Sustainability Communication

Jasmin Godemann Gerd Michelsen

Editors

Sustainability Communication
Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoretical Foundations

Editors Dr. Jasmin Godemann International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ICCSR) Nottingham University Business School Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road Nottingham, NG8 1BB, UK jasmin.godemann@nottingham.ac.uk

Prof. Dr. Gerd Michelsen Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication (INFU) Leuphana University Scharnhorststrae 1 21335 Lneburg, Germany michelsen@uni.leuphana.de

ISBN 978-94-007-1696-4 e-ISBN 978-94-007-1697-1 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-1697-1 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011929937 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Kind permission was given for use of parts of chapters originally published in 2005 by Oekom Verlag GmbH, Mnchen, Germany from Handbuch Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation: Grundlagen und Praxis in chapters 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 16 in this volume. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Preface

Since the publication of the Brundtland Report in 1987 at the latest, there have been intensive discussions about the vision of sustainability together with the related concept of sustainable development in many different areas of society as well as in the scientific community. The degree of knowledge in the general population however is not very profound. At the same time it is argued that the concept of sustainable development can only be realised if there is broad support for its implementation in the general public. In order for this to happen it is necessary for much larger segments of society to become interested in this process and to become involved in this process. The pathway to the sustainable development of our society will only be taken when it becomes clear why the concept of sustainable development is a strategy for the survival of the human race. Against this background there has been a growing awareness in recent years of the necessity of sustainability communication. This discipline has set itself the goal not only of providing a clear and persuasive understanding of sustainable development and of campaigning for its acceptance, but above all of involving people in the process of sustainable development and motivating them to actively take part in it. The scientific discourse accompanying this development is concerned with a number of different fields in sustainability communication and attempts to provide a theoretical foundation as well as a conceptual orientation for a communicatively based process shaping sustainable development. This Handbook is meant as a contribution to that process, strengthening the theoretical grounding of sustainability communication and by using selected examples from such issues in sustainability as climate change or biodiversity showing which role sustainability communication can play in these fields. This involves learning to identify different levels and fields of sustainability communication but also in learning to recognise its limits. Sustainability communication cannot replace the decisions taken in politics and by individuals about possible courses of action, but it can accompany and support these processes. The Handbook should be seen as a compendium showing the spectrum of sustainability communication in all of its many facets, without however claiming to offer a complete review.

vi

Preface

As is often the case, the writing and publication of this book involved many iscussions, at times controversial, not only between the two editors but also with the d authors. We have the distinct impression however that this volume has not only not suffered as a result, but it has on the contrary become better. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved for their cooperation, suggestions and criticism. We would also like to thank Paul Lauer for his patience and help in editing the language of the contributions. Even though everyone who took part in the writing of this Handbook was at pains to work carefully and precisely, there may still be errors in this publication. These are of course the sole responsibility of the editors. Lneburg and Nottingham Gerd Michelsen Jasmin Godemann

Contents

Part I Mapping Sustainability Communication 1 Sustainability Communication An Introduction............................... Jasmin Godemann and Gerd Michelsen 2 Strong Sustainability as a Frame for Sustainability Communication........................................................................................ Konrad Ott, Barbara Muraca, and Christian Baatz 3 Sustainability Communication: An Integrative Approach.................................................................................................. Maik Adoment and Jasmin Godemann 4 Sustainable Communication as an Interand Transdisciplinary Discipline............................................................ Jasmin Godemann Part II Framework of Sustainability Communication 5 Sociological Perspectives on Sustainability Communication............... Karl-Werner Brand 6 Psychological Aspects of Sustainability Communication. ................... Lenelis Kruse 7 Media Theory and Sustainability Communication.............................. Claudia de Witt 8 Communication Theory and Sustainability Discourse. ....................... Andreas Ziemann 9 Communicating Education for Sustainable Development................... Inka Bormann 55 69 79 89 97 3

13

27

39

vii

viii

Contents

10 Sustainability Communication: A Systemic-Constructivist Perspective.................................................. 109 Horst Siebert Part III Practice of Sustainability Communication 11 Climate Change as an Element of Sustainability Communication........................................................................................ 119 Jens Newig 12 Biodiversity and Sustainability Communication.................................. 129 Maik Adoment and Ute Stoltenberg 13 Communicating Sustainable Consumption........................................... 141 Lucia A. Reisch and Sabine Bietz 14 Corporate Sustainability Reporting. ..................................................... 151 Christian Herzig and Stefan Schaltegger 15 Computer Support for Cooperative Sustainability Communication........................................................................................ 171 Andreas Mller 16 Participation: Empowerment for Sustainable Development............... 187 Harald Heinrichs Index. ................................................................................................................ 199

