The campaign led to a referendum that stopped mining companies from exploiting the Andean Chocó. To defend the Andean Chocó is to defend life. The non-incursion of mining companies into the sector means ensuring clean water for more than 900,000 people in the city of Quito.

The government, as always, needs a lot of money. That is why they created a close relationship with mining companies, where business comes first. This relationship leaves the government with a lot of profit and society with an environmental disaster.

In 2019, the energy minister said that the mega-mining sector will generate 32,000 jobs. Tourism, for example, generates 12 times more jobs.

For the construction stage of the mine, mining generates poor-quality, temporary employment, with long working hours and minimum payments, not to mention the effects that the mine generates on the health of the workers.

Quito sin Minería´s objective is to defend the Andean Chocó. Preserve its natural resources, and assure the settlements of the Andean Chocó a sustainable economic growth, with inclusive and safe job alternatives.

The campaign meet Goal #11 of the SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities.

The campaign stops mining activities and mining jobs that offers poor-quality, temporary employment, long working hours and minimum pay, not to mention the effects that the mine generates on the health of the workers.

On the other hand, our campaign is committed to more than 100 projects of organic products produced in the Andean Chocó. Several of these products are exported abroad: coffee, chocolate and sugar cane. It also boosts 72 tourist projects in the area: 25 are cultural attractions and 47 are natural sites.

Brand values:

The Andean Chocó region in Ecuador, a UNESCO natural sanctuary, has communities that live off sustainable work. 100 projects that develop economic growth based on organic food for export and 72 tourist projects. Making life and work, safe, sustainable, fair and resilient. Quito sin Minería is committed to preserve this region and all of its resources in benefit of the people and planet.

Brief:

Develop a campaign strategy to halt mining operations in the Andean Chocó region.

Objective:

Stop new mining concession and preserve the natural biosphere, animal species, plant species, clean water and assure decent and sustainable work within the community.

Media regulations/restrictions:

N/A

Civil liberties issues:

N/A

People:

The citizens of Quito were poorly informed about the issue and were the ones who had to vote.

Environment:

The Andean Chocó is one of the last forests in Quito and has been declared by UNESCO as biosphere reserve. Its rivers provide clean water to Quito. This forest removes at least 266,000 tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually, which helps reduce global warming.

Economic:

The government grants concessions to mining companies to exploit the Andean Chocó and thus have economic returns, regardless of the irreversible environmental disaster they would generate.

Peace & Justice:

Mining companies and communities in the Andean Chocó have clashed in the past.

Inclusivity & Partnership:

Quito sin Minería is a group of organizations, collectives and people from the populations of the northwest of Quito that are not part of any political party.

Use one of the legal weapons (article 104) of the Ecuadorian Constitution as our own weapon and create a boomerang effect to hit back mining companies and government.

Data gathering:

Tourism generates 12 times more jobs than the mining sector.

The campaign promotes more than 100 projects of organic products for export: coffee, chocolate and sugar cane. Also boosts 72 tourist projects in the area: 25 are cultural attractions and 47 are natural sites.

Target audience:


Citizens of Quito. People that live in the biggest city of Ecuador and, its majority, never visited and didn't care about the Andean Chocó.

Approach:


Government and mining companies created Article 104 thinking citizens would never use it against them. They thought activating it would be too big of a task because people just wouldn't care. We decided to use it.

Article 104 says:

"Citizens may request the convening of a popular consultation on any matter.”

Through the eyes of the Spectacled Bear we made the citizens of Quito experience the horror they live each time a mining company enters their habitat.

Implementation:

Legal advocacy, grassroots mobilization, strategic communications, and strategic partnerships to maximize our impact and achieve protect the Andean Chocó region from mining exploitation.

First we collected 380,000 signatures to make the referendum official.

We used film, digital, influencer, guerrilla marketing, events, radio, activations to make them care about the Andean Chocó.

Timeline:

From May 2023 to August 2023.

Placement:

· Physical locations such as community centers, town halls, and public spaces, as well as digital platforms including social media, websites, and online platforms.

· Newspapers, radio, and television were utilized as free press to reach a diverse audience and generate media coverage of the campaign.

Scale:

Campaign was targeted to 3.5 million citizens of Quito.

Contribution to the advancement of the selected SDG:

Contributed to Goal #11

End poor-quality mining jobs with temporary employment, long working hours, minimum pay and irreversible effects on the health of workers.

Promote more than 100 projects of organic products for export: coffee, chocolate and sugar cane. Boost 72 tourist projects in the area: 25 cultural attractions and 47 natural sites.

Business impact / sales / donations:

N/A

Scalability:

This campaign can be applied to any project that aims to destroy the environment.

Behaviour change/action:

Citizens of Quito have become activists, vigilant of their forests and natural reserves.

Legislation change/regulations:

Winning the referendum meant the creation of a law that stops mining activities forever. Never again can a mining concession be granted.

Awareness/attitude shift:

The citizens of Quito have became activists, vigilant of their natural reserves. Ecuador's citizens now know that the law gives them the power to decide.

How will this work drive progress for individuals, organizations or wider society?

The communities of the Andean Chocó will generate new options for sustainable work and organic food production such as coffee, cacao and sugar cane. Tourism will generate jobs 12 times more than mining. There will no longer be work under inhumane conditions.

How do you plan to scale this idea?

Same creative and strategic mechanism will be used to defend future projects that aim to depredate the environment.

What's next for this idea?

Continue turning more citizens of Quito into environmental activists and to spread this spirit to all of Ecuador. For now, Boomerang 104 will fight other mining projects in the south of the country in the near future.

There were no carbon emissions for this work.

The entire campaign was carried out with zero emissions and pollution. They were organic, human actions that respected the water and the communities of the Andean Chocó.