By Pei Shan Loo
Why are awareness raising campaigns popular? Why can’t they fix structural problems? And how can system dynamics help?
Large amounts of funding for health, societal, environmental and other complex problems are channelled into “awareness raising” to build public recognition of the problem in the hope that understanding will lead to change and a lasting solution.
Why awareness raising campaigns are popular
There are at least four reasons why funding is spent on awareness raising campaigns:
- Such campaigns can readily be conducted in short timeframes. For example, if funding is available for a one-year project, this is enough to successfully complete an awareness raising campaign.
- Similarly, awareness raising campaigns can usually be tailored to fit limited budgets.
- Training for local project staff to undertake such campaigns is relatively straight-forward.
- Pre-post campaign evaluations are straight-forward and usually demonstrate increased awareness and interest in the topic of the campaign.