How to write an annual report twelve academics will sign off

An annual report has one author, whatever the contents page says. That's the trick, and it's harder than it sounds.

Last year I wrote the Cambridge Zero annual report – the University of Cambridge's climate initiative – with Parker Design. The contributors came from across the university: academics, directors and programme leads, each brilliant, busy and holding a different piece of the story. It was one of the best collaborations I've had.

The method is simple: interview, don't request copy. Email people a heading and a deadline and the report reads like twelve authors, because it is. Ask them out loud instead and they say clearer, warmer things than they'd ever type – the whole story in eight minutes, including the detail that makes it sing. Then you write it in one voice and hand it back as the best version of what they said. Most sign that off happily: they sound like themselves, and they didn't have to write a word.

That's where being a journalist earns its keep – making expertise readable without flattening it, which is what a profile writer does to a person, applied to an institution. The rest is care: take every correction gratefully, keep a change log, close every loop in writing, and the final week is calm instead of a scramble.

Ellie Fazan wrote the Cambridge Zero annual report 2024/25 for the University of Cambridge's climate initiative, working with Parker Design and coordinating contributions across university departments and partners. She writes annual reports and sustainability reports for universities and organisations.