Course dates:

Course dates:

Note: you must attend all courses in the week you choose.

Online course in the week of 16 May:

  • Debate workshop: 16 May, 9.30-11.30am
  • Debate theory: 18 May, 10-12pm
  • Practical debate training, session 1: 19 May, 1.30-4.30pm
  • Practical debate training, session 2: 20 May, 9.30am-12.30pm

In-person course at Imperial in the week of 23 May:

  • Online debate workshop: 24 May, 9.30-11.30am
  • In-person practical training:  25 May, 9.30am-5pm

The in-person training will take place at Imperial's South Kensington Campus in London.

Apply to attend

Do you want to learn techniques for confidently engaging in challenging public debates on climate change? 

The Grantham Institute at Imperial and Grantham Research Institute at LSE are running debate training courses to equip climate research experts with greater confidence to participate in challenging public debates on climate change, including dealing with misinformation or arguments against action on climate change.

The 10-hour debate training course will be delivered by debate coaching experts at the consultancy Purpose Union, who have decades of experience in training public communicators to win debates. It will:

  • Strengthen your ability to build an argument that spans several subjects, going beyond your own areas of academic expertise, to explain clearly and compellingly the case for action on climate change.
  • Give you the techniques you need to develop a successful argumentation strategy that fits your speaking style, by understanding your audience and your potential opponents, and selecting the right framing for the conversation.
  • Increase your confidence in effectively responding to people who have an opposing view to you, helping you to become better equipped to manage challenging public debates and discussions on climate change.

Training structure

The total amount of time for each training course is 10 hours, split across different sessions in one week:

  • One online introductory workshop facilitated by the Grantham Institutes, focused on expanding expertise and communicating comprehensive narratives on climate science and economics. This workshop will also review narratives based on misinformation on climate change and the elements of sucessful rebuttal.
  • Eight hours of training sessions run by debating and communications experts at the consultancy Purpose Union. These sessions focus on practical debate training for public and media communication, including debating strategies and techniques; understanding and persuading audiences; and choosing the most effective framing for an argument. These trainings are focused on general tools and techniques that you yourself can apply in any situation.

Joining the course

The training course is free and open to participants working across academic climate change research, including climate science, economics and policy, who are already engaged in public and media communication on climate change but want to develop their spokesperson skills further.  Each course has 10 places.

To apply for a place, please complete the survey below. As spaces are limited, if the course is oversubscribed, preference will be given to people who are underrepresented as spokespeople and communicators on climate change. Note the course is not open to students. We also aim to have a mix of climate science, policy and economics experts from across a range of institutions in the training, and may waitlist some people for future courses accordingly. 

Apply here