The London School of Economics and Political Science
Sustainability Communication Strategies
Develop practical tools and approaches to help navigate the complexities, challenges, and opportunities involved in communicating about sustainability.
Start date
24 March 2025
Course duration
3 weeks
Language
English
Access resources from start date
Effort
4–6 hours per week
Self-paced learning online
Course overview
The proportion of UK consumers who feel that they can’t trust organisations on issues of sustainability.
Deloitte (2022).
The percentage of Americans who doubt businesses' claims that they are environmentally friendly.
Businesswire (Mar, 2021).
Duration: 3 weeks
As we face growing environmental and social challenges, companies around the world are seeking better and more sustainable ways of operating. But to drive meaningful change, they also need to rethink the way they communicate about their sustainability mission to employees, stakeholders, consumers, and the public. Today, professionals are tasked with developing open and honest communication strategies that reflect their organisation's efforts and speak to their audiences' attitudes, values, and beliefs about sustainability, while still delivering on business objectives.
The Sustainability Communication Strategies three-week online course from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) will provide you with the tools to navigate the complexities and opportunities involved in impactful sustainability communication. Exploring both theory and practice, you’ll engage with current research, expert insights, and real-world case studies. You’ll learn how to develop an effective sustainability communications strategy that engages your audience as a conversation partner, balances ethics, organisational reputation, and stakeholder interests, and links communication with action.
Is this course for you?
This course is for professionals and mid-level managers who work in communications-related roles, seeking practical tools and techniques for developing internal and external messaging about sustainability initiatives and challenges. This includes those who are responsible for shareholder and stakeholder relations, community engagement, or public relations, as well as marketing communication professionals such as social media and brand managers. It would also benefit any manager who is in a public-facing function and needs to respond to consumer queries and concerns.
Course overview
Introduction
Duration: 3 weeks
As we face growing environmental and social challenges, companies around the world are seeking better and more sustainable ways of operating. But to drive meaningful change, they also need to rethink the way they communicate about their sustainability mission to employees, stakeholders, consumers, and the public. Today, professionals are tasked with developing open and honest communication strategies that reflect their organisation's efforts and speak to their audiences' attitudes, values, and beliefs about sustainability, while still delivering on business objectives.
The Sustainability Communication Strategies three-week online course from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) will provide you with the tools to navigate the complexities and opportunities involved in impactful sustainability communication. Exploring both theory and practice, you’ll engage with current research, expert insights, and real-world case studies. You’ll learn how to develop an effective sustainability communications strategy that engages your audience as a conversation partner, balances ethics, organisational reputation, and stakeholder interests, and links communication with action.
Is this course for you?
This course is for professionals and mid-level managers who work in communications-related roles, seeking practical tools and techniques for developing internal and external messaging about sustainability initiatives and challenges. This includes those who are responsible for shareholder and stakeholder relations, community engagement, or public relations, as well as marketing communication professionals such as social media and brand managers. It would also benefit any manager who is in a public-facing function and needs to respond to consumer queries and concerns.
How is this course different?
What will set you apart
Insight into the factors that influence organisational messaging around sustainability, including the changing social, political, economic, and media landscapes.
The ability to understand audience attitudes, values, and beliefs in order to frame sustainability messaging and communicate with your audience as conversation partners.
An approach to sustainability communication that balances ethics, organisational reputation, and stakeholder interests; and the skills to use the TADD (Trust, Access, Dialogue, and Disclosure) model to analyse context and frame sustainability messaging for maximum impact.
Unlimited access to 2U’s Career Engagement Network, offering you exclusive resources and events to support your professional journey and drive your career forward.The curriculum
Module 1
Sustainability communication in an uncertain world
Explore the fundamental aspects of sustainability communications and the complex factors that affect organisations’ dialogue around sustainability.
- Discuss and define sustainability communications in relation to the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) sustainability model
- Articulate the role of an organisation’s context and audience in effective sustainability communications
- Analyse the challenges and opportunities involved in creating dialogue around organisational sustainability efforts
- Critique your organisation’s activity through a sustainability communications lens
Module 2
Engaging audiences, generating action
Learn how to engage audiences and meet their organisational expectations by understanding their attitudes, values, and beliefs towards sustainability.
