1 - Start ~4 mins
Today you judge whether a campaign for change in sustainability actually worked, and you say why.
Think of a time people tried to change something at school or near home: a petition, a poster week, a push to cut waste or energy. Did lots of people talk about it? Did a rule change? Did anyone's day-to-day behaviour change?
Those three results are not the same thing. Holding them apart is the skill for this lesson.
2 - What Counts as Success? ~8 mins
People say a campaign worked and often mean three different things.
1. A rule or practice changed: a shop, school or local authority now does something differently because of the campaign.
2. Behaviour changed: people act differently afterwards, even if no new rule was written.
3. More people know: awareness rose, but nothing else has moved yet.
Campaigners and people watching often pick different tests. None is automatically the right one. The honest job is to say which test you are using, and what evidence you have.
In pairs, take sixty seconds: which of those three meanings do you think will be hardest to prove from a real campaign, and why? Share one idea with the room, then look at the case.
You will judge one composite campaign built for this class. It is not a real named group. Keep the fact sheet on the board for the whole of the next activity; you will need the numbers, not your memory.
Ask First, Kilmorgan
Secondary students in a mid-sized Irish town wanted takeaway outlets to stop putting plastic cutlery, straws, napkins and carrier bags into every order. Staff would give them only when a customer asked.
Over eight weeks the students surveyed 12 takeaways (11 put cutlery in every bag by default), designed a counter sticker, visited each owner or manager, posted on social media (about 4,000 views across posts; 380 petition signatures), spoke once on local radio, and wrote to the local authority asking for a town-wide rule.
What followed: 7 of 12 outlets agreed to switch during the campaign. The local authority would not make a by-law; months later it published a voluntary code only. A local paper ran two short pieces. Three months on, 4 of the 7 still asked first most of the time; 3 had slipped back because the old way was faster at lunch rush. At the four that held, staff estimated about a third fewer cutlery sets going out. Some customers complained about having to ask. No fine or legal duty exists.
3 - Judging Ask First ~20 mins
Before devices: as a class, answer in one sentence whether the aim of Ask First was clear from the facts (this row is oral only). Then watch one full model row on the board: a level plus one comment that points at a single fact and names which meaning of success it serves (rule/practice or behaviour). Notice how '7 outlets agreed' or a 'voluntary code' is not the same as 'staff still ask first three months on'.
Open the interactive activity. You are reviewing Ask First against four criteria.
Optionally knock out the first two rows in pairs, then finish the rest on your own. Take one row at a time. Choose a level and write one specific comment that points at a fact from the case. A level with no concrete comment does not count.
There is no total and no grade. At the end, name the single change to how the campaign was run that would have improved its success most. Everyone completes the priority change.
Did Ask First work?
4 - What the Disagreement Shows ~5 mins
Look back at your levels and at the priority change you named.
Where did people in the room disagree most? What does that tell you about the word success?
Campaigners and observers often mean different things by it. Say which meaning you used when you decided, and whether another meaning would have changed your overall call.
5 - What You Covered ~3 mins
You can now examine a sustainability campaign and assess why it has or has not been successful, using clear criteria and evidence rather than a gut feeling.
You know that success can mean a rule or practice change, a behaviour change, or wider awareness, and that those three are not the same test. You also practised naming one change that would have mattered most, which is more useful than a long list of vague improvements.
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