Workshops and training to build capacity, expertise and community in nature communication in the next generation
When it comes to communicating about nature, everyone who creates content becomes an important stakeholder to spread awareness. Creators include nature writers, illustrators, translators, public speakers and others who communicate about nature using various mediums. To ensure ethical, fact-based communication about nature, an important intervention required is to train the next generation on new tools at their disposal and develop a sense of positive community.
The aim of this project is to encourage and increase expertise and capacity in communication among writers, illustrators, storytellers, translators, public speakers and all others who communicate about nature to the larger public. Towards this initiative, in 2020, we started a database of nature writers in all Indian languages, sending them constant opportunities in mass media. We also conducted a workshop on ‘How to Write an Effective Press Release for your Research Paper’ in collaboration with Biodiversity Collaborative, The echo network, and Centre for Ecological Science, IISc Bangalore.
In 2021, we plan to develop a robust community of nature communicators to share opportunities, knowledge, network and camaraderie to ensure more nature content in digital and offline spaces.
This is an ongoing initiative. If you would like to suggest a communication gap, training or be part of our communities, please feel free to get in touch with us.
Opportunities for Nature Writers
To offer more opportunities from digital platforms and media houses, we have created a database of nature writers in all Indian languages. If you are a writer in an Indian language and want to write more on nature and birds, please contact us. We send out regular mass media opportunities to our writers in Indian languages including Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Odia, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam, Telugu, Urdu, Assamese, Bengali, Kashmiri and more.
Please fill this form so we may contact you for future opportunities.
Workshop on Press Release
In 2020, we conducted a workshop on ‘How to Write an Effective Press Release for your Research Paper’ in collaboration with Biodiversity Collaborative, The echo network, and Centre for Ecological Science, IISc Bangalore. This was intended for researchers working in the fields of ecology, biodiversity, wildlife, and conservation. It was conducted by Gunjan Jain, a communicator and narrative builder, who specializes in communicating climate change, socio-economic, political, and cultural issues. The workshop was successful thanks to the efforts of our partners. We received 883 registrations of which 200 participants attended the live webinar on Zoom. The webinar is available to view on YouTube channels of @the echo network and @Nature Conservation Foundation.
Quora’s Indic Language Training
We have partnered with Quora Indic Language Team to conduct free online training workshops in eight Indian languages - Hindi, Marathi, and Tamil. These workshops are customized to encourage nature writers and experts to create content and answer questions on nature and birds on the digital platform and develop an audience in the online community. After the workshops, we offer different initiatives and encouragement to our community of writers to continue to contribute their expertise on the platform.
In the last quarter of 2020, we conducted workshops for nature writers in Marathi and Hindi. This is an ongoing initiative and in 2021, we are developing workshops for writers in Tamil.
Dr Raman Kumar, NCF answered questions on 'Pollution Prevention' in a VIP session on Quora Hindi on the event of National Pollution Prevention Day from 2 Dec - 9 Dec, 2020.