Green Ink: New Leaf

In 2010 Green Ink clocked up its strongest annual growth rate since I founded the company 13 years ago. This recession-defying performance is happening for a simple reason: we're good at what we do and you, our clients, talk about us, so the word gets around.

To keep pace with the rapidly rising demand for our services, we've added some brilliant new people to our core team. You'll probably know some of them – have a look.

But Green Ink isn't just growing, it's changing – evolving to meet the changing needs of its clients. In this issue we describe an exciting new departure for us: the launch of our service in communications strategy. Led by a newly recruited expert in science communication, this service is designed to support you in key areas that you yourselves have identified as needing attention – such as media outreach, training in media relations, communications evaluation, and so on. With so many of our clients undergoing institutional change themselves, we feel our timing couldn't be better. To encourage you to use the service, we're inviting you to taste it by enjoying a free half-hour consultation.

Among the many products we've worked on recently, I've singled out just six of my favourites. Top of my list are the marketing materials we developed to 'sell' the CGIAR's Strategic Results Framework (Mark 2 version) to the donor community. It's not often we get such clear evidence of the effectiveness of our services as we did in this case, an example of how the right communication at the right time can tip the balance in favour of a positive decision. Next is the new website of the CGIAR's International Science and Partnerships Council (ISPC). This is a classic 'company' output, reflecting an integrated approach to structure, design and content development that would have been difficult to achieve using individual freelances. It's also an example of the quality boost you get when you think strategically about a product before setting about creating it. My third choice is some good news out of Africa, a report on the development and spread of what promises to be a central ingredient of the region's incipient Green Revolution. Fourth is an interesting report by a group of economists (yes, really!) on the transition to a low-carbon economy, a hot topic given recent bad news on carbon emissions. Fifth is a couple of slide-shows on water, which we wrote and designed for the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Short, highly visual products of this kind are a powerful way of driving home messages and creating consensus for change. My last is not nearly so short but it's highly topical – this year's Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction published by the UN, a marathon multi-language effort that had to be partially re-written on the eve of publication to reflect the horrors unfolding in Japan. The report is filled with advice that will help governments and society prepare better for such events in future.

Besides our usual production tip, we end this issue with a couple of items relating to the interest and pleasure we so often derive from our work. First, our science writer Sue Parrott was privileged to meet a remarkable local character when she visited western Kenya recently; and second... well, you should have seen the smile on my wife's face when she got those flowers!

Greetings from South Devon, UK, the home of Green Ink. And please send us your feedback, good or bad, on this newsletter and our services.

Among the forces driving today's need to think strategically about how we communicate, three stand out. First is information overload – the rising torrent of news and views out there that risks drowning out your messages, especially if these are subtle, fashioned to reflect a complex reality rather than grab headlines. Second is the shift away from static, product-oriented communication towards more dynamic, interactive approaches in which dialogue is more open and influence on outcomes harder to trace. This shift is mediated through the third force, the runaway growth of new communication channels: social networking, e-books, advances in mobile phone technology – all add yet more choices to an already diverse tool-kit.

Developing a strategy that makes the best use of this changing media landscape, ensures you really connect with stakeholders, and gets your messages across to key decision makers was the number one priority you identified in our 2009 client survey. You also flagged up the importance of evaluation: the need to assess the effectiveness of your communication activities and trace their contribution to organizational goals and impact.

We've responded by launching a new service to support you in these areas. The service covers the full spectrum of communication activities and can be applied at different institutional levels or to different tools and channels, according to need. To deliver the service, we've recruited Elspeth Bartlet, a highly regarded specialist in science communication, to complement the expertise available in our existing team.

Tailoring the service

Under Elspeth's leadership, our team of experts can work with you to:

Set realistic communication objectives that support your institute's goals
Define key messages and identify target audiences
Determine the best channels, tools and activities for reaching these audiences
Assess the capacity and budget needed to support your activities
Improve capacity in key areas, such as media outreach or Web2 skills
Focus in depth on specific communication challenges or issues
Develop tools and processes for evaluating the effectiveness of your communications.

Our strategic approach can be tailored for use across a range of levels, from the whole institute or family of institutes (such as the CGIAR or the UN), through programmes and networks (for instance, a biotechnology programme or a network on climate change) to projects, campaigns, initiatives or events (such as an international year or a conference). We can also help when a strategy is needed for developing or using a specific product or set of tools (for example, a website or social media) or for tackling specific problem areas (such as distribution). Training is available if your communications require skill sets new to your team. And we can also provide coaching and advice if the issues for communication are complex or contentious.

In delivering its strategic support, our team will use a participatory approach, working closely with your staff and stakeholders. We can offer support at a distance, using tools such as Skype or GoToMeeting in addition to email or conference calls. Or we can visit for more intensive face-to-face interactions, either informally or through a focused workshop.

