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We examined how young adults processed ecolabels (i.e. environmental warning labels), specifically by investigating how different warning message conditions and issue-relevant factors influenced the effectiveness of environmental warning messages. Findings from a 3 (message context formats: ads vs. positive PSAs vs. negative PSAs) x 3 (product categories: conservation vs. recycling vs. eco-friendly) mixed within- and between-subjects experimental design indicated that the effectiveness of ecolabels, assessed via message recall, message recognition, attitudes, and behavioral changes, was influenced by various issue-relevant determinants, as well as message context formats and context-induced moods. We also found that these predictors exhibited distinct patterns of influences for different types of environment-friendly products. Theoretical implications, as well as empirical suggestions for environmental communication professionals and policymakers to enhance the effectiveness of ecolabels and young adults' awareness of environmental threats, were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe present study interviewed 16 epistemic workers involved in creating and disseminating environmental knowledge and explored how experts communicate and present environmental issues in the field and news media in Hungary. Results show that both forums of communication face (re)presentational problems when communicating and presenting biodiversity, air pollution, and water pollution. Although climate change has become easily visualizable, it is overutilized in media. Conversely, presenting climate change in the field is challenging. This paper underscores the need for effective communication that mediates local issues affecting everyday life and reports the facts irrespective of whether they evoke positive or negative emotions. Such an approach will bring nature close to people and empower local communities within the context of increasing anti-environmentalism in Hungary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-formal learning institutions use interpretive plans to create effective interpretation (mission-based communications) for their visitors. This article argues that interpretive planning offers professional and technical communicators great potential for engaging with communities. Following an introduction to the field of interpretation and interpretive planning, I explain how interpretive plans are a type of metagenre. I then provide technical communicators with specific examples of how technical communicators' expertise is relevant to interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to advance connecting the two societal priorities of environmental protection and what has been called 'Indigenous reconciliation' through arts-based communication (and particularly arts-based research), to help engage and inspire people towards sustaining a healthy planet and a just society. Through lenses of social justice, decolonizing critique and holistic environmental ideologies, this work explores theoretical and practical, real-world intersections of environmentalist, Indigenous and arts-based imperatives and ways of knowing. The goal is twofold: first, to seek to engage readers in viewing the colonization of the planet and its First Peoples as intimately related, and ultimately, to bring together diverse literatures to suggest ideas, language and a model to foster communication aimed at redressing both of those colonialist evils. To acknowledge this intersection of environmental and Indigenous approaches in arts-based settings, the term 'environmental conciliation' is proposed and defined as 'environmental protection in ways that acknowledge, address, and aim to redress imbalances in power among Indigenous people and non-Indigenous settlers honestly, respectfully, openly, creatively and positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For complex and socially contentious environmental issues, such as climate change and disease prevention, science communication has proven difficult. As many science communication scholars have determined, education is not the only factor impacting the public's willingness to act upon or even accept scientific information. In this study, we propose using Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems as a framework for research in science and environmental communication. We argue that by focusing on the functions of relevant social systems, the occurrence of communication conflicts may be explained, and new approaches to overcome communication obstacles can be developed. In this study, we provide examples of the theory's utility by looking at pertinent studies regarding relevant systems integral to addressing climate change and sustainability issues, as well as propose new subjects for exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tapping maple trees to produce maple syrup offers many benefits for producers. Since potential producers likely value some of these benefits more than others, communicators seeking to encourage more people to begin maple syrup production should use messaging that emphasizes the benefits that best resonate with potential producers. To test this strategy, known as emphasis message framing, we ran Facebook advertisements aimed at people living in Wisconsin, the fourth-leading U.S. state in annual maple syrup production, to test four message frames: building community, achieving food self-sufficiency, engaging in the lifestyle of working the land, and spending time in nature. Overall, the frame of working the land was the most effective in terms of link clicks and post reactions. However, among people ages 55+, who were more likely than younger Facebook users to engage with our advertisements, the food self-sufficiency frame received the most clicks while the nature frame received the most post reactions. In all age groups, women were more likely to click on our ads than men. These findings can be applied to future efforts to grow the number of small-scale maple syrup producers in Wisconsin and beyond. Additionally, our results underscore the importance of establishing a clear goal and segmenting audiences when designing social media campaigns. Our methods can serve as a blueprint for anyone seeking to empirically test the effectiveness of different message frames in public outreach related to agriculture or food systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Delivering effective messages is critical to creating a more sustainable and resilient culture. The explosion of social media has enhanced information access but has often reinforced and polarized pre-existing viewpoints and norms. In contrast, digital signs are an "in your face in your space" technology that have the potential to deliver common content to a diverse local audience. Environmental Dashboard (ED) is a communications platform and set of content applications that combines information on current environmental conditions, real-time resource consumption, positive actions being taken by community members, and a community calendar. We conducted a longitudinal study to assess whether ED content delivered via digital signs in public locations would