The Public Affairs in Practice Podcast

In an interview episode, I talk to Zoe Cohen, a highly experienced board-level director and Master Coach. We talk about the importance of taking action to save the planet, climate communications, her activism and work with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. This episode was recorded before the recent UK General Election and *WARNING* it does contain some swearing. Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications Thanks to my editor Callums World. Zoe has kindly provided some links and reading materials for us as well. Climate Psychology Alliance (CPA) and support – it’s really important for those of who feel this deeply to not be on our own with it, and to seek support, see https://www.climatepsychologyalliance.org/index.php/find-support Planetary Boundaries – I described how 6 of the 9 ‘planetary boundaries’ have been identified as broken/passed – here is the framework behind that, developed by Professor Johan Rockstrom and colleagues -https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html (there’s a Netflix movie on it too, with David Attenborough if people prefer, but of course it’s less blunt than it needs to be) The ‘Humanity Project’ - https://humanityproject.uk/ - I talked about the project here in the UK to upgrade democracy, through local community assemblies, and a new grass roots national people’s assembly – by the people for the people And just to add – deliberative democracy and citizens assemblies can be global as well as local and national. A Global Assembly was run in 2021 https://globalassembly.org/ with 100 ordinary people from all over the world. Now a coalition of organizations, individuals and governments are working to establish a permanent Global Citizens’ Assembly, to address humanity’s greatest challenges, and try to place citizens at the heart of global governance. See https://www.gcacoalition.org/ ‘Breaking Together’ – I recommend this book by Professor Jem Bendell. It is a critical and multidisciplinary in-depth view of our current predicament, and some of the potential responses to it. Jem’s blog is here and includes a page on the book with a free e-read version - https://jembendell.com/2023/04/08/breaking-together-a-freedom-loving-response-to-collapse/ The ’Great Simplification’ - If people aren't already familiar with it, this as Nate Hagen’s podcast and YouTube series -https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/ - also a good source of multidisciplinary, big picture perspectives on our human predicament, whilst I don’t necessarily agree with all the perspectives represented, it’s still a good source. ‘Defend Our Juries’ - https://defendourjuries.org/ this is an important campaign which began last year to defend all UK citizens rights to a fair jury trial. Jurors have an absolute right to acquit a defendant according to their conscience – but this is under attack in multiple ways and must be defended. ‘This is Rigged’ - https://www.thisisrigged.org/ - This is a great youth-led, campaign in Scotland, which is taking nonviolent action to pressure the government on food justice to ensure everyone can eat and no one goes hungry

All organisations need to manage risk. Some do it better than others. Some make basic mistakes; others try to drive out all aspects of risk. But the reality is that some risk needs to be maintained, not least in communications, otherwise innovation can die.

In a different type of episode, we hear from five of the leading monitoring companies. Delivering public affairs training, I am often asked about who can monitoring services. So, I asked leading monitoring companies to tell us more about what they do. A huge thank you to all those who took part. To learn more about the companies took part (in alphabetical order): DeHavilland Dods PolicyMogul - with a special offer of 10% off your first year's subscription PoliMonitor - use the code STUARTSENTME for 13 months for the price of 12 if you trial and sign up Vuelio - or email sam.webber@vuelio.com Learn more about me and my services @CWE Communications Thanks to my editor Callums World.

In an interview episode, I talk to Paul Gerrard, Campaigns, Public Affairs & Board Secretariat Director at the Co-op Group. We talk about his background in the civil service, the skills he learned and how he has applied them to public affairs and the fantastic campaign he has led tackling violence against shop workers. It is a case study that everyone should learn from.

n an interview episode, I talk to Vallath Kavitha Krishnan, a Team Leader in the Scottish Government’s Justice Transformation Policy Team. We talk about her background in public affairs and its benefits in her latest policy-focused role. All views expressed in the podcast are Vallath’s own.

Engaging with political audiences can often feel like an uphill challenge for those seeking to make an impact. Even when an event seems directly relevant, politicians may not always want to take part. Why can it seem like they have left the room?

There is a common belief that public affairs requires large, well-resourced teams. However, many organisations operate with smaller budgets and teams, which presents a challenge for achieving success. How can we make them effective?

Standing out from the crowd is important at any stage of a career but it is best to get into good habits early on. Thinking about your personal branding should be one such early consideration.