Climate communications workshop

The Power of Communication: Getting civil society heard in times of Covid-19

Forest fires, flash floods, and the coronavirus pandemic have shown the world that we cannot afford to ignore planetary boundaries any longer. Climate action and eliminating fossil fuels and transitioning to renewables is not a nice-to-have, but imperative to our very survival. The climate crisis has become a central issue in election campaigns around the world. Climate communications play a key role in addressing the challenges that lie ahead.

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To advocate for urgently needed system change, we need to communicate the why’s and how’s – but how can we do so efficiently during a pandemic, when face-to-face meetings, workshops, or coordinated actions seem like a distant memory?

We know the climate crisis has not halted even as the pandemic has escalated.
People all over the world have gone zoom (or Google meets!) through the last 18 months. How can civil society organisations, which often lack funding or capacity thrive in this new normal? What are the best tips for resource-scarce non-profits to be heard in the digital noise?

Climate Action Network, together with the World Future Council and Brot für die Welt organised a capacity-building webinar on climate communications to strengthen digital communication skills to enhance climate action and accelerate the renewable energy transition.
Over two two-hour workshops, we had in total 150 people attend from different parts of the world, from Latin America to Africa, to discuss tactics and techniques on communications bespoke to their regional context.

The emphasis of the workshop was to focus on easy-to-use tools that can make for an end-to-end communication strategy starting with building a narrative, identifying target audience groups, designing a social media plan, and executing a media relations plan.

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Key take-aways

  • Be human – Our narrative needs to centre around the experiences of people and their lived reality while convening the urgency for action to mitigate climate change and advance the energy transition
  • Be relevant – most people want to stay up-to-date with world events, tag on to current discourses to increase reach
  • Be concise – focusing on a few topics and key messages to have more control over the narrative and strengthen messaging
  • Be social – Adapt your message and channels to your target audience and geography. Every market has its favourite social media channels and best use of online tools.
  • Reach out – media outreach, be it print, broadcast or new media is still a dominant part of communication in many parts of the world. Op-eds for instance can be a great way to position yourself and frame your message

Tools

The training materials are all available online: webinar event page, recordings, slide deck.