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 complex social-ecological systems. This deeper understanding can open possibilities for more constructive relationships with land, water and biodiversity, grounded in stewardship, systemic awareness and connection.
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 patterns through which we make sense of the natural world.
Bringing these patterns into view helps reveal the assumptions and relationships they carry, how they influence emotion, cognition and behaviour, and where new narratives for change might emerge.
Language Untapped
Dive into the language shaping how we understand, value and manage water.
Language Untapped brings this approach to rivers, catchments, water management and policy, revealing the frames, values, assumptions and narratives influencing how water issues are understood and reasoned about.
Intentional shifts in language can change the parameters of thought, reframing complex challenges, shifting perspectives and opening new possibilities for meaningful change.
Learn. Understand. Apply.
LEARN
90-minute webinar
A focused introduction to framing, metaphor, values, narrative, agency and other linguistic patterns that influence what people notice, how they make sense of an issue and what responses seem possible. Participants leave with a new perspective 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 environmental examples, participants learn to identify frames, metaphors, values and assumptions and explore their effects on understanding and response. 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 patterns in framing, metaphor, values, narrative, agency and responsibility. The process provides is 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 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 and influences the futures we can imagine.
Language Unearthed and Language Untapped bring this experience into practical learning, analysis and communication for positive environmental change.
