True Planet

A policy-focused campaign for the University of Oxford

From March 2021–2022 I was half of the two-person team leading global campaigns for the University of Oxford, a very complex and devolved organisation.

For most of this time I strategised and delivered the True Planet campaign. The aim was to associate Oxford research and researchers with the policy debate in the run up to and during the UN climate conference COP26. 

And a key objective was to position Oxford  researchers as leading and trusted voices in this policy area.

Our resources were limited – we were managing a matrix team many of whom were still working on Oxford's COVID-19 research – so we had to prioritise carefully. 

I researched how Oxford's research could meet policymakers' needs and move forward the policy debate in the media and on social media. And I shared this knowledge with the team, collaborating with them to develop effective tactics.

Among many things, I also coached leading Oxford academics on how to present themselves in different media and rewrote their profiles for a custom page on the university's Find an Expert database, to which we directed journalists throughout the campaign – multiplying our impact. 

I also had the idea to prep researchers to comment on the daily events of the conference, as they unfolded. We set up a 'newsroom' sending their commentary to the media each day of COP26.

It was so successful that academics were soon sending us their quotes without prompting. During the two weeks of COP26, Oxford’s climate and biodiversity research was mentioned 644 times in the media, with a potential reach of 3.1 billion – in the same period, our top three competitors achieved a combined 66 articles on their climate/environment research.

Oxford researchers were quoted on COP26 live blogs by the Guardian, the BBC and across the world from India to Canada – as well as on the front page of the Evening Standard on the official last day of the conference.

Other campaign highlights included Greta Thunberg sharing Oxford's research, and Coldplay announcing that they were using the Oxford Offsetting principles for their new world tour. Our 'myth-busting' Instagram Reels generated 400,000 views. Oxford rose 20 places in the ‘People and Planet University Sustainability League’ to 25th – ranking 1st in the ‘education’ category – and Oxford Professor Myles Allen was appointed a CBE for his services related to climate research. 

Leading researchers promoted throughout the campaign were awarded funding worth £30m – including £10m for a new research centre that aims to replicate the speed with which Oxford's vaccines team responded to COVID-19 in solving critical environmental problems.

 

 

Explore more of our many campaign outputs.