Communication strategy is often developed against a background of broader institutional change. A case in point is the Science Council of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which underwent changes in its name and mandate as part of a reform process in the CGIAR as a whole.

The new Independent Science and Partnerships Council (ISPC) will place more emphasis on foresight studies, undertaken on emerging challenges, and on the mobilization of scientific resources to raise awareness of new problems and marshal the capacity to tackle them. It will continue its work on impact assessment, but will take on a broader set of considerations, including large-scale impact on poverty and human welfare, and will focus its assessments at the system level rather than on individual centres and programmes.

The council asked for Green Ink's support in exploring the implications of these changes for its communication activities. We designed and carried out a survey of the council's stakeholders, wrote a report on the findings, and facilitated discussion of these at a council meeting. We then worked with the council's recently appointed Executive Director Peter Gardiner to draft a new communication strategy, which was agreed for implementation at the next council meeting.

The mixture, but not as before: ISPC's future communications

The ISPC's communication strategy envisages a mix of new and old activities, designed to increase effectiveness and reach the broader audience implied by its new mandate.

Redefining the council's identity and overhauling its website were seen as the main priorities. The council will launch an electronic newsletter to provide updates and summaries of findings, activities, events and membership. It will send out email alerts on new publications. And it will trial the use of selected social networking tools. The council will continue with the current series of briefs, which are highly popular with readers. It will also continue to hold specialized workshops.

The overall objective is a 'joined up' set of communication activities that will reinforce the ISPC's messages by focusing them on priority concerns, sharpening their content to make them more persuasive, targeting them more accurately to specific audiences, and repeating them so that they gain acceptance and are acted on.

An important component of the new strategy was an overhaul of the council's website. Green Ink was invited to conduct an analysis of the existing website's design, content and user-friendliness. This culminated in a further report to the council, containing detailed recommendations. With Green Ink's support, these recommendations have now been implemented. The results can be seen at http://www.sciencecouncil.cgiar.org/

To launch our service in communications strategy, we invite you to help yourself to half an hour's consultation with Elspeth Bartlet, free of charge!

Whatever the communications issue that's on your mind, write to Elspeth about it (e.bartlet@greenink.co.uk). She'll give the issue some thought, then come back to you with a suggested time for a conversation by skype or phone.

This free half-hour advisory service is available to anyone, whether or not you go on to become a fee-paying client.

We're pleased to announce the arrival of a 'string' of talented newcomers to our core team.

Leading our work in communications strategy is Elspeth Bartlet. With a doctorate in insect science from Imperial College London and over 30 published papers to her name, Elspeth has the science background that gains her the trust of other scientists when providing strategic communication advice. She's also a first-rate writer and speaker, so can lead by example when delivering training in science writing or media outreach skills. Before joining Green Ink, Elspeth was Head of Science Communication at Rothamsted Research, one of the UK's most prestigious agricultural research institutes. Here she gained valuable all-round experience in managing a busy communications programme, making her an excellent source of expertise and advice on almost every aspect of the communications challenge.

In the past few months we've added no less than four science writer/editors to our team, extending our geographical reach as well as the range of topics we can cover.

Tim Woods, formerly Natural Resources Editor with the UK's Institute of Development Studies (IDS), brings to Green Ink his valuable experience in such areas as climate change, forestry, livestock, water and environmental protection, with writing and editing briefs for a policy audience a speciality. Tim works for us from his home in Hannover, Germany, but will shortly move to Accra, Ghana.

Our first science writer from 'down under', Adam Barclay is based in Adelaide, South Australia. Before joining us he spent 5 years with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), where he managed the institute's flagship magazine, Rice Today, writing much of it himself. Two of Adam's feature articles won Gold Awards from the USA's Association of Communication Excellence (ACE) and the magazine has been quoted by the BBC and The Economist. Adam has also worked freelance for several of our other clients in the UN and CG systems. He knows about rice, crop research, genetics and Asian agriculture.

Nick Pasiecznik has been involved in natural resources R&D for 25 years, about half that time as a dedicated science writer/editor. He is well known for his specialist work in dryland agroforestry, invasive species, underutilized crops and other topics. Before joining us he worked for CABI Publishing, various CG centres and a few NGOs, either as an employee or as a freelance consultant. Nick works for us from his wife's family farmhouse in the Morvan mountains of Burgundy, France.

Lastly, we're delighted to announce that, after an absence of 4 years, we once again have a presence in Nairobi. She is no less than Rebecca Selvarajah-Jaffery, formerly information officer with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and, before joining us, a successful freelance. Besides being a published novelist, Rebecca is an experienced editor and writer on agroforestry and African agriculture.

For the first time since it was founded, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has developed a single strategy unifying the research of its different centres and programmes. It's all described in a 100-page document with the catchy title, A Strategic Results Framework for the CGIAR.

