# Writing guide: events

How to structure and write event pages on undrr.org and PreventionWeb: conferences, meetings, webinars, training and launches.

> **About this guidance:** this guide summarizes guidance maintained elsewhere, for reference. If it conflicts with the UNDRR Publications SOP or UNDRR Communications team guidance, those win; if you can't consult them, apply this guide and flag the point. [Sources](README.md#sources). Found a problem? Report it in the [Mangrove issue queue](https://github.com/PreventionWeb/undrr-mangrove/issues).

- **Applies to:** the Event content type on the UNDRR Drupal platform
- **Mechanics:** spelling, capitalization, numbers, dates, times, abbreviations, UNDRR terminology and inclusive language follow the [Mangrove editorial manual](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-editorial-manual.txt) ([rendered version](https://mangrove.undrr.org/?path=/docs/contributing-editorial-manual--docs)). This guide doesn't repeat those rules.
- **Last reviewed:** 29 September 2026

Figures marked "baseline" come from 31 prominent events analysed in December 2025. They describe what those pages looked like, not rules. See [methodology](methodology.md).

## When to use events

Use events for meetings, conferences, webinars, training courses and launch events that are upcoming or under way.

Use another content type for:

- Outcomes of an event that has finished: a [news](news.md) item, linked from the event page
- General updates: [news](news.md)
- The report or document being launched: [publications](publications.md)
- Self-paced training material with no date: resources

Once an event is over, update the page with recordings and materials (see [after the event](#after-the-event)), and publish a news item if the outcomes are newsworthy.

## Event types

The **Event type** field has two values:

| Event type | Use for |
|---|---|
| Meetings and conferences | Global and regional platforms, forums, policy dialogues, webinars and launch events |
| Training event | Courses, masterclasses, workshops and other capacity-building activities |

Baseline mix: meetings and conferences 61%, training 39%. Within those, the common formats were webinars (about 40% of the sample), multi-day conferences, training courses and launch events. Format guidance for each is [below](#guidance-by-format).

## Titles

Events have the most structured titles of any content type. Include, where they apply:

- The series or event name, if the event belongs to one ("International Recovery Forum 2025")
- The event type, if it isn't obvious ("masterclass", "training", "launch")
- The specific topic
- The edition or year for recurring events ("Eighth session", "2025")

Common patterns:

- **Series and topic:** "[Series name]: [specific topic]". Baseline: 65% of titles used a colon.
- **Descriptive:** "Training on comprehensive school safety"
- **Official name:** use the event's official name as is, for example "Eighth session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GP2025)"

Write the title in sentence case, with lower case after a colon unless the next word is a proper noun (see the [Mangrove editorial manual](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-editorial-manual.txt), section: Capitalization); a series name keeps its own capitals because it is a proper noun. Many baseline titles capitalized every word after the series name ("Restoring Livelihoods: Solutions for...") and some used dashes as separators; don't copy either.

Avoid:

- Vague titles such as "Monthly webinar" with no topic
- All capitals or decorative punctuation
- Bracketed acronym prefixes such as "[ABC-XYZ]" and abbreviations the reader has to decode
- Titles over about 135 characters (baseline range 45–135, average 88)

## Opening paragraph

Before the first heading, give readers what they need to decide whether to attend:

- What the event is and its format: in person, online or hybrid
- Date and time, with the time zone for anything online or international (for example "15 March 2026, 2 p.m. CET"; see the [Mangrove editorial manual](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-editorial-manual.txt), section: Numbers and dates)
- What it covers and why it matters
- Who it is for
- How to register, if registration is open

Two to four sentences is enough:

> This online webinar on 15 March 2026 at 2 p.m. CET looks at financing mechanisms for resilient recovery. Finance experts, government representatives and community leaders will discuss ways to fund recovery after disasters. It is open to anyone working on disaster risk reduction and recovery.

