An unaffiliated and independent interdisciplinary thinker, I provide the following bespoke services for environment/rural events and related communications
Let’s start with conferences. We’ve all been to one where the layout of the room fails to engage, no sign of headset mic, too few fumbling handheld mics, presenters overrunning their slots, there’s only one slow-roving audience mic, the chair fails to moderate the Q&A, then runs out of time for questions. As for the coffee break which dragged on….I’ve a train to catch!
1. Event Curator/Chair/Moderator/Compere (in-person)
Today, many environmental and land-based events increasingly seek to engage a range of interested parties which includes diverse audiences often with different values.
I reach out to invite stakeholders/‘interested parties’/key individuals. Advise on a congenial room layout, commission specialist audio-visual contractors, brief presenters in advance and set robust fair house rules right at the start of the day. By keeping time with light-touch strictness, and orchestrating multiple audience ‘open mics’ while dynamically moderating Q&As enables the organisers to fully partake in the day.
“You succeeded beautifully in avoiding entrenchments and posturing – a formidable yet charming moderator driving them all onwards”
Audience member at The Hay Festival Minette Batters, Sophie Wynne-Jones, Julia Aglionby on Elements of Re-wilding: Perceptions and Prejudices (2016)
“If you are looking for someone to bring an event to life, then look no further. Rob really can ‘read the room’ and get the most out of everyone” Craig Hope, UK Wildfire Adviser
My early involvement frees the host, organiser or sponsor from having to worry about presenters or chivvy people back from coffee breaks. All this enables you to get fully immersed in the day and spend time connecting and listening to conversations. Here’s 90sec vlog on what I offer
Here’s a 7min clip of a Q&A session here, a 2min event resume here: at an international congress on biodiversity in Paris, a pilot session at a farming conference in Cumbria
“I wanted to congratulate you on how you led the panel and the discussion, not an easy role. There was really good audience connection” A sponsor of the UK River Summit
Some other examples include a bilateral fish conservation science conf in Southampton, a stakeholder wildfire/workshop in Merthyr Tydfil, a debate event in Bangor and a biodiversity congress in Paris.
2. Specialist Environmental Communication
In-house PR and communication teams are increasingly caught out with how to promote an issue to multiple audiences. I can provide ‘red teaming’ (stress testing) of an environmental issue (a 60sec clip here of what this means). Other services include checking press releases, how position statements come across, and gathering field intel.
“My thanks to Rob for his hard work as facilitator. I very much appreciated his efforts and especially his quick thinking. Good work. Good guy”
Jonathan Kapstein, journalist
Some other examples here.
Plus my 136 letters published in The Times on a wide range of environmental subjects from birds of prey and pollinators, to farming and forestry – provide context on thinking around subjects in a different way to help open up dialogue.
“My thanks for the great job you did today in stirring up some good thinking within the panel session so effectively. It was a very helpful way to run things and the debate benefited from your key inputs”
Butterfly Conservation’s CEO
3. Informative Vlogs
Vlogs are a simple way of communicating complex issues without losing the essence of content and context required to reach a ranges of audiences.
“people are going to make up their own minds, my approach is to pout the information in the movie and let people decide fro themselves. I respect the intelligence of the audience”
Spike Lee
With my previous broadcasting experience, I started vlogging in 2017, with regular short vlogs on land and environment issues. Some examples on YouTube, LinkedIn, twitterX (Apr 2010 – Nov 2024) and Instagram.
I can help informatively ‘frame’ and create engaging vlogs to help various audiences to think about complex environmental issues. How might they help you convey understanding of, or information on, a topic in clear and concise way?
4. Interviewer
With a broad unaffiliated experience of environmental and rural issues and my independent thinking, enables me to ask questions which need to be asked for your audience.
Here are my interviews/conversations with Michael Gove | George Monbiot | Ben Goldsmith | Prof Tim Benton | Prof David Hughes | Mark Lynas | Minette Batters | Prof Sir Charles Godfray
5. Contact me
Please do drop me a line to discuss what I can do for you – in a conference room (a diversity of topics below) and for a comms teams, government department, regulator, university, individual or organisation.
I have worked across environmental and land sectors for over 25 years: as a rural commentator/broadcaster, an environmental communicator/curator/chair and a rural chartered surveyor.
