This course explores what constitutes effective communication for environment and climate policy. Taking the words people say as the tip of the communication iceberg, the course will look under the surface to see what lies beneath. By unpacking the complex (but fascinating) social and institutional dimensions of communication, the course will uncover what works - and what doesn't - for environment and climate policy. Across all topics, the course integrates the cross-cutting 4 P's: power, public opinion, the public sphere, and policy windows.

Weekly lectures explore each of the topics through a mix of peer-reviewed sources and real-world examples. Optional weekly podcast style interviews with world leading researchers on each topic provide additional perspectives that complement the lecture content. Students are expected to engage enthusiastically with weekly readings and activities, and conduct original analyses of current environment and climate policy issues. Students will develop and demonstrate communication skills in written, oral, and visual formats. The course provides an evidence-based, practical grounding in effective communication for environment and climate policy.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Explain the social and institutional factors that shape environment and climate policy debates.
2. Critically assess the communicative processes that affect environment and climate policy design and outcomes.
3. Debate ethical and practical dimensions of environment and climate policy communication.
4. Demonstrate competency in proposing evidence-informed strategies for environment and climate policy communication.
5. Practice effective communication for environment and climate policy issues using written, oral, and visual formats.

Research-Led Teaching

This course will include weekly lectures that engage with key concepts and real-world examples. Many examples are drawn from the convenor's own research. Weekly readings will provide students with an opportunity to critically engage with foundational and current research across the topics.

Required Resources

Required readings will be outlined in the course, provided on Wattle, and accessible via the ANU Library.

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• Written comments
• Verbal comments
• Feedback to the whole class, to groups, to individuals, focus groups

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Other Information

CRAWFORD ACADEMIC SKILLS

The Crawford School of Public Policy has its own Academic Skills team dedicated to helping students to understand the academic expectations of studying at Crawford and succeed in their chosen program of study. Through individual appointments, course-embedded workshops and online resources, Crawford Academic Skills provides tailored advice to students keen to develop their academic reading, thinking, planning, writing, and presentation skills

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Week 1: Communicating for environment and climate policy
2	Week 2: The rise of environmental consciousness
3	Week 3: Understanding the audience and the messenger, and their interplay
4	Week 4: Crafting stories	Assessment item 1 (Essay: personal reflection) due.
5	Week 5: Truth and evidence (and their discontents)
6	Week 6: Ahhh! Risk
7	Mid-semester break	Assessment item 2 (Oral presentation: issue analysis) due.
8	Week 7: Engagement in the age of the Social License to Operate
9	Week 8: Conflict resolution, mediation, negotiation
10	Week 9: Lobbying
11	Week 10: News media and journalism (and social media)
12	Week 11: Social movements and activism (and more social media)
13	Week 12: Behavior change and the 'nudge'
14	Exam period	Assessment item 3 (Essay + Visual summary: communications strategy and justification) due.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Essay: Personal reflection	20 %	13/03/2025	27/03/2025	1, 2, 3
Oral presentation: Issue analysis	30 %	*	*	1, 2, 3, 5
Essay + visual summary: Communications strategy and justification	50 %	05/06/2025	27/06/2025	1, 2, 3, 4, 5

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website Students may choose not to submit assessment items through Turnitin. In this instance you will be required to submit, alongside the assessment item itself, hard copies of all references included in the assessment item.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Assessment Task 1

Essay: Personal reflection

Students are asked to reflect and think critically about how their personal position may shape their communication practice. In 1000 words, students are encouraged to reflect on their values, background, experiences, identity, and understandings about the environment (and environment-society interactions), and think about how they position themselves in relation to core concepts presented in weeks 1-3, supported by additional reading (e.g. connecting additional concepts and themes as relevant). Students are to clearly articulate how they relate to environment and climate policy issues AND consider how this affects their ability to communicate on climate and environment issues.

This assessment item is weighted at 20% of the overall course grade.

The ANU College of Asia & the Pacific's Word Limit and Penalty Guidelines applies to this assessment item.

This assignment task is due in week 4. Students are encouraged to write the bulk of it following completion of week 3’s learning activities. See detailed instructions on the course Wattle site.

Assessment Task 2

Oral presentation: Issue analysis

The purpose of the issue analysis is to demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the dynamics of a contemporary environment or climate policy issue, using theories/concepts/themes presented in weeks 1-6 of the course. In this way, students are practicing application of the concepts from the course to real-world environment and climate policy issues. As this is an oral presentation, students are also practicing skills in effective communication. In this assessment task, students unpack the complexity of their selected issue, but do not provide 'solutions' for resolving it. The issue analysis should therefore be guided by the question 'what is going on in this environment or climate policy issue?'.

This assessment task is in the form of a 5-6 minute oral presentation that will be due to be delivered as close as is possible (as allowed by timetabling) to the end of the mid-semester break. The actual due date will be subject to central timetabling and arrangements within the course (that is, coordinating fair deadlines and practicalities of different modes of delivery for in person and online students). There will be two streams for the oral presentation, a day long showcase session for in person students and an asynchronous stream for online students.

This assessment item is weighted at 30% of the overall course grade. Students will be assessed on the oral presentation (20% of course grade) as well as the visual supports (e.g., PowerPoint slides or similar materials) (10% of course grade).

Students are encouraged to make good use of the mid-semester break for preparing, however, students will benefit from starting to think about the topic and analytical themes from around week 4 onward. See detailed instructions on the course Wattle site.

Assessment Task 3

Essay + visual summary: Communications strategy and justification

The purpose of the communications strategy and justification is for students to demonstrate their ability to apply the concepts explored in the course to inform how communication about an environment or climate policy issue might be undertaken in order to achieve a policy outcome. Students should draw on themes from all weeks of the course, as relevant. There are two parts to this task. The first is an essay that outlines the strategy for communication and justification of this strategy using academic literature. The second is a single page ‘visual summary’ of the strategy (e.g. like an "infographic"). It should be a practice of effective visual communication in order to summarise the main elements of the strategy. This task gets students to put into practice their understandings about the complexity of the human world and theories of social interaction and communication to inform how to approach communication on their issue.

This assessment item is weighted at 50% of the overall course grade. The essay is weighted at 35% of the total course grade, and the visual summary is weighted at 15% of the total course grade.

The communications strategy and justification essay should not exceed 2,500 words (+/- 10%). The visual summary is not included within the word

limit for the essay (i.e., it is additional to the 2,500 words). The visual summary should be a single A4 page. References and the visual summary are not included in this word limit. Referencing should consistently adhere to the Crawford style. The ANU College of Asia & the Pacific's Word Limit and Penalty Guidelines applies to this assessment item. See detailed instructions on the course Wattle site.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of our culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically. This means that all members of the community commit to honest and responsible scholarly practice and to upholding these values with respect and fairness. The Australian National University commits to embedding the values of academic integrity in our teaching and learning. We ensure that all members of our community understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with. The University has policies and procedures in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Visit the following Academic honesty & plagiarism website for more information about academic integrity and what the ANU considers academic misconduct. The ANU offers a number of services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. The Academic Skills and Learning Centre offers a number of workshops and seminars that you may find useful for your studies.

Online Submission

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

Late submission of assessment tasks without an extension are penalised at the rate of 5% of the possible marks available per working day or part thereof. Late submission of assessment tasks is not accepted after 10 working days after the due date, or on or after the date specified in the course outline for the return of the assessment item. Late submission is not accepted for take-home examinations.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure The Course Convener may grant extensions for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information. In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service — including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy. If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes. Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Access and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents all ANU students