A personal note: Two months ago, almost to the day, I posted a message on LinkedIn about Understories, a research pilot at the intersection of communications and AI. Today I'm sharing the two-month update.

To everyone who reached out, tested a message, signed up to the Readers' List, or sent feedback this past month: thank you.

Caroline - 23 June 2026

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1 . What the numbers show

The geographical distribution - The website now reaches 37 countries, with recent additions including Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Ghana, Greece, Kenya, Pakistan. 

• Top contributors - Three countries still account for over 50% of traffic: the UK (now #1, thanks to the Communicating Earth Podcast), the US, and the Netherlands, followed by France and Australia.

• Data from the first 30 tested messages: The top 3 targeted audiences: 

  • journalists & influencers (33%), 

  • general public (30%), and 

  • corporate & business audience (20%). 

The top 3 most mentioned calls to action: share, amplify (53,33%), join a movement, sign up (20%), make a donation (10%). 

The two highest-scoring criteria before evaluation: Solution focus (8.1/10) and Accessibility (7.8/10). 

The two lowest-scoring criteria before evaluation: Actionability (4.2/10) and Personal relevance (5.1/10).

2. The tech and its surprises

The website was initially built on ReadyMag, but to improve accessibility, user-friendliness, and move beyond a desktop-only experience, I migrated it to Framer.

• Cookie consent and engagement. Traffic grew organically, hitting the original cookie-consent cap. With unique visitors returning, page views multiplying, and an engagement rate exceeding 20% for both message testing and the Readers’ List sign-ups, the website is performing beyond expectations. This organic growth was fueled by two LinkedIn posts and the influential backing of supporters: thank you!

• Welcoming the Library. Migrating to Framer allowed the Research library to be displayed in a more user-centric way. Initially, I planned to share the library content only with those who expressed interest. However, due to high demand and curiosity, I decided to publish it fully online, liaising with all the researchers involved to honor work spanning three decades (from the 1990s to the 2020s). The Library opens on 25 June, and sign-ups for exclusive insights delivered to your inbox are available here.

• Two additions: the FAQ and the Privacy Policy. With the website now hosted more professionally, I have added:

  • A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section to address user curiosity about the early-stage, manual, and prototype nature of Understories.

  • A Privacy Policy to ensure full GDPR compliance, while I continue to stay updated on AI ethics and law thanks to contacts in France and the EU, where these discussions are particularly active.

3 . Perspective from the outside

I am deeply grateful to have been invited to the Communicating Earth podcast by Climate Acceptance Studios to discuss Understories. Host Tom Clark and I explored several topics:

• The tale of action. We discussed my experience as Head of Campaigns at Oxfam France with "The Case of the Century", a climate litigation campaign, in coalition. The petition collected 1 million signatures in less than 2 days, defying conventional communications wisdom. It was a true team effort, with everyone running the extra mile. Spoiler: YouTube content creators played a key role!

• The work that deserves more attention. Sometimes you meet magic activists. The work of Justicia Ambiental (JA4CHANGE) in Mozambique, led by Anabela Lemos, is one such example. Anabela is an extraordinary woman and human rights fighter who has gathered a fantastic team and shares her platform selflessly: it’s never about her. I admire not only what they do but how they do it: no performative activism, just pure justice at heart.

• Why I built Understories - Climate change is as much a policy problem as it is a story problem. Yet, communicators are outnumbered in climate organizations, lacking access to research. Understories helps communicators navigate between evidence and action, delivering research-backed feedback on their messages. As research confirms, stories, not facts, are the vehicle to change minds and move people toward action.

Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
I also recommend the episodes with John Marshall from Potential Energy Coalition and Kris De Meyer from UCL, both of whose work is featured in Understories’ Research Library.
Thank you, Tom and Tamsin, for the invitation and everything!

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On Ethics and Environment

A collaborative project to track and reshape how artificial intelligence is deployed has been launched in May 2026. Among its lead contributors, Karen Hao, journalist and author of “Empire of AI” https://airesistlist.org/

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4 . What’s next

The Readers’ List. The Library opens on 25 June, around 5 categories: Communication, Mobilisation, Narrative, Psychology, Public Opinion. It will consist of a list of the reports and the link to access them — some being paywalled. I’ll also publish every two weeks short explainers covering the purpose of each paper, key findings, and standout data points. To get them first in your mailbox, join here.

• Closing the test phase. The current message-testing phase will pause on 30 June so I can reflect and work on an upgraded version. It will reopen in September in a new form. In the meantime, I’m collecting feedback and testimonials from users. If you haven’t shared yours yet, please reach out!

• The full library integration and automation. The next logical steps. To get there, I have two paths:

  • Hire a developer to set up and upgrade the vector database (a 20-hour mission maximum).

  • Seek funding to support development.

I’m currently pursuing the first option. If you know a RAG developer, let me know: caroline@understories.io. Once the vector database is set, the next step will be automating the tool live from the landing page — at which point I may explore additional funding.

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The monthly update is shared by email first to users, researchers, AI and comms practitioners I happen to meet while building Understories.

I publish every other Thursday, a "newsletter" you can subscribe to: The Reading List. It's made of short explainers, key findings, and data points from selected reports as they go live, plus exclusive content.