• Confidence

      Our Endangered Species Recovery (ESR) course introduces students to the issues and practical skills involved in saving threatened species from extinction and helps them to develop a critical understanding of biodiversity conservation and the issues it raises. Through our evaluation, this course has demonstrated that a student’s confidence to overcome challenges, achieve positive results and make a difference within conservation has significantly increased (Table 1 & Figure 1). This confidence allows participants to contribute effectively towards conservation actions, and shows in their work post-training, bringing together their knowledge and self-confidence.

       

      “I created a new conservation program focusing on conservation technology and many of the materials and information learned during the course”. Endangered Species Recovery Student, 2018

      “I conducted an offshore island invasive species eradication project”. Endangered Species Recovery Student, 2017



      Table 1: Proportion of participants who reported an increase, decrease or no change in how confident they felt following training.
       
      Figure 1: Change in self-confidence from pre- to post-training, Endangered Species Recovery

      Stories of Change 

      “I decided to change career and go back to university so I can work in conservation. Doing the ESR course confirmed that this was what I wanted to pursue and gave me the confidence to act on it”. Endangered Species Recovery Course

      “I left the Durrell Academy with a lot more confidence to manage conservation projects than I had in my years before. I have become a better project leader and led my first restoration project in June 2018”. Natalya Lawrence, Antigua, Endangered Species Recovery Course

      Knowledge

      Adaptive Management using Open Standards (OS) is one of our latest offerings and is already proving to have an impact this year. With just 15% of participants reporting some knowledge of the topic before training, 74% of participants reported a good or high level of knowledge post training (Figure 2). Each course specific competency (Table 2) revealed an increase in knowledge in each category, enabling more effective conservation project planning and adaptive management using the Open Standards methodology.


      Figure 2: Change in knowledge levels from pre- to post-training, Open Standards


      Table 2: Percentage of participants who reported a decrease, increase or no change in knowledge for each course specific competency assessed, Open Standards


      Confidence to Apply Knowledge

      Our longstanding DESMAN graduate certificate equips potential conservation leaders of the future with a complete range of skills in facilitation, management and leadership to maximise their effectiveness at managing or participating in conservation projects. Along with our other courses, the DESMAN enables students to develop their confidence to apply each course specific competency taught during training (Figure 3).


      Figure 3: Overall change in confidence to apply knowledge, DESMAN

      Stories of change

      “The DESMAN course was a huge attitude shift and confidence booster for me in my journey to become a better conservationist and equipped me with a whole arsenal of tools for effective conservation. It taught me valuable practical skills, it showed me that conservation really works with the right interventions and dedication, and it brought me into contact with peers and mentors who inspired me. This course has showed me how I can continue to develop and overcome challenges in conservation”. Dhanu Munasinghe, DESMAN 2019


      We can confidently say that the flagship DESMAN course is our most successful and has a huge impact on the skills applied to their conservation work in the future. One hundred percent of our 2018 DESMAN cohort reported utilising at least one skill taught during training, with 78% of the cohort now working in a conservation related role (71% senior & 29% mid-level) and the remainder pursuing further education. Our impact is amplified by the students’ abilities to secure conservation work and carry out effective conservation action with their new practical experience and theoretical knowledge.


      Examples of conservation actions taken one-year post-training influenced by their training


      “I conducted workshops to train conservation volunteers in Panama and Sri Lanka”. DESMAN Student 2018
      “I set up the monitoring of a threatened EDGE species”. DESMAN Student 2017

      Our Facilitation and Communication Skills (FACS) course aims to develop the skills needed to facilitate meetings within an organisation or workshops involving multiple stakeholders with multiple and potentially conflicting interests. This course also provides people with more confidence to apply their knowledge (Figure 4) to organise and conduct meetings and workshops tackling complex and contentious issues.


      Figure 4: Change in confidence levels from pre- to post- training, Facilitation and Communication Skills.

      While this course has increased a participant’s confidence to apply knowledge, it has also delivered a direct impact to conservation actions on the ground. For example, “it gave me confidence to facilitate meetings, enabling me to bring together different stakeholders in Morocco to agree on the position of a power line to protect raptors". Facilitation and Communication Skills Student, 2017.

      “The skills and techniques I learned on this course, and which I will pass on to the rest of my team, will be incredibly valuable as we interact with programme partners all over the world. Having a better understanding of how to analyse problems, reach decisions and select the best combination of solutions will significantly enhance our ability to contribute to rhino conservation initiatives and to develop our own organisational strategies”. Cathy Dean, CEO of Save the Rhino International, Facilitation and Communication Skills, 2017