Project Portfolio

In early 2021, NIVA facilitated engagement workshops to gather input on freshwater science needs to support a new Canada Water Agency. These workshops resulted in knowledge gained from a wide range of scientific professionals, subject matter experts, and Indigenous representatives on building a national freshwater science agenda and meeting regional freshwater science needs. The results were documented in a detailed engagement report which we also wrote.

Throughout the report, there are 10 major scientific themes discussed. We were asked to develop plain language summaries and accompanying infographics for each of these themes to insert within the report’s Executive Summary for Decision-Makers and Science-Users to provide them and get an easy-to-grasp overview of the freshwater science work along with an engaging and informative visualization of related concepts.

These plain language summaries and infographics were also repurposed in other communication products that will be more public-facing, and so they were developed with a broader audience in mind. The challenge was to simplify this very scientific and technical information for the ‘average person’ to understand without losing the technical integrity of the information and sufficient relevant details for decision makers and scientists to act upon.

Click here to view the entire infographic series.

Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance (COHA) is a coalition of three industry organizations that represent the interests of Canada’s ornamental horticulture value chain. COHA identified the need for an external communication firm to help communicate the results of its research cluster activities and mobilize this knowledge toward meaningful actions. To complete this project, NIVA’s Knowledge Impact and Design teams produced a knowledge mobilization strategy and an extensive set of communication materials to help them engage with their key target audiences (policymakers, growers, researchers, and the public).

This work included:

• New visual identifier logo and tagline to be applied to all research-related outputs.
• Plain language research summaries.
• Detailed fact sheets targeting grower audiences.
• High-impact infographics visualizing key research processes and findings.
• Full summary report synthesizing all research cluster communication materials.

Click here to view the Research Clusters Summary Report.

The Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance (COHA) is a coalition of three industry organizations that represent the interests of Canada’s ornamental horticulture value chain. COHA is responsible for coordinating joint actions and unified positions on relevant public policy issues, as well as leading the development of research and innovation activities that benefit the sector. This sector is comprised of almost 6500 growers and value chain members.

To ensure the ornamental sector can fully position itself for greater prosperity, in early 2022, COHA embarked on the development of a new national strategy for the sector. This strategy process was intended to consult widely with the entire ornamental horticulture value chain and associated stakeholders, define the sector’s primary challenges, opportunities, and threats, and identify high-impact areas for growth that should be addressed through government and industry actions. NIVA was hired to write the strategy document with support from COHA members as well as input from recent industry polling results and previous sector research and analysis projects. The key themes that aligned with industry priorities were labour, risk management, research, and the environment.

We were also tasked with enabling COHA to maximize the reach of key messages from the strategy and articulate them to government and industry audiences through a thoughtful approach to external communications. Our team created an entire suite of branded communication and government relations products to help highlight the significant economic impact that the sector has and the many important public policy challenges it faces. This included infographics, issue briefs for policymakers, an executive summary of the strategy, and a PowerPoint presentation. Our design team developed a cohesive approach to design elements across all strategy communication products including a new visual identifier that branded the initiative as “Greener Horizons 2030”.

Click here to view the strategy report and associated communication products.

NIVA Inc. is the exclusive service provider responsible for the communication support services for of all scientific publications produced by NATO’s Science and Technology Organization (STO). This includes editing, formatting, strategic messaging, and graphic design. Our responsibilities include: establishing language and stylistic standards, ensuring document content is expressed in a clear manner and free of errors, interacting with document authors to solve content issues, and formatting documents according to templates we have established. We create design concepts for STO’s corporate and strategic communication products that help them engage their target audiences.

View Sample Materials

The University of Guelph (UofG) is facing the challenge of how to best manage the full costs of research, within their institutions and with external funding partners.

Specifically, the UofG’s Office of Research recognized the need to engage stakeholders, inform discussions and dialogues with target audiences, and encourage buy-in to the key elements that are part of a full cost of research recovery policy for the university. A core objective of this effort is empowering UofG communication leaders and champions to influence how stakeholders perceive these proposed changes and overcome barriers and resistance to change.

A shift in cost recovery policy and practice involves significant modifications to aspects of the university’s financial, cultural, human resource, and philanthropic underpinnings, as well as internal and external partnerships and relations. As such, this process is an initiative in change management, and therefore requires a focused approach on change communication to provide the best chances of successful implementation.

Based on a thorough analysis of background materials provided, and a series of in-depth interview with senior university staff and management, NIVA developed a comprehensive change communication strategy and plan to help enable their transition to the full costs of research recovery model and overcome entrenched resistance.

