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Experts outline systems‑level resilience strategies and 'positive norms' messaging to shift community narratives
Summary
Presenters from the Change Campaign, CTIP and the Montana Institute urged blending systems‑level prevention with positive‑norms communications: build community capacity, diversify capital, and correct misperceptions so people can see and act on existing protective behaviors.
Speakers Jesse Koehler (The Change Campaign / CTIP) and Ben Tanzer (Montana Institute / Heft Creative Strategies) presented complementary frameworks at the summit: long‑term systems approaches to resilience and practical communications strategies that surface positive community norms.
Jesse Koehler urged a multi‑generational, systems lens: build process‑oriented, flexible community change efforts; mobilize local assets; diversify funding beyond financial capital into social, cultural and environmental capital; and align local, county and state infrastructure to create a bidirectional flow of learning and resources. Koehler described the Family Policy Council model (Washington State) as an example of a long‑running statewide community‑capacity effort with measurable reductions in youth suicide, juvenile justice involvement and other outcomes between 1994 and 2011.
Ben Tanzer introduced a practical communications approach from the Montana Institute that identifies the gap between actual and perceived norms (for example, how many students actually vape or drink versus how many peers a student believes do). Tanzer showed campaigns that highlight the majority behavior — e.g., “Most of your peers are not vaping” — and cited local evaluations where correcting misperceptions led to measurable declines in risk behaviors. He urged attendees to begin with spirit, pair it with science (data), take action and then return to evaluate and iterate.
Ending: Both speakers urged cross‑sector, sustained efforts: combine systems investments and prevention with narrative work that surfaces existing community strengths and corrects misperceptions so public support and behaviors align with positive practices.
