ONLINE COURSE
Develop practical tools and approaches to help navigate the complexities, challenges, and opportunities involved in communicating about sustainability.
3 weeks
entirely online
4–6 hours per week
self-paced learning
Bite-sized modules
1
An understanding of the changing social, political, economic, and media landscapes and insight into how these impact organisational sustainability messaging.
2
An approach to sustainability communication that balances ethics, organisational reputation, and stakeholder interests.
3
The ability to understand audience attitudes, values, and beliefs in order to frame sustainability messaging and communicate with your audience as a conversation partner.
4
The skills to use the TADD (Trust, Access, Dialogue, and Disclosure) model to analyse context and frame sustainability messaging to turn communication into action.
Over the duration of this online micro course, you’ll work through the following modules:
MODULE 1 Sustainability communication in an uncertain world
Explore the fundamental aspects of sustainability communications and the complex factors that affect organisations’ dialogue around sustainability.
MODULE 2 Engaging audiences, generating action
Learn how to engage audiences and meet their organisational expectations by understanding their attitudes, values, and beliefs towards sustainability.
MODULE 3 Communicating sustainability in practice
Explore the importance of analysing an organisation’s context and audience to effectively balance key considerations and frame a sustainability message.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during course development.
Professor Lee Edwards
Professor of Strategic Communications and Public Engagement and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
Edwards researches and teaches strategic communications from a socio-cultural perspective, with a particular interest in how power operates in and through public relations work. She has edited and authored several books, published numerous journal articles and book chapters, and is a regular contributor to the field’s disciplinary conferences. She was the Secretary of the International Communication Association (ICA) PR Division (2014-2016) and won an ICA Environmental Communication Division Top Faculty paper award in 2020 and an ICA Communication Policy Division Top Paper award in 2013. She was also a regional editor for the Journal of Communication and a co-editor of PR Inquiry.
Claire Forbes
Guest Teacher, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
Forbes’ areas of expertise include government, regulatory, and environmental communication. She combines academic and professional practice in communications. She has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Kent, which explored the use of public relations in the construction of Islam in the UK public sphere. Forbes has more than 20 years of professional experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Currently, she works as Senior Director of Corporate Communications for a non-ministerial government department in the UK.
This LSE online certificate course is delivered in collaboration with online education provider GetSmarter, part of edX. Join a growing community of global professionals and benefit from the opportunity to:
Gain verifiable and relevant competencies and earn invaluable recognition from a world-leading social science university, entirely online and in your own time.
Enjoy a personalised, people-mediated online learning experience created to make you feel supported at every step.
Experience a flexible but structured approach to online education as you plan your learning around your life to meet weekly milestones.