Sustainability Communications: Book launch

Please join us for the official New Zealand launch of Sustainability Communications: a Practitioner’s Guide.

The first comprehensive publication to cover the many aspects of what it means to work in sustainability communications today, it addresses the growth of the sustainability communicator’s role and both the technical and ethical issues they have to navigate to manage reputation and maintain trust through a sustainability lens.

As well as offering practical advice in how to avoid greenwashing, build a sustainable brand and how to manage your way through an ESG crisis, the book also takes a deeper dive into building positive climate narratives and the awareness of communicating across both the global north and the global south.

It’s designed for communications and marketing professionals and organisational leaders who are either fairly new to sustainability or are working in this area but want to better understand aspects they may not have explored before.

Edited by Suzy Giles, the book features contributions by communications experts across the globe, with case studies drawn from their experience across environmental, social and governance issues.

Come and join our New Zealand based authors, Catherine Arrow, Fiona Stephenson, Richard Gordon and Nikki Wright and join our panel discussion, chaired by Suzy Giles, on the communications challenges we are navigating in our sectors.

Catherine Arrow is a recognised leader in public relations education and practice. As the Founder and Director of PR Knowledge Hub, she provides professional development worldwide and is a pioneer in digital relations and communication.

Her work spans organisational relations, ethics, risk and issues management, reputation guardianship, internal communication, and stakeholder engagement, with a focus on practical applications of artificial intelligence (AI). She developed the first global AI in Public Relations Capability Certification in 2022 and works internationally with practitioners and organisations to build capability and strengthen relationships.

Catherine has served globally as Secretary of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management. She is a Life Member and Fellow of PRINZ, Fellow CIPR, Fellow ASEAN PR Network, and a Member of the Commission on Public Relations Education and the Institute of Directors.

Richard Gordon is a seasoned communications practitioner. He started his career as a journalist in Auckland and London, including staff writer at Metro Magazine in the 1980s and writer/editor with National Business Review in the 1990s.

He moved to a communications agency in 1998 and then into a variety of in-house roles, including Genesis Energy and AMP Ltd, leading major communication projects such as financial and non-financial reporting, capital raisings, IPOs, shareholder communications, and crisis management.

Richard has been a Group Account Director at Wright Communications since 2018 and works collaboratively with his clients from a range of industries, including energy, finance, law, property, and transport. He specialises in reputation and risk management, financial and legal communications, and all aspects of sustainability communications and reporting.

Fiona Stephenson is Head of Communications & Marketing at the Sustainable Business Network in New Zealand. She has 25 years of experience in sustainability communications, working with organisations of all sizes and stages of their sustainability journey.

Past roles have included speech writer for the Chair of the British Government Panel on Sustainable Development, Oxford University’s first PR advisor on the environment, and PR/communications consultant.

She is a judge of various New Zealand award schemes. She has Honours and Masters degrees from the University of Cambridge, the latter in Environment & Development.

Nikki Wright is the Founder and Managing Director of Wright Communications, New Zealand, an award-winning and B-Corp-certified communications agency specialising in reputation management, corporate communications, ESG, and crisis communications.

Nikki has more than 25 years of experience in public relations and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and a trusted advisor to CEOs.

As co-founder of the Corporate Reputation Index with Kantar, she advocates responsible business practices, using her expertise to navigate challenges and drive strategic change.

Nikki is the Co-Chief Judge of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ) Awards, a PRINZ Fellow, and holds the PRINZ APR accreditation.

Suzy Giles is a communications consultant with more than 20 years’ experience of working with brands and leaders globally. Today she specialises in sustainability communications, built on a career of working with environmental scientists, researchers and implementation professionals all working towards the energy transition.

Suzy’s unique perspective comes from her roles both as in-house communications lead, as well as an Associate Partner in global sustainability consultancy at ERM.

She is the Chair of the UNDP/ICCO Climate Communications Task Force, which promotes equitable climate communications narratives and supports UNDP climate campaigns, globally. She is also Chair of the CIPR ESG Network which brings together communications professionals either working in or aspiring to do more in sustainability communications.

Originally from the UK, after nearly 10 years living and working in the Netherlands, Suzy now runs her own consultancy – Giles Global, from her home in New Zealand’s South Island.

She is editor of Sustainability Communications: A Practitioner’s Guide (Routledge) and contributing author to The Palgrave Handbook on Responsible Communication for a Sustainable Future (SDG 18).