result in desirable psychological changes within a community. Participants completed surveys in six designated signage locations prior to installation (N = 174) and following two years of continuous exposure (N = 133). We observed increases in pro-environmental social norms among people of color (a demographic emphasized); enhanced awareness of and sense of connection with the local community and ecology; increased self-reported electricity conservation; and increased perception of youth engagement (another demographic emphasized). Changes were mediated by exposure to digital signage. These findings support the hypothesis that content delivered through digital signs can strengthen pro-environmental and pro-social culture within communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Over recent decades, our understanding of climate change has accelerated greatly, but unfortunately, observable impacts have increased in tandem. Both mitigation and adaptation have not progressed at the level or scale warranted by our collective knowledge on climate change. More effective approaches to engage people on current and future anthropogenic climate change effects are urgently needed. Here, we show how species whose distributions are shifting in response to climate change, that is, ‘species‐on‐the‐move’, present an opportunity to engage people with climate change by linking to human values, and our deep connections with the places in which we live, in a locally relevant yet globally coherent narrative. Species‐on‐the‐move can impact ecosystem structure and function, food security, human health, livelihoods, culture and even the climate itself through feedback to the climate system, presenting a wide variety of potential pathways for people to understand that climate change affects them personally as individuals. Citizen science focussed on documenting changes in biodiversity is one approach to foster a deeper engagement on climate change. However, other possible avenues, which may offer potential to engage people currently unconnected with nature, include arts, games or collaborations with rural agriculture (e.g. new occurrences of pest species) or fisheries organisations (e.g. shifting stocks) or healthcare providers (e.g. changing distributions of disease vectors). Through the importance we place on the aspects of life impacted by the redistribution of species around us, species‐on‐the‐move offer emotional pathways to connect with people on the complex issue of climate change in profound ways that have the potential to engender interest and action on climate change. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The Great Salt Lake entered the zeitgeist of environmental concern in 2022 when a coalition of scientists and activists warned in a highly publicized report that the lake might be just five years away from complete desiccation, a possibility one state official warned was tantamount to an "environmental nuclear bomb". Shortly thereafter, an unpredicted and unprecedented pluvial winter resulted in an increase in inflow, temporarily halting the lake's decline and prompting Utah's governor to mock the dire prediction as "a joke", an outcome that speaks to the tension between agenda-setting and trust-building that researchers face when sharing worst-case warnings, particularly those based on short-term variability. Here, we describe a robust relationship between the lake and groundwater in the surrounding region and demonstrate how coupled models can thus be used to improve lake elevation predictions, suggesting that while the situation may not be as dire as some have warned, the lake remains at long-term risk as a result of climate warming. We further suggest that efforts to communicate the risk of future desiccation should be informed by stochastic variability and guided by long-term fluctuations in the total water storage of the endorheic lake's watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Environmental communication research often conceptualises hope as an internal state of mind, suggesting that messages focused on hope can be used in strategic communication to foster environmental engagement. In this paper, we critique this individualising approach and instead explore hope discourse as an emergent social phenomenon, focusing on how it is constructed and managed in inspirational meetings about the circular economy. Using critical discursive psychology as a methodology, we identify three interpretative repertoires through which hope is constructed: stronger together, change for real, silver lining. We explore what is accomplished by their use, and discuss the social implications within the meetings and beyond. The repertoires facilitate a positive meeting experience and solidarity amongst participants. However, hope discourse also relies on abstraction which prohibits disagreement, critique, and talk about concrete actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative processes are increasingly required, familiar, and expected but desire and enthusiasm do not produce competency or confidence, leading to frustration, hesitancy, distrust on all sides, and continued calls for "voice." Initially introduced to the environmental communication community in 2004, Senecah's Trinity of Voice is a practical framework based on small group dynamics scaled to community level. Its environmental communication dimensions of Access, Civic Standing, and Influence optimize the potential for trust-rich relationships that are key for effective collaborative processes but are difficult to build and sustain, especially in situations that are complex and/or pulsing with contentiousness. At the 20-year mark, this article revisits the TOV against the contemporary literature on trust; reviews critiques and diverse applications of it; and assesses whether it still offers practical value for designing, diagnosing, and improving collaborative processes to address environmental planning and management situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reach necessary greenhouse gas emissions targets, behavior change is necessary at the consumer level. However, standard information-based interventions struggle to change environmentally impactful behaviors like beef consumption. Experience-based communication that engages non-analytical systems can be crucial for changing our beliefs that our behavior makes a difference. Immersive virtual reality (VR) in the metaverse represents a shift toward experience-based environmental communication. In this preregistered 2 (VR experience vs. VR information) x 2 (indulgent vs. explicit labeling) study (N = 167), we tested the effectiveness of VR experience-based communication and cost-effective nudging to promote sustainable diets. Label manipulation showed no effect on meat consumption. The VR experience led to stronger pro-environmental intentions and more pro-environmental behavior in VR and real life than the VR information condition. Mediation analyses confirm that experience-based VR communication can enhance people's efficacy beliefs, increasing their intentions and, consequently, reducing beef consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate Change (CC) communication is one of the most important areas to