ICLEI communications workshop guides Los Alamos sustainability board; “Keep Los Alamos Beautiful” emerges as preferred tagline

The Environmental Sustainability Board held an hourlong communications workshop on Feb. 20, 2025, led by Anne Marie of ICLEI USA, Local Governments for Sustainability, and organized by county sustainability staffer Angelica. The session reviewed communication goals, audience segmentation and best practices for climate and sustainability storytelling, and introduced a ready-to-adapt transit outreach campaign called Ride and Thrive.

ICLEI’s Anne Marie told the board that effective communications rest on five elements: a clear objective, a defined audience, a unique value proposition, appropriate channels and use of insights. She urged the group to “start with people and stay with people,” and emphasized tailoring messages to different audience segments rather than relying on raw data alone. Anne Marie recommended human-centered visuals, testing messengers beyond government spokespeople and adapting content to where people are on an “audience journey” from awareness to advocacy.

The presentation included a short example campaign, Ride and Thrive, aimed at increasing public-transit use and other lower-emissions travel choices. The sample campaign targets commuters ages 18–65, highlights features such as an existing transit app and ADA accessibility, and suggested social-video vignettes, blog posts and a scavenger-hunt rollout to showcase transit-friendly destinations. Board members discussed adapting the campaign to local preferences and capacity.

As part of the interactive portion of the workshop, the group tested several tagline options using Slido. The board’s quick poll selected “Keep Los Alamos Beautiful” as the leading tagline for future outreach materials; staff said the result is advisory and will be reviewed for broader adoption. Anne Marie and Angelica said ICLEI would provide a communications toolkit and a written summary of the meeting for the board to use when developing materials and running future campaigns.

Board members and staff raised local cautions. Several attendees noted that some residents prefer direct data and technical detail — particularly in Los Alamos — and that messaging should include options for both narrative, values-based outreach and straightforward technical material for data-oriented audiences. Anne Marie recommended co-developing messages with a diverse set of messengers — elected officials, neighborhood leaders, religious leaders, youth groups and community organizers — to improve trust and reach.

Next steps identified by staff and ICLEI include distributing the communications toolkit and the meeting notes, refining the Ride and Thrive concept to local needs, and using the tagline and sample materials as a starting point for Earth Day and other spring outreach.

“Keep Los Alamos Beautiful” will be treated as a working concept rather than a formal policy decision; staff will return with drafts of campaign language and materials at future board meetings.

Anne Marie and Angelica said they would share the toolkit and a summary of the workshop with the board after the meeting.