Avoid:

- Opening with every co-organizer, division and acronym before saying what the event is, when it is or who should attend
- Leaving the date, time zone or format out of the body text
- Mixing time formats on one page; follow the manual throughout

## Standard sections

Baseline: 97% of events used headings, averaging four or five per page, the highest of any content type. Readers scan event pages for specific details, so use predictable sections in sentence case.

| Section | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Background | Why the event matters and what problem it addresses; two or three short paragraphs |
| Objectives | What the event aims to achieve; a short list works best |
| Target audience | Who should attend; a short list or a sentence |
| Programme | Session times and topics for a webinar; a high-level overview and a link to the full agenda for a conference |
| Language | Event language and any interpretation |
| Registration | How and by when to register, and what registrants will receive |

Optional sections, where they apply:

- **Expected outcomes** or **learning outcomes** for training
- **Speakers** or **facilitators**, with name, title and organization
- **Certificate**, with the requirements for completing
- **Venue and logistics** for in-person events
- **Recording** after the event

Keep the heading text consistent from event to event: "Target audience", not "Targeted Audience" in one page and "Who should attend" in the next. Don't end headings with a colon.

Avoid:

- Headings with nothing under them and empty list items left over from a template
- A page that is only a programme or speaker list, with no statement of purpose, audience or outcome
- Pasting the same "About the organizers" paragraphs onto every page; link to the organizers instead
- Objective lists introduced with "aimed to:" where every item starts "To ..."; start each item with its verb

## Tone and voice

Informative and inviting: clear about logistics, welcoming and professional.

- Use specific times and dates, never "soon" or "upcoming".
- State concrete outcomes: "Participants will be able to assess school safety risks", not "Participants will learn about important concepts".
- Addressing readers as "you" is fine on event pages ("Register by 10 March"); first person is not. Write "Join the webinar", not "Join us". See the [Mangrove editorial manual](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-editorial-manual.txt), section: UNDRR-specific terminology.
- Keep promotional language down; the details should make the case. Inflated framing ("cornerstone event", "transformative power") says less than a concrete purpose.
- Don't shout: no all-capitals link labels, asterisks for emphasis or exclamation marks ("Register now!").

## Guidance by format

### Webinars

Opening with date, time, time zone and format, then Background, Objectives, Target audience, Programme, Registration and Language. About 300–500 words. State whether the session will be recorded and whether there is time for questions.

### Conferences and platforms

Opening with dates, location and expected participation, then Background, Objectives, Thematic focus, Programme overview, Registration and Venue and logistics sections, plus any side events. About 500–800 words. Link to the full programme instead of reproducing it.

### Training and masterclasses

Opening with format, duration and time commitment ("four to six hours a week"), then Objectives, Learning outcomes, Target audience (with any prerequisites), Course structure, Facilitators, Certificate and Registration. Write objectives with action verbs: assess, develop, apply.

### Launch events

Lead with what is being launched, not "a launch event". Then explain why it matters and give the programme, the speakers and where to find the launched resource afterwards. Consider a news item as well if the launch is newsworthy.

## After the event

An event page stays useful after the date if it becomes a record of what happened:

- Rewrite the description in the past tense, all of it: a page that says "The session will explore" in one paragraph and "It identified" in the next reads as unfinished.
- Add a **Recording** section with links, including language versions. Don't leave the heading with bare language labels or nothing under it.
- Summarize what happened: attendance, key takeaways and any findings, so readers who missed it get the substance, not just a link
- Link presentations, reports and other materials
- Link the news item about the outcomes, if there is one
- Link the next event in a series

## Metadata

See [metadata guidance](metadata.md) for how to choose themes, hazards and countries. For events in particular:

- **Event type** (required) and the event date range, including the end date for multi-day events
- **Online**, venue and city for in-person events
- **Registration URL** when registration is open
- **Event language(s)**
- **Organizer(s)** (required), including co-organizing partners
- **Themes:** two to four, most relevant first
- **Country and region:** the host country for in-person events; for online and global events, only countries or regions the event is actually about
- **Image:** an event banner or thematic image with meaningful alt text

## Before and after

Illustrative, with bracketed values standing for real details.

**Title.** Before: "Webinar on recovery". After: "[Series name]: scalable financing solutions for resilient recovery". The series, the format and the topic are all clear.

**Opening.** Before: "Join us for a webinar about disaster resilience on March 15. We'll discuss important topics related to recovery." After: the opening paragraph example above, which gives the date, time zone, format, topic and audience, and avoids first person.

**Training.** Before: "This is a training on school safety. It will cover various topics." After: "This five-day online masterclass gives education and disaster risk reduction professionals practical tools for comprehensive school safety. Participants will learn to assess school risks, develop safety plans and integrate disaster risk reduction into curricula."