With just a month to go before a critical meeting to approve the framework, newly appointed CGIAR Consortium director Lloyd Le Page asked Green Ink to develop some marketing materials to promote the document's central messages. We wrote a jargon-free 12-page brochure and 2-page fact sheet, then designed, laid out, printed and delivered both products in time for the meeting.

We were delighted to hear that the donor community approved the framework for funding – and that the materials we developed helped secure that decision.

"I have no doubt that the brochure and the 2-pager were indeed useful and were read by many. Ultimately the SRF was approved, so that is a great win for us all."

A classic product of North-South collaboration, the push-pull system of pest control, which uses the chemicals in plants to attract or repel insects, has revolutionized farming systems in western Kenya, improving food security and raising incomes while delivering substantial environmental benefits. Best news of all is the serendipitous finding that the legume Desmodium can control Striga, a parasitic weed that attacks food crops.

All this and more is described in Planting for Prosperity: Push-Pull, a Model for Africa's Green Revolution, a report written and produced by Green Ink for the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). The report was developed from first-hand interviews and photographs obtained in the field by our writer Sue Parrott, who met an eminent local opinion leader during her visit. It updates an earlier report on the same subject for the Gatsby Foundation, also written by Sue.

– Zeyaur Khan, Principal Scientist and Leader, Habitat Management Program, ICIPE

Shifting to a low-carbon economy makes economic sense. That's the main message of a recent report from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and Environment. Co-authored by a high-powered team of economists including Prof. Nicolas Stern (he of the Stern report), this new publication examines past performance and future prospects for such a shift in the EBRD mandate region, which extends from Central Europe to Central Asia.

We were delighted to be asked to edit this landmark report, which was launched at EBRD in April this year.

"I will be in touch in the near future to explore possible further collaboration."

Short, sharp slide-shows could prove a powerful way of spreading the news about major issues and successes in water management. That's the view of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), who asked Green Ink to develop two pilot presentations to trial a possible new on-line series.

The first presentation tells the story of a research success in India, where annual groundwater use on one scheme has been cut by 7% – nearly 1 million Olympic swimming pools – by the simple expedient of delaying the transplanting of rice until after 10 June, thereby avoiding the high evaporation rates of early summer. Besides allowing aquifers to recover, this measure saves valuable energy used in pumping, equivalent to more than 100,000 barrels of oil.

The second presentation takes a broader look at the challenges facing irrigated agriculture, the mainstay of future food production as the world's population rises. The challenges differ across regions: in Asia, where irrigation is widespread, the overriding need is to increase efficiency, achieving 'more crop per drop'; Africa, in contrast, still has a very low proportion of irrigated area, so the need here is to increase investment as well as improve management. This must be done in ways that will benefit the poor, particularly women.

"We have been very happy with the work of Green Ink. Everyone was very fast and efficient and the work was well done and creative."

That's the rallying call of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), whose new Global Assessment Report, Revealing Risk, Redefining Development, was launched in Geneva on 10 May.

Gearing up to manage disaster risk will be one of the hallmarks of good governance over the next decades, says the report's Preface. The report is an excellent resource for enabling governments to improve their act. New features include better analysis of risk for different regions and income groups, a special chapter on drought, a focus on the impact of disasters on children, and coverage of some of the welcome innovations in development practice that are helping countries adapt.

Under the leadership of our team and project manager Becky Mitchell, the Green Ink team and its associates pulled out all the stops to deliver the report on time – in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

"Thank you a million times over for your excellent work and project management. My gratitude extends to the entire Green Ink team, but you and Christel have really gone way above and beyond and merit the highest praise and my greatest esteem. It has been an absolute pleasure working with you."

We get a lot of thanks for our work from happy clients, but not many of them say it with flowers.

An exception is the Secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy on Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), who sent our graphic designer Christel Chater the enormous and beautiful bouquet pictured here, in gratitude for her tireless commitment to the design and layout of the 2011 Global Assessment Report, Revealing Risk, Redefining Development.

When clients demonstrate their appreciation of what we do, our work becomes a pleasure. Our thanks to Charles Evans, consultant with UNISDR, for organizing a gift that made Christel's day.

While in western Kenya recently, our writer Sue Parrott met and interviewed a woman called Sarah Obama. Yes, that's right – President Obama's grandmother.

Mama Sara, as she is known in her village, is a strong advocate of the push-pull technology promoted by Dr Zeyaur Khan and his colleagues at the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). She has a demonstration plot on her farm and has agreed to become a goodwill ambassador for the technology.

This one's for copy-editors. Whenever you see the word 'meaningful', reach for the delete key. In nine cases out of ten, the word is mere fluff – a classic example of the way superfluous adjectives blunt the impact of writing.

Consider: 'Project staff on short-term contracts are unable to make a meaningful commitment to the institute.' Now leave out 'meaningful' and notice how this sharpens the message.