Crafting a strategy to communicate the impact of wetlands preservation
Veolia Foundation
Introduction
In 2018, the Veolia Foundation joined forces with the Czech Union for Nature Conservation (ČSOP) to launch Return Water to Nature programme. The project had a clear and measurable impact: since its start, the team has bought and protected more than 60 hectares of wetlands, helping retain water in the landscape and creating habitats for endangered species.
Yet despite this success, the foundation team knew there was untapped potential. The project was well-respected among experts, but almost invisible to the public, and even to Veolia's own employees.
Our task was to redesign the programme so that it could grow beyond conservation and become a living platform that connects people, organizations, and businesses around a shared goal: restoring water to the landscape.
Context and Challenge
The brief was clear:
"Design a new version of the foundation programme that increases its impact on nature, engages the public and partners, and verifies the business model of the foundation's e-shop."
When we began, we quickly learned that the foundation's main challenge wasn't lack of ideas. It was fragmented communication and limited capacity. A small, dedicated team was trying to run partnerships, an e-shop, and awareness campaigns while also maintaining dozens of wetland sites.
Process and Approach
We started by mapping all stakeholders — Veolia employees, school teachers, existing and potential partners, and volunteers from ČSOP. Through these conversations, three recurring themes emerged:
1. Employees knew little about the foundation's work.
2. Partners were interested but disconnected, ČSOP's decentralized structure made coordination difficult.
3. The public saw wetlands as an abstract environmental concept rather than a tangible cause they could join.
Most importantly we've realised that the work of Veolia and their partners has immense effect on local ecosystems. Reallocating funding to other cause might potentially bring some impact but would bring the negative impact on wetlands in Czechia.
Design Outcomes
After an ideation workshop, we distilled the redesign into four strategic pillars:
1. Employee and teacher engagement: Testing small-scale volunteering through existing ČSOP events to identify real interest before scaling.
2. E-shop revitalization: Redesigning the online shop to emphasize impact per purchase, adding new symbolic gifts (like the "wetland algae ball"), and improving navigation.
3. Partnership strengthening: Rebuilding the relationship with ČSOP and preparing frameworks for new corporate collaborations.
4. Pilot of a new communication strategy: Shifting from abstract environmental messages to stories of places, species, and people.
Each pillar included low-effort prototypes that the small Veolia team could implement and measure without large budgets.
I vividly remember the excitement I had when I presented these pillars to the team. At that point we were about a month in and had an immense amount of insights and issues, but didn't know how to tackle them systematically.
Communication Pilot
To test the new communication tone, we created a pilot campaign for the Znosimský wetland. We co-wrote the story with experts, highlighted the species living there, and supported the launch with visuals and social media content.
A collaboration with influencer Eliška Víravová turned the campaign into one of the foundation's most successful posts. Her short video about the wetland reached record engagement and brought thousands of new visitors to the site.
Eliška might be one of the luckiest finds I've ever had. While scrolling through Instagram one evening I came across her talking about the project of carrying endangered frog species across the road. After I presented the reel to stakeholders from Veolia, they asked us to facilitate a collaboration.
Results and Next Steps
The redesigned programme gave the foundation a clear structure and scalable approach to engagement. The e-shop now features new sections and products, and the first internal campaign to involve employees is underway.
During the short pilot we've been able to prove that public engagement is possible and that public is interested in the topic of wetland preservation.
Next steps for Veolia Foundation is setting clear tone of voice and establishing strong partnerships with conservationists and influencers that enable communicating the importance and stories behind the wetlands preservation.
