Conservation Network of Optimists Worldwide (ConservationNOW)
We believe that Conservation Optimism is more than our online hub — it’s a spirit and an ethos that many organizations are embracing as we all move forward to build a more effective, more inclusive, and more active future for conservation.
To this end, we are working to build robust reciprocal relationships with organizations — collectively called the Conservation Network of Optimists Worldwide, or ConservationNOW — that uphold the vision that we have outlined in our Mission Statement.
Our members are working to inspire, motivate, equip, support, and empower conservationists around the world, and they’ve joined this network so that collectively we can all be more effective at sharing our successes, broadening our reach, and maximizing our impact.
If you would like to join #ConservationNOW, submit your application!
What Does
ConservationNOW Do?
By joining ConservationNOW, members agree to strive to join us in:
- Being optimistic but realistic
- Building an inclusive, global community
- Welcoming everyone who wants to contribute
- Fighting burnout and negativity
- Combining disciplines and sectors in innovative and creative ways
- Sharing optimistic stories, tools and ideas to help us all do conservation better
- Reaching out using a range of approaches and forums, online and in-person
- Changing the discourse about conservation and what it can achieve by sharing and learning from the Optimism communities
- Amplifying diverse voices and experiences
- Being free-thinking and informal
By joining ConservationNOW, members pledge to refrain from:
- Engaging in messaging that is counter to the ethos of Conservation Optimism (eg: posting negative messages without an action point, or messaging where the primary takeaway is despair. Obviously, all conservation groups will post sad, scary, troubling, sobering, infuriating, or otherwise bleak stories, but Conservation Optimism means finding a way to give people a way of contributing to solutions).
Benefits & Responsibilities
Conservation Optimism helps ConservationNOW members by:
- Sharing and spreading the ConservationNOW members’ #conservationoptimism messages across all of our channels to help further the partner organization’s reach and expand their audience;
- Encouraging cross-promotion between ConservationNOW members;
- Editing and hosting blog posts by or about ConservationNOW members, and push them out on our social media channels to ensure maximum impact;
- Publicizing the ConservationNOW members’ optimistic work, events, and visions in our network;
- Hosting webinars to promote our members’ work;
- Organising mentoring sessions to provide members with the opportunity to develop specialist skillsets *Promote networking and collaboration between members;
- Providing members to promote their work through social media, e.g. Instagram.
ConservationNOW members help the wider Conservation Optimism community by:
- Actively using the #conservationoptimism hashtag on social media with content that embodies the Conservation Optimism vision & complies with the general Conservation Optimism community guidelines;
- Contributing blog posts about their work to conservationoptimism.org;
- Hosting webinars on specialist topics aiming to provide new skillsets to conservation professionals;
- Always including an action point in negative messaging so that people can find hope, inspiration, or motivation in even dire stories.