Growing Community Engagement Through Collaboration
CHRL expanded its reach by partnering with local organisations to connect with new audiences and promote Landcare activities through shared networks. These collaborations increased participation, raised awareness, and successfully converted new interest into ongoing community involvement.
Capacity building - LEP_23_033_LCC_CHRL_05
The issue
Coffs Harbour Regional Landcare (CHRL) has a dedicated and passionate volunteer base; however, participation in events and workshops is often drawn from the same group of attendees. While this demonstrates strong ongoing engagement, it limits the organisation’s ability to broaden its reach and connect with new audiences. Existing promotion methods largely circulate within established networks, making it difficult to engage individuals who may not typically participate in environmental activities. Expanding awareness and attracting a more diverse cross-section of the community is essential to increasing impact and ensuring Landcare’s messages about caring for the local environment are shared more widely.
The solution
Over the past six months, CHRL has expanded its reach by actively building partnerships with other organisations to connect with new audiences.
For example, during Clean Up Australia Day, we partnered with the Coffs Harbour chapter of OzFish. By jointly selecting a site and promoting the event through both organisations’ communication channels, we significantly broadened our audience and engaged participants who may not have previously been connected with Landcare activities.
Similarly, a workshop aimed at recruiting volunteers for seed collecting was supported and promoted through the City of Coffs Harbour’s Sustainable Living Program, via their Our Living Coast newsletter. Their audience has a strong interest in nature connection and sustainable living—values closely aligned with Landcare—but many may not have been directly exposed to or aware of our work. By collaborating on this workshop, leveraging their established communication channels, and tailoring the content to emphasise nature connection, we successfully reached a new and more diverse group of people.
The impact
For Clean Up Australia Day, 22 participants attended, with approximately half coming from each organisation. This allowed both CHRL and OzFish to share our work with people we would not typically engage with. The seed collection workshop, with a stronger focus on nature connection, also proved successful. All participants expressed interest in continuing to be involved in future seed collecting activities.
These outcomes demonstrate the value of partnerships in reaching new audiences, increasing awareness of Landcare, and converting initial engagement into ongoing participation.
Key facts
- CHRL collaborated with other organisations to reach new audiences.
- 22 people attended Clean Up Australia Day, about half new to Landcare.
- All seed workshop participants wanted to stay involved.