The Action By Canadians (ABC) and Count Me In! programs were designed to communicate the issue of climate change to the Canadian public through workshops delivered to individuals at their place of work. The climate change workshop focused on action by providing participants, at the end of the workshop, an opportunity to make a commitment to reduce greenhouse gases by adopting specific measures in their personal lives. By October 2000, over 3,500 Canadians had participated in these workshops. The Ontario Society of Training and Development awarded the ABC program with the Best External Training Program Award.BackgroundIn 1997, Enviros RIS carried out initial research on finding the "Blue Box of Climate Change". The goal was to find a simple action which individuals could take which would raise awareness of climate change, and change behaviour in a way which would contribute to the solution. Finding a simple icon like the Blue Box is more challenging for climate change, because the issue is more complex, and more difficult to explain to the public.The company developed a climate change workshop, designed to be delivered to Canadians at their workplace. The purpose of the workshop was to raise awareness of the climate change issue amongst Canadians, and also to initiate individual action to limit greenhouse gas emissions. A National Pledge Program was envisioned at the time, whereby individuals pledge to make several changes in their own lives (at home and on the road) to decrease greenhouse gases.In December, 1998, the Office of Energy Efficiency at NRCan, endorsed an Enviros RIS submission made to the Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF) to test the climate change workshop at 30 locations (15 energy innovator companies, 10 government offices, 5 small to medium sized companies), and identify the impacts of the program. A second CCAF funded project initiated by the Energy Council of Canada- the Action By Canadians (ABC) program- also aimed to deliver workshops at the workplace. Companies who participated in the ABC program offered the workshop as one component of a more comprehensive climate change strategy.Over 175 workshops were delivered to more than 3,500 Canadians across Canada.Getting InformedIn 1998, Environment Canada funded a feasibility study on the concept of employee based training, incorporating the idea of a National Pledge Program. Enviros RIS staff interviewed 25 senior executives at companies across Canada to test the concept, as it was essential that the program have private sector support. The interviews identified a short, 2-hour workshop as the best method to access Canadians and raise awareness on the climate change issue. The endorsement of the employer was considered an important message to give to employees.The workshop was pilot tested at Sorema Reinsurance Company in Toronto in October 1998. The feedback was extremely positive and according to the workshop evaluation, 93% of the workshop participants felt their knowledge of the issue was increased. Six months after the first pilot test, a follow-up survey was distributed to participants. Over 70% of survey respondents said they had followed through with some of their climate change pledges. Workshop participants reported that they made a number of