## Examples

Chosen from recent PreventionWeb content for what they do well. None is flawless, so each lists what an editor would still fix. No multi-day conference or certificate training page in the recent content met the bar without heavy caveats, so those formats have no example yet.

### [[MCR2030 Webinar] Using MCR2030 Dashboard to Strengthen Engagement with Cities](https://www.preventionweb.net/node/95312)

Training event (webinar, by invitation), 22 July 2025.

**Why it works:** The logistics come first and are complete: date, times in five time zones, duration and language with interpretation. The description follows a clear logic: what the tool is, the survey finding that shows the gap, what the session will do about it and what attendees should come away with. The audience and how to take part are stated plainly.

**An editor would still fix:** a title-case title with a bracketed prefix; title-case headings with trailing colons; the 24-hour clock; pasted "About the organizers" text; a "Recording" heading with only bare language labels.

> "The survey findings showed that while the dashboard is widely recognized, many entities revealed limited understanding of the available functions of the dashboard and how it can be utilized to support connection with cities."

### [Webinar series on emerging technologies for DRR. Webinar 1: From potential to practice - Understanding the technology adoption gap](https://www.preventionweb.net/node/98372)

Meetings and conferences (webinar in a series), 4 December 2025.

**Why it works:** A tight "About" section in four paragraphs: the context, the barriers, what the UNDRR initiative is doing about them and what this webinar covers. It names a real problem in plain words instead of listing generic objectives, and at 234 words it sits in the usual webinar range.

**An editor would still fix:** hyphens used as dashes; "9am CET" (should be "9 a.m. CET"), with the date missing from the body; "DRR" in the title and never spelled out; a possessive acronym; a full stop used as a title separator; capitals after the colon and the dash in the title.

> "Too often, innovation is driven by supply rather than demand: tools are created without sufficient engagement from those working on the front lines of disaster management."

### [WRRC Webinar: Restoring Livelihoods: Solutions for Disaster-Induced Displacement and Resilient Recovery](https://www.preventionweb.net/node/92514)

Meetings and conferences (webinar page updated after the event), 7 April 2025.

**Why it works:** The best recent example of [updating an event page after the event](#after-the-event). It is consistently in the past tense and gives attendance, speakers with one-line credentials, a list of takeaways and a narrative summary that reports audience poll results and country examples.

**An editor would still fix:** em dashes; a misspelled organization name; a non-UNTERM country name; "per cent" in place of "%"; "e.g." in running text; a title-case title, including capitals after the colons.

> "Polling of online participants echoed the panel’s assessment: perceived or actual marginalisation topped the list of challenges (40 per cent), followed by limited social networks, legal hurdles and scarce financing, while lack of skills barely registered (2 per cent)."

### [Global Assessment Report (GAR) 2025 virtual launch](https://www.preventionweb.net/node/94365)

Meetings and conferences (launch event), 27 May 2025.

**Why it works:** A launch page that leads with the report's argument and headline numbers, so readers know why the launch matters before the logistics. It then says who chairs and what the panel will cover. A link to the report sits at the top, so the page keeps its value after the event.

**An editor would still fix:** "We will learn" (first person); "Secretary General" without its hyphen and an abbreviated title; inconsistent time formats; the report subtitle capitalized differently in two places; "-ise" spelling.

> "The Global Assessment Report (GAR) 2025: Resilience Pays: Financing and Investing for our Future highlights how smarter investment can reset the destructive cycle of disasters, debt, uninsurability and humanitarian need that threatens a climate-changed world."

## Checklist

- [ ] Title names the series or type, the topic and (if recurring) the edition, in sentence case
- [ ] Opening gives format, date, time and time zone, topic, audience and how to register
- [ ] Standard sections with consistent sentence-case headings
- [ ] Programme included, even if high level
- [ ] Language and interpretation stated
- [ ] No first person; specific dates and outcomes
- [ ] Event type, date range, organizers, themes and location set
- [ ] Plan to add the recording and materials after the event
- [ ] Checked against the [Mangrove editorial manual](https://mangrove.undrr.org/llms-editorial-manual.txt) and the [guidance for all content types](README.md#all-content-types)