The role of communication for a sustainable future
Sustainable Communication is a research programme and research environment based on collaboration between the research environment Media and Communications at Jönköping University and JIBS Media Management and Transformation Centre at Jönköping University. The overall purpose of our social scientific research is to study the role of communication in the establishment of sustainable development.
Solving different kinds of sustainability crises, involving the environment and climate change, democracy development, poverty and armed conflicts, which are also the subjects of a global action plan, the UN’s Agenda 2030 declaration, requires effective communication. The point of departure for our research is that communication should not be viewed merely as a complement to actions which aim to achieve sustainable development, but rather as the essential “glue” of all actions which make all efforts and activities possible in the first place.
In this context, communication might involve several different practices, such as interpersonal communication between individuals, between two or more organisations/institutions, or between organisations/institutions and individuals, viewed as users/citizens/consumers. In our research, we focus on the following areas:
- The role of journalism and digital media for sustainable development
- The climate change issue and its communicative challenges
- Political discourse on social media and the consequences for democracy
- Cross-sector collaboration/communication among organisations as a method for achieving sustainable development, with a particular focus on climate change
- Critical analysis of the strategic use of the sustainable development concept
- Communication for social change
- Sustainable development and communication as multimedia storytelling. How can communication be improved by using different media and platforms simultaneously?
In our research, we apply both quantitative and qualitative methods, but primarily the latter, and focus on group studies and language/discourse analysis in particular.
The following are current or previous funders of our research projects: Formas, the Swedish Research Council, the Country Board of Jönköping/the Climate Council and Svensk Däckåtervinning. For more detailed information about our projects see Ongoing research projects.
Contact: Peter Berglez, Professor of Media and Communications and Research Director of the Sustainable Communication Research Environment and Programme. peter.berglez@ju.se
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