Contributors

Maik Adoment is Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany. His research interests include biodiversity and higher education for sustainable development. Christian Baatz studied Environmental Sciences at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Greifswald, Germany. Sabine Bietz is a doctoral candidate at the Department of Consumer Behaviour and Consumer Policy at the University of Calw, Germany. Her main research interests are consumer behaviour, sustainable consumption and development. Inka Bormann is Professor at the University of Marburg, Germany. Her main research areas are management instruments and their implications in the educational system and education for sustainable development. Karl-Werner Brand is Professor of Sociology at the Technical University of Munich. From 19952005 he was director of the Munich Institute of Social and Sustainability Research (MPS), Germany. His key research activities are environmental sociology, environmental movements, ecological communication and sustainable consumption. Claudia de Witt is Professor and member of the Institute of Educational Science and Media Research at the FernUniversitt in Hagen, Germany, and she is chair of the Mobile Learning Group. Her research activities are focused on eLearning and mobile learning as well as theories of media education and media didactics. Jasmin Godemann, Dr habil, is a Research Fellow at the Nottingham University Business School, UK. She was a Lecturer at the Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany. Her main research interests include higher education for sustainable development, sustainability communication as well as inter- and transdisciplinarity in research and teaching.

ix

Contributors

Harald Heinrichs is Professor for Sustainability Policy at the Institute for Environ mental and Sustainability Communication at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany. His research interests include environmental and sustainability policy as well as media communication. He is also a consultant in the private sector. Christian Herzig is Lecturer in Sustainability Accounting and Reporting within the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility at the Nottingham University Business School, UK. He was a Lecturer at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany, and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of South Australia. Lenelis Kruse is Professor Emeritus for Psychology at the German University for Distance Learning (Fernuniversitaet Hagen) until 2007 and is an honorary Professor at the University of Heidelberg, Germany. She was a member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) and is still active in the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (20052014). Her main research interest is environmental psychology. Gerd Michelsen is Professor at the Leuphana University Lueneburg and Director of the Institute of Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Germany. He holds the UNESCO Chair for Higher Education for Sustainable Development. His research interests include education for sustainable development and sustainability communication. Andreas Mller is Professor at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany, and member of the Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication. His research interests include corporate environmental informatics, new media for sustainability and the role of sustainability communication in organisations. Barbara Muraca is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Greifswald, Germany. Her fields of research are process philosophy, environmental and sustainability ethics, feminist philosophy, and hermeneutics. Jens Newig is Professor at the Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Germany and member of the Institute of Environmental and Sustainability Communication. His research centers around governance, participation, networks and media communication with a methodological focus on meta-analytical, experimental and transdisciplinary approaches. Konrad Ott is Professor for Environmental Ethics at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany. His fields of research are discourse ethics, environmental ethics, theories of sustainability, justice and ethical aspects of climate change. Lucia A. Reisch is Professor for Consumer Behaviour and European Consumer Policy at the Department of Intercultural Communication and Management at the Copenhagen Business School, Denmark. Trained as an economist and social scientist, she has been involved in research in sustainable consumption and production for two decades.

Contributors

xi

Stefan Schaltegger is Professor of Sustainability Management and Head of the Center for Sustainability Management at the Leuphana University Lueneburg. His research interests include corporate sustainability management, environmental and sustainability accounting, performance measurement and reporting and sustainable entrepreneurship. Horst Siebert is Professor Emeritus for Adult Education at the Leibniz University Hannover. In 1970 he founded the first Institute for Adult Education in Western Germany. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Jasi, Romania. His research interests are centred around teaching and learning in continuing education. Ute Stoltenberg is Professor for Teacher Education/General Studies and Head of the Institute for Integrative Studies at the Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany. Her research interests include biodiversity in education for sustainable development and the relationship between education and regional development in sustainable development. Andreas Ziemann is Professor for Sociology of Media at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. His main research interests include communications and media studies, history and theory of modern societies, sociology of culture and the space of society.

List of Figures

Fig.2.1 Fig.5.1

Theory of funds. .............................................................................. Dominant frames in the German sustainability discourse..............

22 60

Fig.10.1 Constructivist disciplines................................................................ 112 Fig.10.2 Versions of constructivism.............................................................. 114 Fig.11.1 Dynamics of news media communication about climate change................................................................................ 122 Fig.12.1 Interactions between biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being, and drivers of change................................................... 131 Fig.12.2 Ecological, social and socio-economic values of protected areas............................................................................ 137 Fig.14.1 Perspectives of sustainable development and development of sustainability reporting............................................................... 153 Fig.14.2 Outside-in and inside-out approach to sustainability reporting...... 165 Fig.15.1 Typical conversation....................................................................... 174 Fig.15.2 Infrastructure of a web platform representing the user lifeworld............................................................................ 180

xiii

List of Tables

Table2.1 Table4.1 Table9.1

Levels of the strong sustainability theory... ................................... Comparison of typology and previous categorizations.................

16 42

Classification Gestaltungskompetenz sub-competences............ 104

Table12.1 Demand for water in plant and animal production. ....................... 133

xv