Environmental Policies and Strategic Communication in Iran: The Value of Public Opinion Research in Decision Making (World Bank Working Papers)

Air pollution in Tehran has become a major problem in recent years, due to the geographical position of the town, industries, and traffic. Most private and public vehicles are old and have no emission control systems. The Municipality of Tehran and the Department of Environment have started several actions to reduce pollution, with communication activities being part of their strategy. For better planning, and to make possible the monitoring and evaluation of the communication activities, a baseline study was completed in 2004 using direct interviews of 1,200 Tehran residents. The interviews covered aspects such as experiences, opinions, knowledge, and willingness to act. Use of and trust in several information sources and media were also investigated, in order to select the best communication mix for future activities. Iran is currently implementing a five-year project, co-financed by the World Bank, aims: a) to strengthen the institutional capacity to monitor air and water quality, b) to build partnerships among ministries, universities, municipalities and civil societies, and c) to strengthen training and public awareness on environmental issues. These studies reveal some factors such as age and education are consistently related to environmentalism over time and across studies. This publication reports the main findings of a survey conducted on the perception, knowledge, and behavior of Tehran residents, relating to the environment. The study confirms the need for a properly focused information campaign to raise the level of knowledge about the environment and to form the consciousness that could motivate people to act or to accept the changes imposed by the authorities. The study also found several information channels need to be used in order to reach different groups of Tehran residents "Air pollution in Tehran has become a major problem in recent years, due to the geographical position of the town, industries, and traffic. Most private and public vehicles are old and have no emission control systems. The Municipality of Tehran and the Department of Environment have started several actions to reduce pollution, with communication activities being part of their strategy. For better planning, and to make possible the monitoring and evaluation of the communication activities, a baseline study was completed in 2004 using direct interviews of 1,200 Tehran residents. The interviews covered aspects such as experiences, opions, knowledge, and willingness to act. Use of and trust in several information sources and media were also investigated, in order to select the best communication mix for future activities."--Résumé de l'éditeur "Air pollution in Tehran has become a major problem in recent years, due to the geographical position of the town, industries, and traffic. Most private and public vehicles are old and have no emission control systems. The Municipality of Tehran and the Department of Environment have started several actions to reduce pollution, with communication activities being part of their strategy. For better planning, and to make possible the monitoring and evaluation of the communication activities, a baseline study was completed in 2004 using direct interviews of 1,200 Tehran residents. The interviews covered aspects such as experiences, opions, knowledge, and willingness to act. Use of and trust in several information sources and media were also investigated, in order to select the best communication mix for future activities."--BOOK JACKET