The project is to set up an environmental multimedia education and information service which will use the Internet as prime vector to reach its target audiences and which will broadcast user-friendly content on key sustainable development issues and initiatives through a multimedia website.

The aim is to sensitise the public – the young in particular – on the necessity for Mauritians to rapidly adopt a systematic sustainable development approach to national development decisions, and to actively support the work being done locally by individuals, NGOs, private companies and public bodies in the fields of sustainable development and environment protection. The aim is also to provide local environmental stakeholders with a professional not-for-profit (cost price) multimedia communication service to promote their work.

Our country is currently at a crucial stage in its development. A hardening global commerce context is cruelly exposing our deep vulnerabilities as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS). Essential imported commodities such as building materials, fuel, coal, flour, etc are becoming excessively expensive for both the country and the layman. At the same time immense environmental challenges are confronting us such as global warming, the end of fossil fuels, huge demographic pressure in a small island, the worsening issue of waste disposal etc. Advocating for the sustainable development of our country and the preservation of our fragile biodiversity has thus become absolutely vital.

Over the next 2 to 3 years, the development decisions that we, as a nation, will take will shape Mauritius for many generations to come. We thus need to make sure that a sustainable future is going to be built for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Our NGO – mru2025 – aims therefore to bring our fellow citizens to think about the long-term consequences of the development choices we are making today, and to get the public to ask itself this simple, fundamental question:

What kind of Mauritius do we want to have in 2025?
mru2025 is a newly formed association, regrouping young professionals skilled in multimedia production, journalism, administration and IT, and who are passionate about environment protection.

Our intention is to provide constructive education and information, in a non-polemic way, i.e. not only explaining the dramatic problems facing us, but also providing positive ideas, viable alternative proposals and concrete examples of existing effective solutions. Success stories abound, be it locally or abroad. Many inspired individuals, NGOs, private companies and public departments are already very active in Mauritius. Abroad, various countries are implementing household waste sorting & recycling, environment-friendly public transport, ecological agriculture, wildlife regeneration, etc across entire communities. These examples need to be shown so as to demonstrate to a maximum of Mauritians that the change to environment-friendly activities and sustainable development is not only feasible, but in fact potentially very beneficial.

The project will capitalise on the multimedia production skills of mru2025 members and on the exponential rise of Internet in Mauritius to effectively reach out to the public and particularly to our prime target audience – the 16-34 years old age group (i.e. the country’s future decision makers). Internet subscribers have increased by 300% between 2000 and 2006 according to the latest CSO figures. Currents trends indicate a rapid spread of fast Internet in the months ahead.

The project team will thus build and maintain a website which is going to present an array of features quite unique in the Mauritian Internet landscape:
· Journalism & in-depth research work will be conducted every week to provide full coverage on key long-term issues pertaining to sustainable development and environmental protection in Mauritius. This will provide the raw text to be illustrated through multimedia reports.
· Fresh multimedia content will then be produced on sustainable development issues (video & photo reports, 2D/3D animations, charts & graphics, etc). This will be uploaded to the site at least every 2 weeks and offered for free download as much as possible.
· A specific sustainable development theme / issue will thus be explored and analysed in detail over a period of 2-3 months. Through a series of updates done at least every 2 weeks, the website will progressively cover all the main aspects of the theme / issue. Once the theme has been sufficiently detailed, we will move on to another theme / issue, thus ensuring that after a year, we will have built a solid information website on a range of sustainable development priorities in Mauritius. For instance, the vast issue of renewable energy will be investigated through a series of multimedia reports which will be uploaded as soon as they are finished and offered as much as possible on free download to users (ex: Mauritius energy needs today and tomorrow, the possibilities of solar energy, ethanol v/s petrol, what can the ordinary citizen/family do to protect the environment & save on its car and electricity bills, what is being done abroad, etc).
· Interactivity with users will be achieved through polls, opinion surveys and a filtered forum. Users for instance will be able to tell us which issues they want to see investigated more, thus ensuring that the website becomes a dynamic platform where ideas are exchanged and a community of people is progressively formed, one that is sensitive to sustainable development.

Because of all these features, the website will require a substantial design & maintenance budget quite far from the typical basic website, which usually offers a few rarely updated and text-dominated pages without any real interactivity.

The project will run according to a very organized structure, as mru2025 members have their day-time jobs to attend to. Work will thus be spread between:
· A journalism & research team regrouping 3 people: 2 ex-TV and radio journalists, along with a current radio journalist.
· A video / multimedia production team regrouping 5 multi-skilled people: 1 audiovisual engineer / cameraman / audiovisual editor (also an ex-print & radio journalist), 1 website manager / multimedia designer / creative director, 1 cameraman / audiovisual editor / computer graphics producer, 1 graphic designer / painter, 1 graphic designer / photographer.
· A website management team regrouping 3 people: the website manager / multimedia designer / creative director, the computer graphics producer and 1 website programmer & flash animator
· 3 other support teams: marketing / communication, logistics and administration.

Delivering on the following GEF-SGP focal areas: Biodiversity, Climate change, International Waters and Land Degradation, our project’s long term objective is to effectively contribute to the following:
v greater use of renewable energy in Mauritius
v emergence of “green” buildings
v emergence of sustainable agriculture
v greater use of waste recycling
v wider portion of the national territory devoted to endemic species and managed through adequate conservation schemes
v greater number of people visiting and supporting nature reserves (land & marine)
v greater number of people supporting local environmental stakeholders

The overall project cost is Rs 2,827,880, of which the amount requested from GEF/SGP is Rs 1,397,480. We will be contributing an overall total of Rs 1,430,400 (Rs 1,411,200 in kind and Rs 19,200 in cash).

Though our financial needs are significant, we do not wish to seek a co-founder, particularly not from the private sector, as we want to maintain our independence of thought and work. As will be enshrined in our ethics code currently in preparation, mru2025 and its website will provide the public with objective and reliable information on sustainable development priorities in Mauritius. The on-request multimedia production service that we wish to offer will therefore be purely non-profit, as it is meant to benefit local environmental stakeholders and is geared towards advancing the cause of environment protection and sustainable development in Mauritius. Fees charged for any multimedia content (mini-documentary, 2D/3D graphic animation, text) that is requested from us will be at cost-price and will not open the door to commercial production. The reason why the service cannot be free is simply because we need to ensure the continuation of our project after the end of the GEF-SGP grant.