Social and behavior change communication has a critical role in supporting young people to meaningfully engage with climate change because ultimately they will be at the forefront of addressing it and leading on innovative adaptation and mitigation solutions in the years to come. BBC Media Action's Kembali Ke Hutan (Return to the Forest) project aims to engage Indonesian millennials on the sustainable development challenges the country faces, help them to make informed choices, and create platforms to have their voices heard.


In late 2021 a mixed methods evaluation, including an experiment was conducted to explore the impact of programming on youth audiences' environmental knowledge, discussion, willingness to share environmental posts on social media and follow influencers on these issues, as well as efficacy, motivation and participation in climate, environmental and green growth issues.


We found that watching the project's TV drama and social media discussion programme increased people's interest in news and current affairs, motivated public discussion of climate change, made people more knowledgeable about humans' impact on nature and the climate, increased willingness to share environmental posts and follow relevant online influencers, and boosted support for the Indonesian government climate pledge and broadcasters to do more to cover climate and deforestation issues in their content. It did not, however, influence people's climate related risk perceptions nor did it have an impact on the intent to get involved in local environmental action (clean-up/tree-planting).

Central America faces increased food insecurity due to the impact of the climate crisis. Droughts and hurricanes have caused crops to fail in a region where a majority of people rely on agriculture for food and livelihoods. Widespread shifts in how farming practices are approached are required to adapt to the new realities facing farmers, and to ensure the health of the economies which rely on these resources. As a response to the urgent issues of climate crisis and food insecurity, which were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Con los pies en la tierra (With Our Feet on the Soil) is a Social Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) multi-media campaign implemented since 2020 to encourage the adoption of proven sustainable Water Smart Agriculture (WSA) farming practices in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. The campaign uses radio, social media and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to provide information and engage farmers in the region with relevant content to improve soil, manage water and secure their livelihoods. Entertainment education radio content is produced and disseminated on radio stations across the region along with call-in shows featuring technical experts from WSA, as well as partner organizations and government ministries. Extension workers are trained in how to use the content to further engage with farmers to adopt new behaviors. The social media strategy includes Facebook Live events, blog entries, and video testimonies to further mobilize audiences, and the IVR platform provides an additional avenue to support farmers with technical information.