What is the course overview?
This course focuses on the practical tools and skills needed for communicating effectively before, during, and after high stress, high concern, high stakes, controversial, and emotionally charged situations involving environmental risk issues.

Who should take this course?
This course is recommended for those who perform any of the following tasks:

• Deal with individuals, groups, or organizations concerned, upset, or angry about situations or events involving an environmental risk;
• Deliver risk related messages to concerned, upset, or angry stakeholders;
• Engage in dialog and information exchanges with concerned, upset, or angry stakeholders; and
• Respond to difficult or challenging questions from concerned, upset, or angry stakeholder.

There are no suggested prerequisites.

What are the course learning objectives?
Participants who complete this course will gain skills on how to:

• Provide stakeholders with timely, accurate, clear, consistent, credible and easily accessible information about an environmental issue;
• Address rumors, inaccuracies and misperceptions;
• Coordinate communication efforts across organizations;
• Understand the key components that make up trust, risk perceptions, and stakeholder values;
• Recognize common biases and errors in risk and crisis communication before, during and after events;
• Recognize how high stress situations change the rules of communication;
• Develop strategies to enhance trust and minimize conflict; and
• Craft proactive strategies and messages responsive to stakeholder concerns.

What are the logistics?
This one-day course is highly interactive and includes analysis of case studies and practice sessions. It also includes discussion of risk communication challenges related to messages, messengers, and communication channels. Maximum course size is 40 participants.

Dr. Vincent T. Covello, founder and Director of the Center for Risk Communication in New York City, teaches this course. Dr. Covello is a nationally and internationally recognized trainer, researcher, consultant, and expert in crisis, conflict, change and risk communications. Over the past twenty-five years, he has held numerous positions in academia and government, including Associate Professor of Environmental Sciences and Clinical Medicine at Columbia University.

Is there available background material?
There is no recommended background material.

Previous Events (click to view/hide)

New York, NY Event Details   May 23, 2019 - May 23, 2019   Denver, CO Event Details   September 14, 2017 - September 14, 2017   Philadelphia, PA Event Details   October 18, 2016 - October 18, 2016   No location recorded for this class offering, Event Details   October 13, 2015 - October 13, 2015