Despite growing anti-government backlash and cynical thinking about the poor conservation behaviors of Americans, local government may hold the key to creating successful conservation programs. Utilities, especially, try to draw in residents with incentives and educational initiatives to encourage participation in efficiency and conservation programs. Unfortunately, their messages are notoriously ineffective. In fact, citizens are looking to local government to guide them with specific information about how to conserve, provide rules for unacceptable resource use, and even provide enforcement where necessary. Strong opportunities exist for community partnerships that provide effective conservation messaging, leveraging the individual propensity for civic duty, pride and community excellence.

“Citizens are overwhelmed with messages that ultimately make them feel powerless to affect positive change,” says Carol L. Stimmel, founder of Manifest Mind. “It turns out that citizens really do want to do their part to conserve limited resources, but they want to work with people they know and trust to help them implement strategies that are workable for them. Local government is the ideal channel to meet this need.”

Manifest Mind, LLC, the sustainability research and consulting company based in Boulder, Colorado has released a new study entitled, Tapping into the Power of Civic Responsibility in Designing Conservation Programs, that provides fundamentally new insights into engaging American citizens with conservation programs. This comprehensive presentation details the findings of a web-based survey of 403 citizens in the United States conducted in April 2013, expert interviews and a literature review on the topic of civic responsibility and resource conservation, including energy, recycling and composting.

Most importantly, the study provides best practices for utilities that helps them effectively tap into consumers’ sense of civic responsibility to construct successful efficiency and conservation programs. These best practices demonstrate the importance of normative messaging, the role of the local community for successful implementation and case studies that show the practical application of these techniques.

The study is available for purchase now from the Manifest Mind website. Futher information, including a complete report summary and list of figures is available at www.manifestmind.com/downloads/civic-responsibility. Analyst interviews may also be arranged by emailing info@manifestmind.com.

Manifest Mind, LLC

Manifest Mind, LLC

Manifest Mind is a collective of thought leaders focused solely on the creation of assets useful to organizations wishing to execute powerful sustainable business practices that protect and grow business. Our team functions in partnership with your company by reducing costs and simultaneously providing expertise that provides actionable insight to identify, analyze, and execute sustainable business functions. To accomplish this, we focus on the competitive differentiation that is derived from introducing global green business practices through energy efficiency, pollution control, food safety, water quality and the stewardship of natural resources.

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