Communicating for Sustainability and Responsible Innovation

Sustainability is one of the most intractable, daunting and 'wicked' challenges of our generation. It is 'wicked' because it has multiple interrelated causes and no simple solution. Radical transformations need to address not only the multiple roots of wicked problems but crucially to engage citizens to create system change. But how?

We provide students with concepts and methods to explore the challenge of communicating sustainability responsibly. Across content lectures, we examine two dominant and interconnected approaches: a planetary boundaries framework that seeks to define a 'safe operating space' for humanity and an information 'deficit' model to science communication that seeks to define a mode of citizen engagement. Following critique, we explore approaches aimed at engaging, visioning, empowering, politicising, embedding and pluralising communication practices.

To gain hands-on research experience, students develop a focus group project on a "wicked" sustainability challenge of their own choice recruiting fellow WUR students as participants. Learning and practising skills of focus group design, active listening, small group moderation and analysis we explore how the views and values of citizens can co-produce new approaches for communicating sustainability.

• Evaluate social science concepts and theories on communication for sustainability

• Evaluate social science concepts and theories on communication for sustainability

• Apply social science concepts and theories to the cases in the course profile

• Create, design, organise, carry out and analyse a public engagement focus group project

• Design a communication strategy using the results of empirical research for an external client

• Assignment essay (50%) Literature assignment (formative); Individual paper consisting of concept map and report (50%)
• Assignment report (50%) Report of focus group design (formative); presentation and write-up of focus group findings

ESA10309 and ENP10806, or FNP11806, or PAP20306. Students are assumed to have knowledge on (environmental) policy. All students are expected to be able to read and evaluate complex social scientific articles, and to participate in groupwork activities.

• The literature is provided in Brightspace.