“the training challenged my perceptions of how I can communicate with other people outside of the scientific sphere and has completely changed the way I work"

Environmental scientists and specialists hold critical information for our future, so why aren’t decision-makers, the press and the public listening? We hear this all the time from our clients, and believe that it's the vital issue of our times. Our community has tried the same techniques for over 40 years ... perhaps it's time to learn how speak the language of our audiences.

We work closely with our partner organisation Siren Calling to deliver focussed and well-received public engagement and communication training. Much public engagement training focuses on voice projection, self-confidence, lack of jargon etc. We certainly cover these. However, we believe that the major factor in successful communication and behaviour change is to focus on the Values of the audiences you are communicating with.

The training we offer works with the sciences of mind and brain, psychology and neuroscience, language and creativity to appeal to the Values, beliefs and motivators that influence people’s decision-making, using tools such as Cultural Dynamics. With Values at the core of our work, our training uses social science, humour, and hands-on techniques and activities to create direct applications of this learning:

• Press and media interviews
• Video creation
• Elevator pitches
• Strong science stories

Why work with us?
We get asked back by key organisations and institutions to deliver our training each year, and can help your staff, students and teams to make real progress, to build confidence, to create videos, to present to camera, to write articles, to do whatever you consider critical. We can handle the whole process if you wish. Are very experienced with digital and face-to-face. Can run livestreams and public events. Can connect you with events and festivals. And we have worked on projects with budgets from £500-£250,000.

EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE CAN OFFER

Why do this? 
Improve your presentations and articles
Communicate with funders and decision-makers
Deal with the press and other media
Reach new audiences
In short, to gain the skills that help you and your work to be recognised and acted upon.

Past clients 
Notable recent clients include the National Oceanography Centre, ProSEA, Wageningen Marine Insitute, Gatsby Plant Science Education Programme/Cambridge University, and have run training with early career researchers at Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Scottish Association of Marine Science (SAMS) the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and university staff. We have trained staff from agencies such as DEFRA, Natural England and National Trust, as well as running workshops for University of the West of England, The Natural History Consortium, Filmmakers for Future:Wildlife, County and District Councils, Coastal Management bodies and young people’s groups.

Future of Our Seas  
Working with Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) we conducted public engagement training for early career researchers working in ocean science and collaborated on an open source research paper to showcase our process and outcomes.

De_Clippele_et_al_2021_The_Future_of_our_seas_marine_scientists_and_creative_professionals_collaborate_for_science_communication.pdf

Associates 
We regularly collaborate with Dr Kris De Meyer, a Research Fellow at Kings College London whose research focuses on translating neuroscience and psychology research into actionable communication and science/policy practices on climate change and the environment. He is a core member of the UCL Policy Commission on Communicating Climate Science, producer of the award-winning documentary, Right Between Your Ears (exploring the neuroscience and psychology of entrenched views), co-creator of children's radio series Climate Explorers, and the participatory theatre piece, The Justice Syndicate. He regularly speaks on BBC radio and TV about polarisation in society, and why fake news can be so believable. In this TEDx talk he explores polarisation; how people become entrenched in their views and the gridlocked debates these opinions lead to. He posits a challenge: how can we communicate with those who see reality radically different to us?

Events
Incredible Oceans has organised 7 large-scale public festivals and events reaching a combined audience of 37,100 people, and has also taken part in more than 250 public festivals and events - between July 2018-July 2019 alone we reached 34,527 people. Our diverse portfolio that ranges from: Afro-Caribbean cultural celebrations to major science festivals; major tourism expos to evenings at the Royal Geographical Society; human behaviour change conferences to music festivals; county shows to high street pop-ups. We specialise in reaching non-self-selecting audiences and take part in festivals and events attended by those not necessarily attracted to science or environment.

Contact us to see what we can do to help you or your organisation.