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Communicating Climate Change (for Local Authorities)

 A one-day course addressing the latest research on public attitudes and behaviour, providing a personalised toolkit for climate change communications: the winning arguments and the approaches to avoid.
‘The course made us ask a series of questions about what we’ve been doing on awareness-raising. It will certainly help us with our work in the future’

J Owens, Town Planner and Head of Service, Vale Royal Borough Council

Who is this workshop for?   

The training is specifically designed for those familiar with climate change issues but seeking specialist assistance in communication techniques. This could include senior managers, senior communications staff and elected members. If requested, the training can address specific local programmes, including internal staff engagement programmes.
 
This course addresses the need for local authorities to actively engage the public about climate change and explain their own targets and policies. 

What happens in the workshop?

Using short slideshow presentations, the course starts with a summary of the findings of existing academic research into climate change communication. The course challenges many of the assumptions about existing approaches to motivating climate action, identifying those that may be ineffective or even counterproductive.
 
Participants explore the strategies that people adopt to avoid behavioural change and how to overcome these objections. Small groups then critically evaluate a wide range of existing communication materials. The day concludes with a look at methods for appealing to different audiences with different aspirations.
 
‘The training we received was great. It was pitched at exactly the right level for our needs and helped all of us: from those organisations with little knowledge of the subject to those whose public engagement work was already well under way. Months on, we continue to be inspired and use what we learned on a daily basis.’
 – Sarah Fielding, Staffordshire County Council Climate Change Officer

Ordering courses

Our fees operate on a sliding scale, based on the size of the partner organization and/or size of the training group.

For details of our rates please contact COIN's Training Manager, Richard Conibere:

01865 403331
richardc@coinet.org.uk

Length: 4 hours (one facilitator), 6 hours (two facilitators)
Level:   Intermediate to Expert