Note: This training course is being offered to accomodate audiences in different time zones. Both offerings cover the same course content.

Presented by: Glenn Brown (Canada)
Course tuition:  US$480 for IAIA Members / $580 for Non-IAIA Members  (No bursaries available for Online Training Courses.)
Please register early! The course will be cancelled if the minimum number has not been reached one week before the course start date. If the training course is cancelled at that time due to low enrollment, IAIA will notify you and provide refund information.
Payment & refund policies: Registration is not confirmed until payment has been received and a receipt has been issued. Pre-registration and pre-payment by individual course deadline is required. IAIA will refund registration fees upon written request received before the specific course deadline; a US$125 processing fee will be retained. After the course deadline date, no refunds will be issued for cancelations or no-shows. Substitutions for paid registrants may be made in writing without financial penalty. 
Course level:  Intermediate      
Language of delivery: Engish        
Prerequisites:  Some experience with IA     
Homework between sessions: None
 

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COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will help you reason more clearly and write more effective impact assessments.  Better arguments make key decisions more transparent and help reduce risks to projects.

Environmental impact assessment - like all technical writing - constantly uses reasoning to reach conclusions.  That process is called 'argument', which means to assemble a series of reasons, leading to conclusions, for a specific audience.

This course shares two sets of tools.  The first provides principles for creating clearer arguments that apply to phases of the IA process.  The second shows how to better present arguments in the written text of your documents.

This course shows how IA documents contain common errors in their arguments and weaknesses in their writing. Participants will assemble evidence and reasoning for several different kinds of arguments found in IAs.  We practice steps, and introduce computer-based tools, that show how to bring improved arguments to technical reports.  Participants learn a revised approach to planning, preparing, and writing documents that they can use immediately on the job.  More details are available at www.glennbrown.ca 

TESTIMONIALS from participants at IAIA15, IAIA18, and IAIA19:

• “Excellent course, could have gone for longer it was so engaging. Outstanding presenter.”
• “Very useful and applicable to not only IA but all aspects of the professional world.”
• “Glenn was a wonderful trainer; very passionate about his field, and keen to share it. He is an excellent trainer who made a complex topic easy to understand.”
• “I came into the course expecting practical tools that I could apply immediately in my work and I felt that I got this.”
• “The instructor paid attention to all the participants and was mindful of cultural and background differences.”
• “It was one of the most attractive topics I could experience. This is the area that needs much more attention – communication.”
• “Fantastic course. Can’t wait to put into practice.”

 

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TRAINER BIO: Dr. Glenn Brown has over 30 years of experience as an ecologist and educator specializing in environmental management.  He has worked on projects for industry, government and non-governmental organizations in Canada and other countries.  He taught courses on Ecosystem Science and Management and Analytical Thinking and Communications for 16 years in the Environment and Management Program at Royal Roads University.