Facilitation 101 for Conservation Professionals

This course focuses on understanding the role of a facilitator and learning basic facilitation skills that can help participants harness the collective wisdom of a conservation team. Participants will learn how to prepare for and facilitate effective meetings and workshops, both in-person and online. Specific topics will include: preparation for meetings and workshops, the facilitator’s role in guiding the flow of the conversation, use of icebreakers and energizers, key aspects of adult learning, navigating conflict and difficult participants, enhancing creativity, and helping teams be realistic about what they can accomplish. The course is oriented toward conservation project teams but will be applicable more broadly.  

Taught by conservation professionals with more than 30 years (combined) experience facilitating the development of real-world conservation efforts, learners will come away from this course with the skills needed to bring together the expertise and knowledge of various audiences to strengthen conservation impact. 

The course will include a combination of presentations, readings, videos, and experience planning an agenda and selecting facilitation exercises to use to achieve specific objectives. The STANDARD and PREMIUM formats also offer live meetings and hands-on opportunities for facilitation and discussion.

Learn at your own pace with or without instructor support (see Online Course Format Chart below for details).

Fall: Course materials available: October 5, 2026 – January 17, 2027

• BASIC format is designed for participants to learn at their own pace (watching prerecorded lectures and videos, reading papers, and getting helpful tips & tricks).

• STANDARD format additionally includes live meetings (also recorded) each week on Mondays and Thursdays 12:00 - 2:00 pm US Eastern Time, from Oct 15 - Nov 2 + final learner presentations on Nov 16 (convert to your time zone here. Note that Daylight Savings Time ends in the US on Nov 1).

• PREMIUM format includes all of the STANDARD live meetings, plus meetings (also recorded) on Nov 5, 9, and 12 that focus on facilitating conservation planning exercises.

The synchronous, online classes in STANDARD and PREMIUM formats give learners hands-on experience facilitating exercises and discussing real-world facilitation challenges.

See TOPICS & LEARNING OUTCOMES below for more details.

Early bird pricing (saves at least $75) ends September 6.

Module 1: Overview of Facilitation

• Describe the basic ideas behind facilitation (e.g., wisdom of crowds) and the role of a facilitator

Module 2: Pre-Planning for Facilitation

• Describe the work necessary to ensure an effective meeting or workshop happens before the event

• Describe the elements of developing an effective agenda, including setting objectives, selecting participants, deciding how to use the time, and documenting decisions

• Understand the use of ground rules for meetings

• Describe the need to assess team readiness and develop a team charter before undertaking longer collaborative processes

• Practice facilitating, guiding the flow of the conversation, managing the time, and documenting the main decisions

Module 3: Special Characteristics of Virtual Facilitation

• Use dynamic exercises (icebreakers, energizers, polls, etc.) to address common challenges related to virtual facilitation

Module 4: Adult Learning

• Describe how to involve adult learners and take advantage of their experience

• Facilitate exercises designed for adult learners (e.g., that take advantage of participants’ experiences and are relevant to their lives)

Module 5: Pitfalls of Facilitation

• Use skills to address challenging situations, including conflict and difficult participants

• Facilitate exercises that involve asking questions, paraphrasing, summarizing, and encouraging

Module 6: Enhancing Creativity

• Describe what creativity is and how facilitation can enhance it

• Facilitate a process of diverging (through brainstorming) and converging (through prioritization)

Module 7: Problem Analysis

• Facilitate the development of a situation model or problem tree to visually summarize what ecosystems and species a team is working to conserve, the threats they face, and the factors contributing to these threats

Module 8: How to Facilitate Strategy Brainstorming

• Describe behavior change levers

• Facilitate the process of brainstorming and selecting conservation strategies

Module 9: Theory of Change: Defining & Documenting a Team’s Vision of the Future

• Describe what theory of change is, its value, and how to help a team develop one

• Facilitate the development of results chains (a tool for documenting a theory of change)

Module 10: Bringing It All Together and Planning Your Agenda

• Develop an effective agenda, including objectives, a plan for how to use the available time during the meeting to meet the objectives, and a plan for documenting decisions

• 3 months of access to course materials as you work at your own pace.

FORMAT:

• 3 months of access to course materials

• Synchronous, virtual class sessions led by instructors, providing hands-on opportunities to observe applied facilitation concepts, practice facilitation and receive instructor feedback

• Get instructor support via email, discussion threads, group meetings, and one-on-one appointments

• After working through the course materials, set up an optional meeting with the instructor to discuss your own personal project from work or school

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

• 16 CEUs with The Wildlife Society

• Go to our Continuing Education Page for more details

FORMAT:

• 12 months of access to course materials

• Additional content, guidance, and tools will be provided to PREMIUM learners to help you facilitate conservation planning sessions. These materials will focus primarily on facilitating groups through the Conservation Standards, but the content will be applicable to most planning processes.

• Get instructor support for the 3-month term via email, discussion threads, group meetings, and one-on-one appointments

• After working through the course materials, set up an optional meeting with the instructor to discuss your own personal project from work or school

CONTINUING EDUCATION:

• 16 CEUs with The Wildlife Society (go to our Continuing Education Page for more details)

CERTIFICATIONS:

• Earn 1 credit towards a professional certificate in Conservation Planning with CWS

ACADEMIC CREDIT:

• Earn 1 academic credit (go to our Academic Credit Page for details)

• Earn an additional 1-2 academic credits with an Applied Project