There are a wide range of public agency communicators for parks, recreation and public lands agencies, their partners, and members of the public who provide crucial news, updates, and briefings to the public and media. Most organizations are understaffed, and management responsibility is diffused making communication with the public and media a challenge. This training is designed precisely for this situation where many public park agency personnel and communicators are responsible for communicating with the public. This critical role is often a last though among park, recreation, and public land management agencies resulting often in unprepared and haphazard communications when an emergency, incident, or critical issue arises.
Funded for public benefit by the National Park Service, this series of course cover important situations or concepts that public agency communicators are likely to encounter in their work, from crisis communications to special events as well as the use of branding and graphic identity and working strategically with partners. The elements of the certificate program are focusing on learning, reference materials, practice activities, video case studies and assessments. Consisting of 5 separate online courses, the program includes the following courses:
- Course 1: Communications Policy and Practices
- Course 2: Communication Tools
- Course 3: Media Relations
- Course 4: Other Communications Topics
- Course 5: Putting It All Together – Planning Your Communications Strategy
The individual courses and the entire certificate are free to learner’s who register at proValens Learning. Continuing education units are also available for those professionals working to maintain certifications.