Join a CAT student teaching week and examine the role of communication and engagement strategies to support behaviour change towards a more sustainable society.

Through a series of lectures, discussions, and practical activities you will learn alongside our postgraduate students on our MSc courses including our Masters in Sustainability and Behaviour Change.

You will experience what it might be like to study on one of our postgraduate courses at CAT and gain invaluable knowledge and skills around modern communication strategies available for addressing current environmental challenges.

Key information

• Duration: five days
• Upcoming dates: Monday 13 to Friday 17 April 2026
• Start and finish times: starts at 10am and ends at 1pm on the last day
• Fees: £700
• Includes: tuition, all materials, lunch.
• Full board accommodation, when available for this course: £325 for a single person bedroom for the duration of the course (check-out is on the last day of your course). Accommodation will show, if available, once you have added the course to your booking.
• What to bring: a note pad and writing materials. Good boots and waterproof clothing is advised
• Terms and Conditions:

  • you must be 18 years or over to attend our courses.
  • For full list of terms and conditions click here

Who is this course aimed at?

This week is aimed at people who wish to have a taster of studying at postgraduate level at CAT and want to gain knowledge of communication for transformational social change.

It will suit people who are looking to create social change on a community and local to national level, those who work within arts, communication, and media, or people who work in policy or influencing roles in the environmental sector.

What you will learn:

One of the major obstacles in creating successful transformational social change to deliver a more sustainable society is effective communication. This course focuses on modern approaches to successful communication strategies and provides some key skills in delivering these. It builds on previous modules of sustainability and social transformation, and theories of behaviour change interventions but can be taken as a standalone course.

Topics covered include:

• Communicating environmental science and solutions, tailored to engage select audiences;
• Strategic communications for environmental campaigns and movements;
• Creative and interdisciplinary approaches to communicating sustainability issued and transformational needs, e.g. arts, narrative, digital, and community responses;
• Ethical considerations in designing communications;
• The roles of leadership and participatory approaches to communication for transformational change.

How will I learn:

You will be guided with some pre-reading and pre-recorded introductory lectures, followed by an intensive week at CAT of live in-person lectures, discussions, group activities and practical activities.

This short course is part of the teaching for the MSc module Communicating Transformational Social Change. Please be aware there may be some activities and content during the week only available to students, where an activity isn’t appropriate for the short course attendee, we will endeavour to arrange a replacement activity.

Meet your tutor:

Module Leader:

Dr Cathy Cole

Cathy is a Senior Lecturer, teaching primarily on the MSc Sustainability & Behaviour Change course. With a PhD and postdoctoral experience in marine science and climate change, followed by a career change into science communication, Cathy specialises in engaging both public and policy audiences with environmental science and transformational social change.

Dr Emily Westwell – Lecturer

Emily is a Senior Lecturer in the Graduate School and joined us in 2023 to teach across a range of our MSc modules. She recently completed a PhD from Keele University which explored environmental activism, agroecology, and food sovereignty.

Other tutors and lecturers 

Alongside the module leader and expert Graduate School staff, teaching sessions are led by a range of guest speakers and lecturers currently working in the sector and academia who join students on-site or through live streams.