Inspiring sustainable decision-making through strategic communications planning

Abstract

From an early age, we learn to tailor words to fit our audience. By matching our tone and our words to our audience, we increase the likelihood that we'll be understood and that we'll get what we want. Environmental organizations and advocates should likewise understand and consider the needs and values of their audiences in order to create compelling and motivational materials and websites. This workshop will walk through multiple case studies illustrating this point. Values-based communications and social marketing tools can help move people toward sustainable decision-making. In this workshop, Biodiversity Project, a nonprofit environmental communications organization, will work with participants to show how communication strategies can make or break efforts to change behaviors and promote sustainable decision-making. We will demonstrate how environmental organizations of all sizes can strategically integrate communications into their program and restoration work to achieve their environmental goals. The workshop will cover outlining communications plans, identifying goals, targeting audiences, overcoming barriers and creating effective messages.