festival. River conservation and restoration activities organised by members of the Catchment Partnership were also showcased at the event. The festival featured talks on Tamar history, habitats, wildlife and local food, and visitors enjoyed craft demonstrations, live music and were able to have a go at water quality testing. Stalls promoted a wide range of interests and issues including arts and heritage, scientific research and citizen science, and recreation and leisure opportunities on and around the Tamar.
Festival Attendees
New Contacts
Newspaper Adverts
Lessons Learnt
This was the first major public engagement campaign organised by WRT. The feedback received was positive and the event is considered to have been a success.
However, the campaign afterlife activities suggested by the PR company were not all completed. The time, resources and funds available after the project has finished should be considered when planning ongoing engagement.
Lessons for the Catchment Partnership
Read more details on the successes and lessons learnt from this public engagement project, in the My Tamar WaterLIFE report.
Interested in the WaterLIFE project?
The WaterLIFE project worked in five demonstration catchments across the UK, working on building capacity for communities and organisations to be collaborative and innovative in managing water resources.