Video Advertisement:

Stop-Motion Video Advertisement:

UGPRP Logos and Designs:

About

Ghana has a serious waste management issue that hasn’t been addressed very successfully. This is especially evident in Accra, Ghana’s capital and largest city. Though Accra is economically and culturally advanced in many ways, the trash in the streets and in the sea seem to pile up even more as the economy moves forward. There is a system in place to handle garbage and trash, but it is inadequate. As a result, trash is often burned, left in massive piles in certain parts of cities, and often simply left where dropped.

These problems have not gone unnoticed. The University of Ghana (UG) observed that the waste problem on campus was worsening and decided to enact a plan for change—specifically addressing the problem of plastic waste. A few years ago a group of students started the program UGPRP or University of Ghana Plastic Recycling Project. This student-led initiative was designed to motivate the next generation of college students to be the trend-setters toward a new era in waste management. Recycling does happen in Ghana but minimally, and most people simply haven’t been educated about recycling. UGPRP seeks to increase recycling and manage waste better beginning on the UG campus and eventually expanding to greater Accra and beyond.

Fast forward to 2018, and our group from the University of Oregon Media in Ghana program was tasked to work alongside the UGPRP team and assist with communications. Over the six weeks our group was in Ghana, we used our talents and skills to make advertisements, write stories, and shoot photos and videos and more. Even though this initiative started a few years back, it still lacked communication tools. We had extended discussions about UGPRP’s and needs moved forward to create assets that the local team could use or adapt. UPPRP’s primary goal was and is to inform and educate UG students and staff about plastic recycling and to encourage new behaviors to make Ghana’s environment safer and more habitable.

The goal of our 2018 Media and Ghana team was to let the UGPRP team lead us on the project. Our team brought our media production skills to the forefront and trained members of UGPRP to do the same so that when our group departed, they could carry on where we left off. Through this experience, our Media in Ghana group learned so much about how to operate within the media space of a culture very different from our own. It was a joy to learn so much from the UGPRP team, and what we provided them helped them kickstart a recycling campaign for the 2018-19 school year at the University of Ghana.

Credits:

Co-chair of Vice Chancellor’s Green Project Team: Dr. Benjamin D. Ofori

Team Leader of University of Ghana Plastic Recycling Project: Julius-Jayson Botchway, Bachelor of Arts Psychology Major and Adult Education and Human Resource Minor.

UO Faculty Program Directors: Dr. Leslie Steeves and Dr. Senyo Ofori-Parku

Team Leader of UO Media in Ghana Recycling Project Group: Jacob Brown

Design and Strategy Team: Maggie Elias, Kezia Setyawan, Kelly Franks, Rachel Bonner, and Emily Scarvie

Video and Photo Team: Jeffrey Dean, William Tierney, and Jacob Brown

Scripting Video Team: Aviva Speck, Whitney Marks, and Taylor Fritz

Social Media Team: Emily Port, Kendra Rettig, and Clare Malone

Radio Team: Makenna Crocker and Jacob Brown

Program Partners: Dr. Michael Williams, Aya Centre; Dr. Margaret Amoakohene, University of Ghana

Media in Ghana 2018 Blog Editor: Jeffrey Dean

Other Program Plans:

Social Media Calendar:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Kvv-sn8nnCYtKFZsL6ycvAjG1G7zYXGLrhN-rhLM1pA/edit?usp=sharing

Video Ad Ideas:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RDR784Jsr-3xBzrlOd-i6NPOTMsivSnNpFZk0Id5a7Y/edit?usp=sharing

Team Roles and Responsibilities:

Jacob Brown:

  • Facilitated meetings, formed groups, and oversaw production
  • Edited video advertisement for the project
  • Helped script topics for radio spots

Maggie Elias:

  • Design Team Leader/Graphic Designer
  • Point of communication between UGPRP team members and our Design Team
  • Created a style guide for the team to refer to
  • 6’x4’ banner advertising the UGPRP in front of the residential halls
  • Large format sticker designed for the tricycle plastic recovery system
  • Delegation of other design tasks, coordination with teammates, file preparation and distribution

Kezia Setyawan:

  • Design Team Co-Leader
  • Shot all the pictures with the water bottles and sachets for the informative advertisement designs
  • Made the stop-motion video that informs how to go about recycling on the UG campus
  • Part of facilitating the creative process and adding to it as well

Rachel Bonner:

  • Member of Design Team
  • Made several designs for the UGPRP team to use in the future revolving around country pride
  • Worked with Design team to help edit others’ designs and strategize the placement of each one
  • Part of the placement and incentive process to get UG students and staff involved

Kelly Franks:

  • Member of Design Team
  • Helped with designs of main banner and hall logos
  • Brainstormed with a few other design members to come up with ways to get students involved in the dormitories, main areas of campus, etc.
  • Along with the group looked for ways for students to care and take it seriously

Emily Scarvie:

  • Member of the Design Team
  • Contributed to designing the logos and the infographic
  • Created the A6 card where students can write their class schedules on one side and the other side has the infographic

Emily Port:

  • Social Media Team Leader
  • Worked with Social Media Team to revamp and maintain existing social media platforms and create new ones (Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Instagram @UGPRP)
  • Facilitated creation of calendar for UGPRP team to use for the project

Clare Malone:

  • Member of Social Media Team
  • Created a new Facebook Page for the program
  • Helped create a social media calendar for Twitter, FB, Instagram, and Whatsapp with advice on what kinds of posts are most successful on each platform

Kendra Rettig:

  • Member of Social Media Team
  • Created the Instagram page for the Recycling Project and created a few posts to give the UGPRP team a template to work off of after our team left Ghana.
  • Helped create a social media calendar for Twitter, FB, Instagram, and Whatsapp with advice on what kinds of posts are most successful on each platform.

Jeffrey Dean:

  • Co-Leader of Video and Photo Team
  • Set up and shot all the video shots
  • Part of creative process with script writers to create the narrative of the video

William Tierney:

  • Co-Leader of Video and Photo Team
  • Took photos of the UG campus, dormitories, etc. for the UGPRP team to use in future video advertisements and visual designs
  • Helped with the creative process in some of the social media project meetings

Whitney Marks, Taylor Fritz, and Aviva Speck:

  • Members of Scripting Team for Video Advertisement
  • Created shot list for video
  • Wrote multiple scripts and ideas for video and for future videos down the road for UGPRP if they choose to use them for other videos

Makenna Crocker:

  • Worked with Julius-Jayson to create topics of discussion and points to hit on UGPRP’s radio show every Friday at Radio Univers station on UG campus
  • Drafted ideas, topics, and templates for the UGPRP group to use for future radio shows
  • Helped with general scripting process for advertisements and promotions on the radio