Eden Project

A new tourist attraction

 

Securing community and media support for an eco-tourism attraction on the Great Ocean Road and highlighting its tremendous value to the local economy.

 

THE CHALLENGE

Global social enterprise, The Eden Project, partnered with resources corporation Alcoa, to transform a former coal mine site in Anglesea into a large eco-tourism attraction. Our goal was to get the local Anglesea community, influential stakeholder groups and key policy decision-makers to support the project by building credibility and trust.

THE SOLUTION

Over four community information sessions, we introduced locals to the people behind The Eden Project and their vision for a sustainable ecotourism attraction. This was an opportunity for community members to learn about the concept, ask questions and provide meaningful feedback on the project.

Key stakeholder groups were engaged and provided site tours, while we also managed community feedback research analysis to feed into our communications strategy and project plans.

In addition to this, we led the communications outreach through a national and international media relations campaign, the design and management of a project microsite, content creation for local media advertising, a video news release, and project overview video.

THE RESULTS

In response, more than 600 people attended The Eden Project’s event with 420 feedback forms collected and 600+ contact registrations. And in three months, more than 4,000 people visited the website.

Our media coverage was also highly successful with more than 300 pieces published – 80% of which was in Tier-One media – and 119 million people reached. Overall, we achieved an average Impact Score of 86 out of 100.