Communication Tools

A communication plan sets up objectives relevant to specific audiences. Some questions that can help you identify your objectives and audiences could be,

  • What is the purpose of what I want to communicate? Is it educational, community engagement, fundraising for project sustainability and/or multipurpose?
  • Who is my audience? Is it the general public, a foundation, university students, K-12 kids and/or different audiences?
  • Which communication channel is the best for the audience to which my message is addressed? Is it a website, social networks (e.g. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter), a workshop, a talk, a site visit?
  • Can I use the same materials, e.g. photos, videos, written content, to produce different content for different purposes and audiences?   

For your communication plan to contribute solutions addressing social and environmental challenges, we recommend you focus on the impact your project would bring to the community, your UA-community partnership and the mission and goals of The Haury Program.

The BioCommunications team from University of Arizona Health Sciences offers graphic design, photography and video production services as well.  

Also, you can borrow equipment such as cameras, video recordings, audio and visual equipment, at the University of Arizona Libraries.

The Digital Storytelling Lab, at the Columbia University School of the Arts aims to create a teaching/learning space for digital media production that engages storytelling as a vehicle for social justice. 

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) offers a wide variety of resources by focus area such as Human Rights, Laws & Ethics, Public Engagement, Careers in STEM and Science Education among others. 

During the last two years, the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice, along with The College of Science hosted two workshops on science communication at the University of Arizona. We partnered with The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University to help faculty and students at the University of Arizona and members of the community communicate more effectively with the public, funders, policymakers, the media, colleagues and prospective collaborators in other disciplines. Through discussion and practice, the workshops focus on fundamental skills -- knowing your audience, connecting with your audience, and speaking clearly and conversationally about your work and why it matters. Listen to some of the testimonials from the last workshop. Stay tuned for next round of workshops on spring 2019.