This document summarized all the key challenges, best practices, and guiding principles that UofG Office of Research must consider ensuring they can engage with all relevant stakeholder groups (e.g., faculty, partners, donors, senior University of Guelph administrators, etc.). It outlined the primary communications goals and objectives, target audiences, key messages, and recommends strategies, tactics, and methods that will allow them to both achieve and measure the desired results.

This project also entailed the development of an education and outreach program to build awareness of potential policy changes and why they are important; including what human resources are required, recommended delivery mechanisms, and the frequency of associated activities.

The Coordinated Aquatic Monitoring Program (CAMP) is partnership between the province of Manitoba and Manitoba Hydro. Its purpose is to study and monitor the health of water bodies are affected by the electricity generating operations of Manitoba. While CAMP has published a comprehensive set of reports and other documents about its activities and findings, these publications are technical and their content inaccessible to average citizens, policy and decision makers in government, and other stakeholder groups including Indigenous communities.

CAMP has hired NIVA with a long-term communications support agreement to promote the value of the organization’s activities, while ensuring the scientific research that they conduct is more accessible to various audiences throughout Manitoba. This entails working closely with the CAMP team to build awareness and understanding of the important work they perform, helping to establish greater levels of trust with Manitobans affected by hydroelectric generation, and enabling CAMP to engage in two-way dialogues with the regions and communities where they operate.

NIVA is responsible for the following:

• Developing and managing a robust CAMP social media strategy that includes regular posts on all social media channels.
• Writing numerous communication products such as:
  • fact sheets
  • infographics
  • blog posts
  • staff profiles
  • articles
  • quarterly newsletters
  • reports from community meetings and workshops
• Providing insight and advice regarding stakeholder engagement and issues management.

Click here to download sample newsletter.

The Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) supports Government of Canada priorities and provides up-to-date, authoritative, and standardized hydrospatial information that includes producing and delivering nautical charts. CHS operations support maritime transportation, bolster Canadian maritime boundaries and sovereignty, monitor coastal natural hazards, and use the latest technology for ocean and freshwater mapping. CHS publication products include Canadian tide and current tables, Sailing Directions, Notices to Mariners, critical information for ice navigation, and Canadian aids to the navigation system, among many others.

To remain a relevant and efficient organization, and to support its vision to be a world class authority and supplier of hydrospatial information, CHS had determined that it needs to modernize its approach to service delivery to meet the rapidly evolving needs of its end users and other stakeholders. This will entail a transformation that moves CHS away from an organization based on paper products to a fully digital enterprise. This digital renewal will provide CHS with the capacity to deploy a data-centric service model and cutting-edge digital outputs that align with the demands of current and future users who want and deserve to have access to the most advanced navigational technologies available.

NIVA developed a detailed strategic engagement plan that encourages and motivates staff to become actively involved in the digital transformation process, share insights and perspectives, and directly participate in associated projects. We also developed a communication plan to promote the CHS digital transformation both externally and internally, including effective tools and tactics to successfully implement the communication plan, such as targeted key messages, digital and social media content, articles/columns in appropriate magazines, PowerPoint decks, and customized visuals. NIVA also wrote and designed communication materials and other tools identified in the communication plan including adapted messages, fact sheets, and visual assets that for engaging CHS stakeholders.

The National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) is a national Indigenous organization established in 2005 by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis public health renewal and health equity through knowledge translation and exchange.

With a long-term service agreement, we are honoured to be their agency of record for design that supports NCCIH in carrying out their mandate through the many key documents and publications they release each year.

To highlight the important and sensitive content of these documents, we work with NCCIH’s team to ensure a strong focus on appropriate and culturally meaningful image selection, as well as developing graphic overlays that align with the interpretation of document themes and recognition for representations of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples.

Click here to download sample report.

As part of our long-term service agreement, we are very proud to have been chosen to produce WWF-Canada’s 2020 Annual Report. Our focus was to help the organization better engage with donors, sponsoring and partner organizations, and the public to tell the stories of the incredible results that have been achieved over the past year, and about the major impacts obtained from the generous support they receive.

We were responsible for the full spectrum of requirements from creation of design concepts, image sourcing, formatting, quality assurance, and file optimization.

Special attention was made with image selection to spotlight key species and habitats of concern across the country, the communities that depend on them, as well as making an emotional connection with the audience. The project included the development of an infographic overview to help WWF-Canada highlight key outcomes and promote the report on their social media channels.

Download Report