Themes » Awareness Raising

How it works

  1. Read the articles
  2. Check out the stories, quizzes and reflections
  3. Train yourself with the accompanying skills
  4. Take action!

“Awareness is empowering” – Rita Wilson (American actor and singer)

Awareness raising means making people conscious about a problem or issue. You want to make a certain topic or issue more visible within a community. The goal is to make people understand the importance of a certain issue and find support to address it.

The difference with advocacy, is that awareness raising doesn’t have the goal to change a policy directly. It is purely about informing people and giving them new bits of information. However, awareness raising can also be a tool for advocacy, to convince policy makers of the urgency of a certain issue, backed up by a whole segment of the community!

Awareness raising is very powerful, because it educates people about topics which are new to them and encourages them to participate in bringing change.

In this course, you will find more information on:

  • Identifying local issues

  • Selecting a cause

  • Starting a campaign

  • Sensitization

 

You practice!

Choose one of the awareness raising activities below, and prepare it with the information you will get in this course!

  • Organize a (social) media campaign to involve your community and put pressure on decision makers

  • Go into the community to tell people in your own environment about an issue you find important

  • Hold a debate about a certain issue in school, community, hospital, youth center...

  • Start a petition to get people’s support. This can then be presented to a decision maker

  • Organize a rally, demonstration or peaceful march.

  • Hand out brochures and leaflets with information

  • Do a theatre performance, sing a song or create a piece of art about an issue