Communications for Conservation Projects (Foundation Level)
Course Location
REMOTE / ONLINE
Course Duration
12 Months / Go At Your Own Pace
Learn how to plan and deliver effective communications activities; making you more employable and impactful as a professional conservationist. Develop the skills that employers are looking for in 41% of conservation jobs across the globe.
This is an online course brought to you by the team at Conservation Careers. The structure of the course follows a detailed analysis of what employers are looking for when hiring early-career conservationists, and is taught by communications guru Lloyd Gofton.
During the course you’ll learn, how to:
Produce a communications plan for conservation projects.
Write engaging copy about conservation projects.
Get press and media coverage for conservation projects.
Build and engage audiences on social media for conservation projects.
Create content to support conservation campaigns.
Measure the success of your communications activities.
After completing the course you’ll confidently be able to plan and deliver effective communications activities, during your career as a wildlife conservationist. Making you more employable, competitive and better at your job.
Why Is Communications Important In Your Career?
Within conservation there is a growing realisation that we need to do much more to share our messages and encourage more support and action. As a result, conservation employers are rapidly looking for people with communications skills.
They want staff who can plan communications activities, write effectively, get press and media attention, engage audiences on social media, deliver campaigns, write blogs, produce podcasts and more.
We analysed 29,767 conservation jobs, from over 100 countries, and 41% explicitly wanted people with communications skills or experience. Of these, 2,726 were communications specialist roles like Communications Officers. Marketing Managers or Social Media Officers.
If you want to succeed as a professional conservationist you need communications skills.
This is a foundation-level training course. If you have experience in communications and want to go further, please see our advanced training – Communications Strategy Development for Conservation Projects HERE.
Career Switchers - If you have always had a passion for wildlife and want to work in nature conservation, but don’t know where to start. You might be working in a totally unrelated field right now, and need some clarity on what’s needed to get going. We’re here to provide you with the key skills sought-after by conservation employers.
Conservation Professionals - If you’re currently working as a professional conservationist, and wanting to improve your communications skills be better in your role and improve your career prospects. Through the course you’ll learn how to confidently plan and deliver effective communications activities as a key part of your job.
Students - If you are currently at university or college, and planning to try and find work in the conservation sector when you finish. There’s no better time to start building the key skills which employers are looking for in the sector, so you can hit the ground running on your graduation day.
Job Seekers - If you are currently hunting for a conservation job but struggling. The course will help you to stand out from the crowd better, by learning key skills sought after by 41% of conservation employers.
Included in your course you will recieve:
Six Step-by-Step Modules to attack at your own pace. You’ll learn how to plan and deliver effective communications, as part of your duties as a conservation professional.
Support from the experts. You’ll have support from us via email, Zoom, and in our private Conservation Careers Pro community. We’ll be with you every step of the way.
Flexibility to go at your own pace. With our self-paced flexibility, you’ll have access to the course for a full year. You can work entirely at your own pace and around your busy life and work commitments. You don’t need to stick to a schedule.
Conservation Careers Pro community. You’ll be welcomed into our new private online community for 12 months. Get answers to burning questions, enjoy regular live events, participate in growth challenges, share your coursework, celebrate your successes and more.
Certificate. Everyone who completes the course receives a certificate.
Rock-solid guarantee. Try it for 14 days. Not happy for whatever reason? We will refund 100% of your money.
There are no requirements for this course—just bring a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, and a passion for making a meaningful impact in your conservation career. Whether you're already in the field or looking to break into it, this course is designed to support your growth and success.
This fully flexible go at your own pace course is
ONLY €450
Try it for 14 days. Not happy for whatever reason? We will refund 100% of your money.
In Partnership with Conservation Careers
Additional Info
Course Outline
Module 1 | How to produce a communications plan for conservation projects?
This module will cover:
- Research | Where are you today?
- Objectives | Where do you want to be?
- Audiences | Who are you talking to?
- Messaging and tactics | What are you saying and how are you going to say it?
- Activity | Who is doing what?
- Measurement | How to identify outcomes, and evolve the campaign accordingly?
Module outcome | A clear understanding of how to pull the elements of your campaign together into a cohesive programme that delivers success.
Module 2 | How to write engaging copy about conservation projects?
This module will cover:
- Writing for press | Understanding writing styles and grabbing attention.
- Quote development | Getting your message across in a clear, concise and engaging manner.
- Articles and features | The key to developing opinion pieces and how to assist journalists with their features.
- Writing for non-press audiences | The differing styles of public, corporate and public sector audiences.
- Developing written content | Writing email marketing, blogs, social media and deeper content pieces.
Module outcome | The confidence to write for a range of audiences without the hype.
Module 3 | How to get press and media coverage for conservation projects?
This module will cover:
- The number one rule of achieving press coverage | No spoilers here! Find out more in the course.
- Getting your pitch right | The art of storytelling to press audiences.
- Identifying your press targets | Who will be interested in your story?
- Managing your story to completion | Tips to take you from interesting angles to published articles
- Article publication | Your job isn’t done when the article is published. What happens next?
Module outcome | Ready to approach journalists and deliver media coverage that will make a difference to your campaign.
Module 4 | How to build and engage audiences on social media for conservation projects?
This module will cover:
- Exposing social media myths | From fake news to fake users. What is the truth about social communications?
- Which social networks are right for your campaign? | Does age define which social networks your community uses, or is it more complicated than that?
- The profile of a social community member | Who do they trust? How do they behave? Why will they listen to you?
- How to build a social media community | Why is a social community the goal but social followers are often the reality?
- Developing a social strategy | What are you going to do with your social community?
Module outcome | The insight to build an engaged social community.
Module 5 | How to create content to support conservation projects?
This module will focus on:
- Building a content strategy | All you need is time, tools and talent.
- Which types of content should you use in your campaign? | Matching your communities’ interests to your organisation’s goals.
- Creativity is great, but relevance is more important | Don’t make pretty things, make useful things.
- Is it worth bringing in external support? | Why allocating resource to develop great content is usually a good investment.
- Understanding the impact of your content | Making sure your content isn’t ‘fire and forget’.
Module outcome | The knowledge to develop content that will supercharge your campaign.
Module 6 | How to measure the success of your communications activities?
This module will focus on:
- The foundations of communications measurement | A great place to start when measuring campaign performance.
- The principles of international PR measurement | The guidelines that many PR organisations adhere to worldwide.
- Social Media measurement and metrics | When everything can be measured in a social environment, where do you begin?
- Measuring the impact of content and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) | Looking beyond launch metrics to understand content engagement.
- Establishing a scoring system | If you can’t communicate your campaign outcomes, you’ve failed to communicate.
Module outcome | An insiders understanding of campaign measurement, metrics and techniques.
Bonus #1 | Top Tips for putting it all into practice
This bonus module Nick and Lloyd discuss and share their top tips for implementing the course, and getting evidence of your communications skills for your CVs and Resumes.
This includes:
- Starting your own blog
- Getting feedback on your writing
- Entering competitions
- Volunteering
- Becoming an influencer
- Starting your own campaign
- And much more…