This guide ensures that articles, reports, and other written materials from A-Track use consistent language while remaining clear, concise, and suitable for their target audiences.
Tone of Voice
A-Track brand values and personality come across in our tone through four key characteristics:
Positive
We are solutions-focused. Yes, the challenges facing the world are substantial but we always communicate with hope about moving forward in the right direction.
Formal
We operate in a professional, high-stakes environment, and a formal tone helps us build trust and establish authority and expertise. Keep it to the point without unnecessary fluff and jargon.
Neutral
Our tone maintains a respectful neutrality, free from personal biases or intense emotion.
Informative
Audiences look to us for knowledge and insight. We deliver it with clear and direct messaging.
Describing A-Track
We always use the following biography:
Mission
A-Track will accelerate transformation for nature.
Vision
A nature-positive future with measurable outcomes at scale.
Short description
A-Track is a four-year, €11 million project that will accelerate transformative action for nature by business, finance and government.
A-Track consolidates and mainstreams best practice activities to accelerate transformation in organisations, such that a critical mass of businesses, financial institutions, and governments, integrate the value of natural capital in their decision-making, helping to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.
A-Track will make it easier for organisations to identify the most appropriate way forward for their sector and scale, to unlock the most relevant natural capital and biodiversity information for a range of applications and ultimately make more informed decisions that accelerate action for nature-positive outcomes.
A-Track will create robust and reliable resources, tailored to the needs of key decision makers. It will support the flows of biodiversity information for use in business, finance and government decisions.
A-Track will strengthen consideration of biodiversity and ecosystem services in life cycle assessment for products and organisations. It will mainstream and advance natural capital assessment and accounting across society.
Other A-Track outputs will facilitate the adoption and scaling of business models that contribute to nature positive outcomes. The project will also nurture financial innovations that contribute to nature positive outcomes.
A-Track brings together leading thought leaders and practitioners who have been driving change in the measurement and valuation of natural capital and biodiversity in business, finance and government.
The project is funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe programme with co-funding from UK Research and Innovation and the Swiss National Science Foundation.
A-Track writing rules
Rule 1. A-Track
We always refer to the project in title case with a hyphen as A-Track.
NEVER USE UPPERCASE!
Rule 2. We do not capitalise concepts
natural capital not Natural Capital
nature-based solutions not Nature-based Solutions.
Rule 3. We use British English
We will follow the Guardian and Observer style guide to address style or grammatical uncertainties:
We have chosen this guide because it is clear and open for all to easily access.
Rule 4. We always try to avoid using acronyms.
The profusion of acronyms is a common source of complaint amongst everyone working with nature action. In addition, A-Track brings together different disciplines and we should never assume that all acronyms are understood by colleagues and external partners.
When an acronym is unavoidable we will always explain it alongside the first mention and include web links or footnotes to allow readers to find more information. For example:
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
Rule 5. We use Chicago-style referencing:
In reports we will place a superscript number at the end of a sentence or clause and list our sources in full at the end.
Article guidance
We are actively seeking articles, guest blogs and interviews to provide factual, informative content that will help raise awareness of A-Track outputs and accelerate business, finance, and government action for nature.
Our target audiences include people from business, finance, policy and academia. Website visitors will have varied areas of expertise and may be unfamiliar with specialist language. Articles should therefore use simple terms and be clear, jargon free and engaging.
The guidance below provides a starting point for producing an A-Track article. The Oppla team can also support you by ensuring your article has a clear structure, the right tone, and a defined purpose. The Oppla team can draft initial content or review any submitted articles.
Short article
300 - 500 words
- Short-form articles can be used to provide quick insights or updates. They should be direct and to the point, ideally linking to further reading for readers who want to explore the topic in more detail.
- Short articles are ideal for news and announcements; sharing reports or deliverables, with links to the full document; or summaries or overviews of complex topics, with links to more in-depth research.
- Short articles should have one key message < 150 characters.
Longer articles
600 - 1200 words
- Longer articles allow for more in-depth exploration of a topic while still maintaining accessibility. These articles provide sufficient background, context, and explanation to educate and inform readers thoroughly.
- Longer articles can be used to explain concepts in more detail and provide more technical insights.
- Longer articles should have 3-5 bulleted key messages at the top of the article.
- Longer articles should also have one key message < 150 characters.
Language
- Informative & encouraging. The language is motivational, acknowledging the challenges organisations may face while emphasising the attainability of integrating nature into decision-making.
- Clear. Use clear language, avoid technical jargon or acronyms, and break down complex concepts into understandable terms to ensure accessibility for a broad audience. Provide web links to learning resources.
- Actionable. Provide practical advice and resources to help organisations in progressing on their nature journey
Images
Use visual aids to add visual interest and variety to written material. Ask the Oppla team if you need help producing infographics. We can supply these A-Track branded and as editable files that can be reused and adapted in other brands.