- Describe the importance of engaging audiences as conversation partners
- Articulate the challenges that can arise from ineffective audience mapping
- Investigate what an audience’s attitudes, values, and beliefs are towards sustainability and determine their expectations of the organisation’s sustainability strategy and communications
- Evaluate the four dimensions of the TADD model as a way of informing your sustainability communications approach
Module 3
Communicating sustainability in practice
Explore the importance of analysing an organisation’s context and audience to effectively balance key considerations and frame a sustainability message.
- Discuss the importance of balancing ethical considerations, organisational reputation, and stakeholder interests when communicating about sustainability
- Apply the four dimensions of the TADD model of communication to support a sustainability communications strategy
- Analyse the potential barriers and solutions to applying the TADD model in your organisational context
- Evaluate the strategies that can be used to effectively frame a sustainability message for an audience
- Formulate a message for your audience about a sustainability effort through effective framing
Course Convenors
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Professor Lee Edwards
Professor of Strategic Communications and Public Engagement; Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Media and Communications, LSE
Your skills recognised
Validate your skills online with an official digital badge from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
In order to be issued with a digital badge, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the master class.
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How you'll learn
This online course is broken up into a manageable units designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse activities:
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Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
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Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through discussion forums
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Enjoy a wide range of interactive content including videos, podcasts, quizzes, and more
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Receive a toolkit for practical application in your career
Apply what you learn throughout this master class experience and develop the skills to navigate the complexities, challenges, and opportunities involved in communicating about sustainability.
Your success team
Online education provider GetSmarter offers a personalised approach to online learning that ensures you’re supported every step of the way.
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Head Tutor
A subject matter expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
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Global success team
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
A powerful collaboration
The London School of Economics and Political Science is collaborating with GetSmarter to create a new class of learning experience – one that is high-touch, intimate, and personalised for the working professional.
About LSE
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a leading dedicated social science university. LSE was founded in 1895 with the aim of understanding the causes of things for the “betterment of society”. LSE seeks to make research and teaching practical and relevant to the real world. The School counts 18 Nobel Prize winners and 37 world leaders amongst its alumni and staff. LSE has students from over 160 countries, and over 100 languages are spoken on campus.
About GetSmarter
GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, partners with the world's leading universities and institutions to select, design, and deliver premium online courses with a data-driven focus on learning gain. Technology meets academic rigour in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, whose interactive online format allows for self-paced learning and a greater level of participant engagement.
Communication that drives change
Learn how effective sustainability messaging can engage audiences and meet business objectives on the LSE Sustainability Communication Strategies three-week online course.
Want to know more?
Payment options
You can pay your course fees before the course starts, or you may opt for a split payment plan on courses that are nine weeks and shorter. For courses 10 weeks and longer, there is a three-part payment plan available. To find out more about payment options please visit our Payment and Financing page, or contact an Enrollment Adviser, to find out which option you qualify for.
Seek employer assistance
By improving your skills and industry knowledge, you'll have an influence on the success of your organization. Why wouldn't you ask your boss to help you fund your studies if it's going to have an impact on the way you do business?
Of our past students, 37 percent have received financial assistance from their employers. You can ask for help, too. Here is a guide to show you how to request financial assistance from your employer.
If you are a Learning & Development (L&D) manager, or involved in training and upskilling for an organization, you can request information regarding our corporate offering on our GetSmarter for business page.
Manage your time
GetSmarter's learning model is designed to help you, as a working professional, improve your skills without compromising on work and family responsibilities. The course work is broken up into weekly, manageable bite-sized modules, with incremental deadlines, designed to help you pace yourself over the duration of the course and allow you the legroom to work when it suits you best.
At the beginning of each module you'll be presented with the course content and assignments necessary for completion. You also have access to your Success Adviser who will help you manage your time, and support you with any administrative or technical queries you might have.
Discover the Online Campus
The Online Campus will be your virtual classroom for the duration of your course. Through its easy-to-use interface you'll have access to a diverse variety of course content formats including: interactive videos, module notes, practice quizzes, presentations, assignment briefs, and additional web resources.
On the Online Campus, you'll also be able to ask questions and interact with your fellow students and teaching team through the discussion forums. If you are looking for your Online Campus login, please visit your Account page here.
