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Oppida raises the bar in online education

Climate for Change (C4C)

Climate for Change

July to December 2020

About Climate for Change (C4C)

Climate for Change’s (C4Cs) mission is to support people to have effective conversations about climate change, and to take actions that will inspire others. C4C has reached over 10,000 people through its flagship conversations program, built on the party plan model made famous by Tupperware® to facilitate discussions about climate change in people’s homes, among friends. This model of engagement is unique within the climate movement and has proven extraordinarily effective in engaging new audiences at both depth and scale.

Project brief

Climate for Change (C4C) sought Oppida’s expertise to design and develop a dynamic, engaging, and social online training program. C4C trains volunteers to facilitate conversations about climate change in their community, helping build the social climate for meaningful action on climate change. All facilitator training had previously been face-to-face. C4C had the potential to increase its reach by providing online training and supporting facilitators and their mentors wherever they live, all around Australia. 

Project challenge 

Personal relationships and the ability to share open and honest conversations are at the core of the work of C4C. It was critical to retain solid social connections in the new online training offering, as well as to build the capability of the C4C team in online learning design and delivery. C4C wanted an online training solution that allowed them to increase the number of facilitators they trained each year, while effectively managing large amounts of data and creating a seamless and enjoyable experience for all learners. 

Oppida’s customised solution 

There were four key elements to the solution Oppida provided:

1. Learner journey map

The Oppida team collaborated with C4C to map the current learner journey to visualise how new facilitators moved through the training program. This exercise allowed us to identify barriers that made it difficult for people to access the excellent learning resources C4C had already created. By removing these barriers, Oppida has opened a new market segment for C4C, which can now train more facilitators and, in addition, provide support for anyone interested in having more effective conversations about climate change. 

2. Learning platform analysis

C4C needed a learning platform that was low-cost and easy for its team to manage while still providing an engaging and visually beautiful learning experience that seamlessly integrated the digital tools they were already using: Nation Builder, Zapier, Airtable and Google drive. Oppida analysed a range of learning platforms and recommended Thinkific. The Oppida team also set up access to H5P so the creative team at C4C could design their own visually appealing and interactive learning tools. 

3. Training program design and development

C4C provided existing learning materials and worked with the Oppida team to create course maps for four separate courses. Our team then converted the existing content to storyboard format, applying learner-centred design principles. A prototype module was created in Thinkific, including the necessary digital integrations for the C4C team to work from.

4. Team capacity building

Using the scaffolding and tools for project management and learning design provided by Oppida, the C4C team has developed strong skills in online learning design. C4C now offers four online training courses, with 260 people already engaged in training and plans for more. Feedback from learners has been overwhelmingly positive. 

Testimonial 

“Oppida’s team of specialists helped Climate for Change develop an online learning platform for our Facilitator training program, which equips more than 150 volunteers each year with the skills and resources they need to facilitate hundreds of Climate Conversations throughout Australia. Oppida provided us with a clear project pathway that kept us focussed on our intended outcomes, and allowed us to both integrate our existing training resources and identify opportunities to develop new materials. The entire experience empowered our team to own the process and has set us up to approach future course development with confidence. 

The end result is a comprehensive training program that allows new volunteers to dive in straight away and frees our staff up to support their learning journey in more meaningful ways. We’re very grateful for the generosity of spirit and depth of expertise shown by the Oppida team in this project—helping C4C create the social climate in Australia for effective action on climate change.”

Feedback from our facilitators has been overwhelmingly positive:

  • “Excellent pedagogy.”
  • “Fantastic job in delivering this course. The variety of text, video, audio, presentations, discussion was great to keep my attention and focus. Whilst I had previous thorough knowledge of the content and social theories, I gained a lot because I learned what climate science/impact information to include (and importantly, exclude). Ticks for process, delivery, content, variety, and motivation!”
  • “Rated 5 out of 5.”

- Lisa Whiston, Climate for Change Assistant Program Manager