The mission of Trellis Group is to empower professional communities to confront the climate crisis. The mission of Trellis editorial is to help sustainability executives do their jobs by providing case studies, detailing expert tactics and covering corporate initiatives now under way to mitigate the climate crisis and preserve biodiversity.
Rather than offering broad generalizations about the effects of climate change and “what should be done,” Trellis provides precise, detailed examples and action steps. It is also a source of record on sustainability work that is underway at companies across the United States and around the world. Trellis coverage includes business intelligence, ideas and insights, emerging trends, data and narrative across all forms of content.
What we look for in our coverage
Our articles, analyses, reports and webcasts include case studies, how-to guides, policy analyses and other types of service journalism. The management themes we cover include strategy, leadership, organizational change, operations, climate policy, diversity and inclusion, innovation, decision-making, ongoing education and career transitions. The sustainability topics we cover include renewable energy, carbon markets, the circular economy, green finance, nature, climate technology and others.
We focus on real-world examples, tangible outcomes, measurable goals and hard evidence. We believe that failure can be as instructive as success. And we understand that the journey to sustainability is long, measured in years not months or quarters. Our best coverage gets inside organizations to provide a ground-level view of business practices, executive decision-making, strategy development, tactics, costs and ROI, person-power issues, successes and stumbles.
The qualities we look for in expert contributors include:
- Expertise and practical on-the-ground knowledge about sustainability work across sectors and companies.
- The ability to translate that knowledge into actionable, valuable and readable information for our readers.
- A basic understanding of business journalism, financial imperatives and management issues.
- The determination to go deeper than mainstream climate coverage and uncover business opportunities and intelligence that cannot be found elsewhere.
- The desire and ability to contribute regularly, at least once a month, for a minimum of six months.
The qualities we look for in deciding what to publish include:
- Authoritative, incisive analysis.
- Original insights, new ideas and unique perspectives.
- Specific examples, verified evidence and data-driven results.
- Functional, on-the-ground tools, techniques and information.
- A healthy skepticism and answers to questions important to our audience (How much will this cost? What’s the ROI? What business processes must change for this to succeed? What are the most likely obstacles and consequences?).
- Fluent writing that is pleasurable to read and persuasive.
We do not cover climate news for its own sake, attempt to compete with larger media outlets, or tell stories simply because they’re interesting. Content that is promotional, credulous, speculative or unoriginal, or that is adversarial in nature is not suitable for Trellis editorial content.
Key Elements
Every piece we publish should provide the following pieces of information:
- How this will help sustainability professionals make better decisions and do their jobs more effectively.
- The problem this addresses, the context and industry-wide perspective, and the historical background.
- Why this is timely now.
- In what way this is original or unique.
- What has worked and what has not, and how the organization has overcome obstacles.
- The lessons and tactics this provides to sustainability professionals in the same or other industries.
- The most important climate effects of this, what happens next, and what the future holds.
The Editorial Process
The editorial process begins with a brief discussion with the editors about your areas of coverage, general themes, and a roadmap of story ideas. We prefer our contributors to commit to a regular submission schedule and to plan out several story ideas in advance.
Specific articles should start with a brief pitch of 150 words or so. The pitch should provide the following.
- Prospective headline
- Brief summary (2-3 sentences) that explains why this matters, how it will help sustainability professionals succeed in their jobs, why it’s timely and what your sources of information are.
- When you plan to submit, and any other relevant information for the editors to judge the suitability of the idea.
Our editing process is rigorous and thorough and the article will likely go through at least one round of edits and revisions.
Authors are encouraged to suggest visuals (photo, graphic, chart) for the article. If you are sending photos (JPEG), charts, videos, etc., for consideration, please include crediting info and secure any necessary permissions so we have the right to publish prior to submission.
The author is also responsible for ensuring that all the facts, evidence, and anecdotes in the article are accurate. Facts and assertions should be supported and attributed and should include hyperlinks when possible. Authors may also be asked by Trellis editors to document their research. The article should be concise, pleasurable to read and persuasive, and free of jargon.
Once an article is edited and ready to publish, an author will have the opportunity to do a final read.
Upon publication Trellis owns the right to publish, distribute and otherwise make use of the content; however the author owns the copyright. (This is spelled out in more detail in the contributor contract.)
Interested in becoming an expert contributor? Fill out this interest form.
Updated: September 19, 2024