Language shapes how we make sense of our relationship and responsibility to the natural world.
Words for Change applies ecolinguistics, cognitive linguistics and behavioural science to environmental research, strategy and communication.
We investigate how language shapes meaning in social-ecological systems to guide communication that fosters understanding and stewardship of land, water and biodiversity.
What people say:
This is tangible action.
This is changing my thinking on communicating with impact.
Environmental Program Manager, NRM Region, Vic.
Language Unearthed
Dig into the language shaping our relationship and responsibility to the natural world.
Language Unearthed explores the frames, metaphors, values, narratives and other linguistic patterns through which we make sense of the natural world.
Bringing these patterns into view reveals the assumptions and relationships they convey, and how they shape emotion, cognition and behaviour. From this understanding, new narratives for change can emerge.
Language Untapped
Dive into the language shaping how we understand, value and manage water.
Language Untapped explores the frames, assumptions and narratives shaping how water is understood, valued and reasoned about across natural, urban and rural contexts.
Intentional shifts in language can reframe entrenched and limiting narratives, opening new possibilities for collaboration, connection and change.
Learn. Understand. Apply.
LEARN
90-minute webinar
A focused introduction to framing, metaphor, values, narrative, agency and other linguistic patterns that influence how people make sense of a concept or issue and what responses seem possible. Participants leave with a new perspective on language and practical approaches they can apply to their own work. Available as Language Unearthed or Language Untapped.
Half-day workshop
A practical session for teams ready to move from awareness to application. Working with real examples, participants learn to identify frames, metaphors, values and other ecolinguistic patterns and explore their effects on understanding and reasoning. We then experiment with new frames, explanations and narratives that can open different possibilities for communication and change. Available as Language Unearthed or Language Untapped.
UNDERSTAND
Language analysis
A focused analysis of a defined body of material, such as stakeholder submissions, policy documents, organisational communication or public discourse, can identify linguistic patterns that shape how people feel, think and act. This analytic process provides a clearer picture of how an issue is being conceptualised, where assumptions or tensions sit and what alternative framings may be possible.
APPLY
Reframing & strategy sessions
For teams with a specific communication challenge, focused sessions examine existing frames and narratives, explore alternatives and develop more deliberate ways of explaining and communicating an issue. These sessions can stand alone or build on insights from a workshop or language analysis.
Dr Trudi Ryan
Ecologist. Linguist. Communication scientist.
I bring more than 30 years experience across environmental research, education and communication to the intersection of ecology, linguistics and behavioural science.
My work investigates how language directs attention, shapes meaning, signals values, distributes agency and responsibility, influencing the futures we can imagine.
Language Unearthed and Language Untapped bring this approach into practical learning, analysis and communication for positive social-ecological change.
