Communications Associate

Average temperatures and sea level are projected to rise by 2oC and more than 100 cm, respectively, over the following decades. These events have decimated a large majority of fringing coral reefs, an ecosystem that plays a fundamental role in food provision, shoreline protection, and enhanced water quality for the majority of coastal developing countries. Globally, natural resource managers are facing growing challenges from multiple and cumulative stressors that are increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems and societies that depend on their goods and services. While marine conservation and management practices have focused mostly on threat reduction (e.g. reducing overfishing and pollution), managers and agencies talk with increasing frequency about safeguarding or building resilience – i.e. supporting ecosystem processes that lower sensitivity, promote recovery and enhance adaptive capacity. One rationale for such a shift in management approach is the increasing pressures from climate change, a global driver that compromises the health of many ecosystems, and which increases the need for urgent and effective local-scale management actions.

Specifically, Project REGENERATE – Reef Generate Environmental and Economic Resilience for Atoll Ecosystems - has been developed to showcase and address coral reef issues in the Maldives. The overall aims of this project are to:

• Improve access to science and technology for decision-making and establishing policy framework for increasing resilience to climate change.
• Increase Stakeholder capacity to measure and monitor and adapt to climate stresses through education, training, and outreach.
• Strengthen governance in support of decentralised management for more resilient ecosystems
• Establish sustainable financing mechanisms to support climate resilient marine management

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES

The Communications Associate will implement the IUCN Maldives Communications Strategy and the Muraka Meehun campaign. He/she will liaise with team members to produce documentation in the form of written articles and photography as content for external communications stories. The key tasks of the Communications Associate will include:

• Develop and implement a communications strategy for IUCN Maldives, particularly for Project Regenerate;
• Manage IUCN Maldives’ social media presence and develop content for communications platforms
• Manage IUCN Maldives’ media presence, image banks and the Muraka Meehun public awareness campaign

SPECIFIC DUTIES:

• Implement internal and external communications strategies and outreach
• Develop advocacy and outreach programs for marketing and awareness campaigns
• Manage, update and maintain the IUCN Maldives Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts; collecting material and posting regularly on these social media platforms;
• Write regular newsletter articles on project activities and marine environmental issues for IUCN Maldives e-newsletters and other external communications platforms;
• Write regular press releases for important events and publications, as well as articles for popular magazines and Maldivian newspapers;
• Regularly post updates on social media sites (Facebook and Tumblr) on project activities, fieldwork events and project results;
• Take photographs of IUCN Maldives field activities and environmental issues, and organize an online archive of photos for use in publications and websites;
• Accompany the IUCN Maldives team to the field to document activities through articles and photography;
• Develop branding and communications products and review related content for the Muraka Meehun public awareness campaign.