Engaging supporters more in conservation
Edinburgh Zoo Success Story
The Challenge
Edinburgh Zoo, including the Highland Wildlife Park, is one of Europe’s foremost wildlife conservation agencies as well as one of Scotland’s foremost visitor attractions. It also has onsite projects in Africa and undertakes research worldwide.
=mc consulting decisionscience team were hired to improve the way visitors engaged with the animals and supported the wider conservation work of the Zoo. Some issues we had to address were:
- Many visitors were only really focused on a small number of species: the ‘cute’ and the ‘dangerous’ on their visits.
- It was difficult to share the Zoo’s message on conservation work since much of this takes place in Africa or other remote settings.
- The Zoo team were keen to explore how to link an interest in conservation with new ways of support while still functioning as a popular visitor attraction.
What We Did
The =mc decisionscience team set up a series of related activities to get a rounded view of what had to be done. We:
- Spent some days on site exploring how visitors moved through the Zoo where they stopped, what they looked at, what they passed by.
- Organised a series of in-depth interviews with visitors, with long term higher value supporters, with volunteers and, of course, with staff.
- Undertook research on other Zoos tacking the same issues and made a specific scoping visit to the Bronx Zoo in NYC, famous for its engagement.
- Ran a series of interactive workshops with staff from across a range of Zoo departments and functions.
In the middle of all this work the coronavirus epidemic hit the Zoo… and it had to close.
Undeterred we produced some ideas on journeys through the site, with new signage and suggestions for interactive engagement with visitors to be introduced post lockdown.
This work focussed on some classic decision science areas: key messengers, offering visitors agency, the potential for loss of species, and on making the need for conservation salient.
Over a period of some weeks during the lockdown we also worked with Zoo specialists on a behaviourally informed digital engagement strategy involving creating personas for the keepers, making a series of website changes including developing a feeding programme proposition and building links to live webcams.
The Impact
We ‘re still waiting on the long-term results of the new signage and visitor journey when the Zoo re-opens. But the online support helped increase online income to over £100K and visits to the webcams up to 5M views. And the Zoo now have a group of high value donors who have signalled their willingness to support conservation project.
Next Steps?
Have a similar challenge or want to explore a project?
Contact Bernard Ross, Director.
bernardross@mc.consulting
+44 7976 280314
More of our Success Stories
Persuading shoppers to be more caring
In recent years foodbanks have become a common phenomenon in towns and cities across the UK as poverty becomes a sad part of everyday life. Many are locally run and managed some by churches, some by charities, some by local authorities.
=mc consulting decisionscience team was asked by the UK’s largest coordination agency, The Trussell Trust, to help them explore how to raise more funds using decision science techniques.
Securing funds for humanitarian causes
Doctors Without Borders (DWB), is the name by which Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is known in the USA. DWB is one of the world’s leading humanitarian agencies. It provides specialist medical teams – doctors, nurses, surgeons, anaesthetists, health workers – to work in the most challenging situations imaginable. DWB approached the =mc consulting decisionscience team for help to design set up a series of online experiments exploring how decision science might help improve giving from prospects and supporters.
Bringing science to an Olympic team
The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado with sport-specific associations spread throughout the 50 states.
They approached the =mc consulting decisionscience team to increase support to underfunded sports – both financial and in terms of participation.
Better behaviour through decision science
ISSA, the International Step-by-Step Association, is based in Holland and works across Europe and Central Asia. It is an association of agencies committed to protecting and developing the interests of early years children. Always on the lookout for new ways to improve these systems, ISSA asked us to help them explore the potential of decision science to help them achieve their goals.
Encouraging more visitors to do more
Bristol Museums and Arts Galleries is one of the UK’s leading cultural service. It comprises six venues throughout Bristol, each with a different focus and designed to address a specific audience. The most contemporary of the venues is M-shed.
=mc consulting decisionscience team was asked to focus on M-shed and advise on how to increase sales in the museum shop, which should have been a key source of earned income.
Engaging supporters more in conservation
Including the Highland Wildlife Park, RZSS Edinburgh Zoo is one of Europe’s foremost wildlife conservation agencies and one of Scotland’s leading visitor attractions. It also has onsite projects in Africa and undertakes research worldwide.
=mc consulting decisionscience team were hired to improve the way visitors engaged with the animals and supported the wider conservation work of the Zoo.
