4th-year MCS students planned and hosted Ecoblitz event for capstone project client with CBC journalists in attendance
Trash was strewn on tables in the University of Guelph-Humber’s (U of GH) art gallery, as students poured in, testing their sorting knowledge during a special event. Journalists from the CBC were also in attendance. This was all part of an event called Ecoblitz.
A group of five U of GH Media & Communication Studies (MCS) students organized Ecoblitz to produce content for and promote CEED (Circular Environmental Education and Design) Canada, the charitable organization chosen as the client for their Emerge capstone project. Fourth-year students Annabelle Vetro, Jada Wallace, Kiana Skaf, Khiana Gutierrez, and Reese Pocock’s project aims to raise the organization’s profile through a creative marketing and communications campaign.
"We are really grateful to organizations like CEED Canada and all the external partners who work with our Emerge students. The process that these fourth-year capstone students go through – identifying potential clients, pitching and then working with them to create hopefully game-changing communications and content plans – contributes invaluably not just to their education, but to their readiness for work and future careers. The gifts of time and involvement that people like CEED Canada's Zamani Ra give so generously have an immense impact,” MCS Chair Kathy Ullyott said.
In fact, there’s more to environmental awareness than simply “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” CEED Canada’s founder and executive director, Zamani Ra, is on a mission to provide diverse, low-income communities with culturally relevant environmental education through her charity. Ra holds workshops, similar to the version of Ecoblitz at U of GH for university students, that take into account the diverse cultures of people who are in community housing – a passion shared by this group of MCS students.
“People can genuinely learn from her unique lens,” Wallace said. In recognizing Toronto’s immigrants come from a plethora of countries, Ra conducts research ahead of her workshops to consider how environmental laws vary and how people may treat waste management and the environment differently than in Canada. Wallace adds Ra’s perspective is one of joy, not judgement; people can learn about small ways they can positively impact their community and environment, even if they don’t fully understand climate change.
Ecoblitz at U of GH wasn’t a simple overnight success. The students have been working with Ra since the Fall 2024 semester, understanding her marketing needs, pain points, intended audience, and brand voice, especially as she runs CEED Canada independently. Gutierrez said Ra doesn’t have the time or resources to engage with other people on her social media platforms, so this is how the group is assisting her as part of their Emerge project. Ecoblitz is just one component to their larger marketing and communications initiative.
The students in the group also had the enriching opportunity to play a variety of roles amid the event planning and executing stages. The day of the event, all five members ran operations, but Wallace said Gutierrez shot social media footage, Vetro created all the marketing graphics for the event poster and the infographics that will be posted on CEED Canada’s social channels, and Pocock served as the photographer. It was truly a team effort.
“We planned this [event] out of wanting to see firsthand what she does and how she does it,” Wallace said. “Our main goal is to get that footage of Zamani and to curate her marketing materials so that whenever people do ask her, ‘What is an Ecoblitz?’ she can send the video and say, ‘Hey, this is literally me doing one.’”
Furthermore, journalists from CBC’s What On Earth with Laura Lynch podcast attended the event at Guelph-Humber to cover Ra’s efforts in educating low-income and highly-diverse communities on greener living. According to Gutierrez, CBC has been trying to interview Ra for “a long time,” which provided the group the experience of facilitating the discussion between Ra and CBC, as well as the University – real-world public relations experience.
With the experience of representing CEED Canada and hosting Ecoblitz at U of GH, the students learned an abundance of lessons. Gutierrez said she learned to “cherish the value of learning about someone's business and how much it means to them” after seeing how much care Ra puts into her work. “It’s valuable to always check your emails, and have that passion and drive to work for someone who loves their business and is proud of their business and what they have accomplished,” she said.
Wallace said she learned that when planning events, you can’t always account for everything, so try to cover your bases ahead of time in a proactive approach. Also, it's key to understand your tone and target audience when creating content for it to resonate with its intended audience and to “have a goal and be authentic, especially when it comes to pitching or speaking with media. Be clear about what your story is and what you want to get across to an audience.”
The full Emerge 2025 showcase will take place on March 25, 2025.