Step 6 • Grow Community

Artwork: Steve Schweigerdt, Sacramento

Make your case, grow your community and secure support

To secure all the support you need to become a National Park City, you’ll need to have a clear and compelling case – and be ready to communicate it. Your case will be closely linked to the things you’ve considered in points one to five, including your story, proposal and Charter.

Other things you need to think about include your insights, vision, purpose, audiences and key messages. Then you’ll need to consider what communication channels you use to get your messages across.

Some of these you will control, or own, and others you might be able to buy, but ideally your ideas and messaging will be strong enough that you’ll earn people’s interest and their investment in spreading good communications for you.

If your vision is compelling enough, lots of people will want to talk about it and that will help you to raise awareness without having to spend any money.

Raising Awareness...

In Your Application, We’d Like To See How You’ve Raised Awareness And Promoted Your Message

To make your case you‘ll need to:

Campaign to raise awareness of your vision and proposal
Gain positive media coverage
Encourage groups and organisations in your urban area to include your campaign in their communications
Have a mechanism for the public, decision makers and influencers to show they support your ambition and plans – for example, by signing your draft Charter.

Regularly raising awareness and promoting your campaign will help you to grow the size, diversity and strength of your community. It will also help you to secure the support you need to become a National Park City.

You’ll need to demonstrate that:

At least 1 in 10 people in your urban area are aware of the National Park City proposal
At least 7 in 10 people in your urban area support the proposal when it’s explained to them
Consultations you have held broadly agree with your proposal
You have an appropriate level of political support from relevant politicians
You have an appropriate level of consent from relevant authorities and agencies
You’ve built a large and cross-sector network of supporting groups and organisations.

One way to demonstrate this awareness and support is through independent public polling. This should be done by an independent organisation that is used to running professional surveys and questionnaires.

...and Increasing Support

Here Are Some Suggestions For Growing Your Community And Securing Support

Grow your community:

Organise regular campaign meetings
Organise public gatherings where people can meet and build relationships
Set up social media channels. Regularly update them with new content and respond to likes and comments
Send out a regular email newsletter
Champion and celebrate the good things people are doing in your area, such as initiatives to grow trees or enable children to play in nature
Inspire people to set up National Park City campaign or action groups. Schools and businesses often have “green teams” to promote recycling and clean energy, what if they became National Park City groups?
Invite people to become advisors, champions or ambassadors. They can do this as part of their everyday lives and jobs, while benefitting from being part of a wider movement
Connect people, ideas and places through your events and communications.

Create a network of organisations:

Invite groups and organisations to become a “friend” of your campaign
Create a network or partner organisations to deliver on aspects of your campaign.

Recruit the support of politicians:

Write to politicians asking them to confirm their support for your proposal
Ask for commitments that will help your campaign or National Park City’s success
Offer to give talks or presentations to politicians and their constituents
Publicly show which politicians or political areas support your proposal.

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