The Public Relations and Communications Association (PRCA) has partnered with the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) to deliver specialised training to educate public relations and communication professionals about climate change and to ensure practitioners work to the highest ethical and transparent standards.
Recent research from the PRCA’s Misinformation and the Climate Crisis Strategy Group revealed the industry needed to upskill in order to be an effective strategic advisor to clients and in organisations.
The new full-day virtual course, delivered by the RMetS, is designed to empower communicators by providing the knowledge and tools to engage audiences in climate change. The training will help PR and communication teams understand the science behind climate change, what it might mean for the future and how to explain it to your audiences. By the end of the course, teams will also feel confident in finding trustworthy resources and have access to climate experts.
The Royal Meteorological Society is the UK’s Professional and Learned Society for weather and climate. They work to strengthen the science and raise awareness of the importance of weather and climate, support meteorological professionals and inspire enthusiasts.
It plays a key role as the custodian of both the science and the profession of meteorology in the UK and has an important role to play internationally as one of the world’s largest meteorological societies.
PRCA Climate Misinformation Strategy Group Chair John Brown FPRCA commented:
“One of the objectives for our strategy group was to help improve the knowledge and understanding of climate change within the industry. This is a leap forward in hitting that objective, with a serious course delivered by an organisation that brings balance and insight to the topic.
“More PR professionals than ever before are being asked to provide counsel on climate change, it’s critical that those same professionals move beyond a nervous, superficial, understanding of the topic and into a position of confidence and clarity – this course will accelerate that shift in knowledge.”
Royal Meteorological Society Chief Executive Liz Bentley said:
“It was around this time last year when Sir David Attenborough said that ‘Saving our planet is now a communication challenge.’ We are keen to accept that challenge and support PR professionals with the science behind climate change, breaking down the myths and jargon and sharing knowledge we have learnt along the way.
“We hope our training will help communicators feel enabled to advise their organisations and clients on the facts. We also want them to be inspired to share the positive stories and message of hope in the progress already being made to tackle climate issues. When we read about the work the PRCA is already doing in this area, it felt like the ideal partnership.”
To find out more about the Climate Change Communications course, please click here.
PRCA partners with the Royal Meteorological Society to fight climate misinformation
