Communication Essentials for Ecologists and Environmental Managers

If you feel the stakeholders you engage with don't always value the importance of ecology and environment, then this may be the course for you.

Communication is key, and farmers, fishers, planners, landowners, politicians, communities, investors, media and more, can have strong ‘traditional’ social values that drive their thinking and decision-making.

On this course we share communication techniques that help you reach people with those different values; creating clear narratives, balancing emotion and memorable facts, keeping stakeholders engaged, and avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings.

Key activities during the course:

• 1. Write a short Narrative about you and your work (a widely reusable template).
• 2. Apply Values social science tools on this text, to help reach varied societal groups.
• 3. Check the Language and words, to make sure they can be clearly understood.
• 4. Use techniques to ensure your Facts and emotions are easily remembered.
• 5. Finally, use ways to make you and your background more relatable.

We will use creative tools during the workshop to help you learn these new skills: drawing materials, quizzes, crafting and written tasks. And between online sessions you will use your smartphone to make 1-minute homework videos to practice learned techniques.

This course is suitable for anyone working in or with the ecological sector that would like to improve their communication skills.

No Prior knowledge required

• Be able to use a widely reusable template to create a narrative about you and your work
• Adapt communications to resonate with people holding different values and perspectives.
• Recognise how to use clear, accessible language that reduces misunderstanding.
• Understand and use some techniques to ensure your facts and emotions are easier to remember.