Media campaign to save North Sea from litter wins UN-sponsored award

A media relations-led awareness campaign to reduce the amount of litter in the North Sea, casting a spotlight on birds being turned into “living dustbins” because of the amount of plastic waste they consume, has been chosen for the 2005 United Nations Grand Award for outstanding achievement in public relations.

Jointly sponsored by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI) and the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the annual award was established in 1990 to recognize excellence in public relations campaigns that address priority issues before the world Organisation.

This year’s winner is “Save the North Sea” with Weber Shandwick (Glasgow, United Kingdom) for a European Union environmental awareness campaign, targeting damage caused by 20,000 tons of litter dumped into the waters every year.

It characterized birds as turning into “living dustbins”, with 96 per cent of fulmars having plastic in their stomachs. “Save the North Sea” also worked with a group of fishermen in Scotland to cut the amount of marine litter and clean up the sea. Another initiative was a European campaign called “Fishing the litter,” launched on World Ocean Day in 2004.

The award will be presented as part of the 2005 IPRA Golden World Awards at a ceremony on 3 November in London.

The student group “Profi” of St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, Russia, was chosen for an honourable mention for their “Near Caucasus” campaign, which seeks to increase acceptance in the city of people coming from the Caucasus. It has already detected a change in attitudes.

After a training session organized by Profi, 43 per cent of attendees compared to 11 per cent at the beginning were interested in learning more about the culture and traditions of the people from the Caucasus. At the end of a conference with community leaders, 64 per cent of participants, compared to 45 per cent at the beginning, expressed an interest in assisting people coming from a different community than their own.