Development of strategies to promote solid waste management in Bourj Hammoud, Lebanon

The case study reported here presents the preliminary steps of a social marketing plan addressing solid waste management by focusing on waste minimisation in Bourj Hammoud, a suburb of Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. This marketing plan was developed by a group of graduate environmental health students enrolled in the Master of Public Health at the American University of Beirut during a 14-week Social Marketing course (taught in Spring). The plan was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs (MOSA), based in Bourj Hammoud. The Social Marketing course is based on service learning. The implementation of service learning activities, including meetings with the community partner organisations, was entirely supported by the Center for Public Health Practice, hosted at the Faculty of Health Sciences. We report here 391 the findings of formative research which informed the strategy and the development of the plan. The implementation of the campaign depends on resources that the Ministry is currently trying to identify and allocate from its own budget. As a research unit in AUB, we are trying to apply for grants to support the process and outcome evaluation of the campaign.