Honeyguide supports individuals and organisations with complex knowledge, multiple stakeholders, and high expectations for impact. Engagements often start before outputs are written, when teams need clarity on what they are trying to communicate and why.

Case Study: Establishing shared direction and messaging

Honeyguide supported a multi-partner international research programme to develop a shared communication strategy that aligned partners and improved stakeholder engagement and understanding.

The Situation

​The Towards Equitable and Sustainable Nature-based Solutions (TES NbS) project was a multi-partner international research collaboration working across research, policy and practice. The programme involved researchers from different disciplines and institutions and engaged policymakers, practitioners and funders.

Although the programme was producing substantial and valuable work, partners described the project differently, communication outputs varied in tone and emphasis, and stakeholders were not always clear about the project’s purpose and relevance.

The Challenge

The issue was not a lack of communication activity. Reports, presentations and engagement events were already taking place. However, without a shared narrative:

  • Stakeholders received mixed messages

  • Communication efforts did not reinforce one another

  • The programme struggled to consistently communicate its value and implications

The programme did not need more outputs — it needed clarity and alignment.

Honeyguide’s Intervention

Honeyguide worked with programme leadership and researchers to establish a shared communication foundation that could guide all outputs and engagement.

This included:

  • Identifying priority audiences and their information needs

  • Developing a message architecture

  • Guiding communication planning and implementation

  • Supporting partners to apply shared messaging across reports, presentations and engagement activities

Rather than producing a standalone strategy document, the communication strategy was embedded into the programme’s ongoing work and decision-making processes.

The Result

The programme developed a clear, shared narrative used consistently across partners and communication outputs. Materials became more coherent, stakeholder engagement improved, and the programme was better able to explain its relevance and implications to funders, policymakers and collaborators.

The shared messaging also strengthened subsequent communication products and knowledge-translation outputs, which were built on a common understanding of the programme’s goals and contribution.

Case Study: Making complex work understandable

Honeyguide translated interdisciplinary research from multiple projects into accessible learning resources, infographics and synthesis materials used in training and stakeholder engagement, enabling non-specialist audiences to understand and act on complex information.

The Situation

​Many research programmes generate valuable findings, but struggle to ensure they are understood and applied beyond academic audiences. Decision makers, practitioners and community groups often need accessible materials that explain complex concepts clearly and support real-world implementation.

Across multiple projects involving universities and international research collaborations, teams required support to translate technical work into communication and learning resources suitable for non-specialist audiences.

The Challenge

The projects involved complex and interdisciplinary material (including climate change adaptation and mitigation, nature-based solutions, social equity and landscape governance) that needed to reach diverse audiences such as practitioners, policymakers and students.

Academic publications alone were insufficient. The teams needed communication outputs that could:

  • Synthesise multiple research papers into clear messages

  • Support teaching and training

  • Communicate conceptual frameworks visually

  • Enable understanding without oversimplifying the science

Honeyguide’s Intervention

Honeyguide worked directly with researchers from multiple organisations to translate scientific material into accessible and actionable formats.

Support included:

The Result

The outputs enabled complex research to reach broader audiences and support practical use. Materials were used in teaching, training and stakeholder engagement, including an open-access online course designed to strengthen collaboration skills among students, researchers and practitioners. Visual frameworks and infographics provided shared reference points for understanding key concepts and were reused across multiple learning and engagement contexts.

Case Study: Strengthening communication capacity

Together with Human Element Communications, Honeyguide designed and delivered a multi-year communication training programme for UNEP, building the capacity of 400+ staff to produce clearer, more accessible scientific publications and supporting the organisation’s goal of improving the uptake of environmental science in policy and practice.

The Situation

​The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) produces a large volume of scientific and technical publications intended to inform policy and global environmental action. To strengthen the uptake of science across its work, the Office of the Chief Scientist identified the need to support staff involved in developing these publications with stronger communication skills.

The Challenge

UNEP required more than a generic training workshop. The organisation needed a tailored programme that could:

  • Work across departments and professional roles

  • Improve the clarity and usability of publications

  • Support consistent communication practices

  • Align with UNEP’s goal of increasing the uptake of science for transformative action

Honeyguide’s Intervention

Working in collaboration with Human Element Communications, Honeyguide first conducted a diagnostic process including a literature review, organisation-wide survey and staff interviews to understand communication needs and barriers. Based on this assessment, we designed and delivered a multi-year, online, module-based science communication training programme (2022–2025). The programme focused on practical skills directly linked to participants’ real work, including:

  • Communication strategy and audience awareness

  • Writing and editing for clarity and accessibility

  • Data visualisation and visual design

The Result

More than 400 UNEP staff members participated in the training, strengthening the organisation’s internal capacity to communicate scientific information clearly and consistently. The programme supported the development of clearer publications and helped staff better translate technical material into content accessible to policymakers and practitioners, contributing to UNEP’s broader aim of increasing the use of science in environmental decision-making.

Case Study: Helping evidence inform decisions

Honeyguide translated a multi-country research programme on nature-based solutions into accessible findings, visual frameworks and narrative materials that supported stakeholder engagement and informed funding and policy discussions, including at international climate forums.

The Situation

The TES NbS programme generated substantial scientific and technical material, but needed to communicate its findings to diverse audiences including researchers, practitioners, policymakers and funders.

The Challenge

The programme required communication that could:

  • Translate complex research into usable insights

  • Support policy and funding discussions

  • Engage both specialist and non-specialist audiences

  • Maintain scientific credibility while improving accessibility

Traditional academic outputs alone would not reach decision-makers or support implementation.

Honeyguide’s Intervention

Honeyguide acted as the project’s lead science communication support, working alongside researchers and programme leadership to translate research into accessible and decision-relevant communication.

Support included:

  • Synthesising the final research outputs into concise, action-oriented key findings paired with data visualisations

  • Developing visual frameworks to communicate the project’s conceptual approach to social equity in nature-based solutions

  • Authoring and co-editing stories, and conceptualising imagery for a storybook highlighting how social inequities play out in nature-based solutions

  • Designing infographics summarising regional survey findings from researchers, practitioners and policymakers

The Result

The project’s findings became accessible beyond academic audiences and were used in stakeholder engagement, funding discussions and policy processes, including national conversations in South Africa and international climate negotiations. The visual and narrative materials provided shared reference points for partners and supported clearer communication of the project’s relevance and implications.

Types of challenges we often support

  • Research not influencing policy

  • Multi-partner programmes without a shared narrative

  • Stakeholders unclear on purpose

  • Strong work struggling to secure funding

  • Experts unsure how to speak beyond their field

  • Reports that aren’t read at all, or read but not used

let's discuss your needs!