inform and raise awareness of the current climate emergency. This research studies how CC was communicated on the fastest growing platform, TikTok, during the Glasgow (2021) and Sharm el-Sheikh (2022) Climate Summits. Content analysis of the videos (N = 1013) showed a significant reduction in the number of CC-related videos during the Egypt Summit compared to its predecessor. While the Glasgow Summit was notable for addressing primarily environmental issues, the Sharm el-Sheikh one saw a politicization of the discourse, often unrelated to the climate issue. The results reveal that the main voices communicating CC on TikTok are influencers, media, and journalists, mostly men. The small number of sources of information cited in the videos is relevant. On the few occasions in which a source is mentioned, it is the media. These, in turn, do not report the origin of the information transmitted The results show a significant reduction in the number of CC-related videos published during Sharm el-Sheikh COP27 compared to Glasgow COP26. Videos addressing CC-related issues are not a majority. Both influencers and the media are the ones who published the most, and men are more likely communicating CC on the platform. Influencers and TikTok users no longer communicate environmental or socio-cultural issues at COP27. They create a discourse that revolves solely around information on political issues. In general terms, the research reflects the lack of an educational and informative function of the climate issue on TikTok. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the extent to which acute and chronic health conditions motivate individuals to seek air quality information. We apply the theoretical elements of the Health Belief Model (HBM) to improve risk communication about ambient air pollution. We discuss the practical applications of HBM, in tandem with the principles of health communication, within an environmental health context. We test the predictive power of selected components related to the HBM (perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and cues to action) for intentions to seek information about ambient air quality. We surveyed 325 individuals throughout Nevada where poor air quality poses a risk for vulnerable populations. Ordinal logistic regression analyses showed that experiencing mucous membrane symptoms (eye itching, nose irritation, and dry throat/cough), perceived severity to future health threats, and having an at-risk member in the household positively and significantly predicted intentions to seek air quality information. Experiencing neuropsychological symptoms (fatigue, feeling heavy-headed, and nausea/dizziness), and having a cardiovascular or a respiratory condition did not have significant effects on reported intentions. We discuss how the results of this study can be integrated into health communication practices to increase public engagement with air quality information as a personal intervention measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 2 decades, reflections on video games' ideological and political aspects—and their overarching media ecosystems—have grown. Despite this, few contributions focus on environmental issues, mainly empirically-oriented studies or ecocritical contributions vis-à-vis shared models and systematizations. Starting from the "To The Last Tree Standing" campaign carried out in 2017 for Greenpeace Poland to stop the deforestation of the Białowieża forest, this research sets out to elaborate an analytical model to outline the constitutive dimensions to be taken into account in analyses of how video games and environmental activism can intersect in a specific intentional communicative instance. The results, which relied on semi-structured interviews with executives and designers (n = 3) and inductive thematic analysis and sentiment analysis of the YouTube comments, delineate three initial categories (controversy, campaign network, and game ecosystem). This evidence highlights new development trajectories for studying the intersection between the gaming world and ecological activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the perceptions and behaviors related to sustainable food consumption among various demographic groups in northern Taiwan, focusing on the metropolitan areas of Taipei City and New Taipei City. The narratives of Taiwanese people practicing sustainable eating were analyzed by applying practice theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 participants from diverse demographic backgrounds (e.g., university students, homemakers, professionals, and retirees). Their educational backgrounds and work experience were recorded. The research highlights the effects of urbanization on the food choices of consumers, highlighting challenges such as high costs, time constraints, and limited access to kitchen facilities among university students. High-income professionals and retirees exhibited a preference for organic and locally sourced foods, whereas middle-aged homemakers emphasized seasonality and support for small farmers. The crucial roles of information sources (e.g., online media and television) and various cultural factors (e.g., religious beliefs) in influencing sustainable food behaviors were also identified. Despite its regional focus, this study provides valuable insights and recommendations for policymakers that can support sustainable food consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention to public problems is increasingly being driven by data. Given that data is used as a communication tool, a lack of data may further exacerbate existing inequities when allocating public resources, especially around infrastructure. Using a co-creation and power-sharing approach to community involvement, this field report describes how a rural community and academic partners worked together to collect photo and video data to create a community-driven flood map that communicates flood issues. The results indicate community members felt like they belong, are valued, and their flooding challenges are visible. These are all important steps to achieving attention and support to address their flooding infrastructure challenges. We end by offering six concrete suggestions, ranging from centering community needs to interdisciplinary collaboration, for how this approach can be used in other applied communication projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can virtual reality (VR) lead to more desirable persuasion effects than videos in communicating the science of contentious issues like climate change? And, will these effects differ between messages that offer hope versus fear? We addressed these questions with a 2 (Modality: Desktop VR vs. Unidirectional video) × 2 (framing: Gain vs. Loss) between-subjects experiment (N = 130), and found that VR triggered more fearful responses, which in turn led to more persuasive outcomes. It also increased individuals' attitudes toward climate change mitigation policy when the experience was loss-framed, but backfired when the experience was gain-framed. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presentation of soil erosion on agricultural land, both to the expert and the public, frequently takes the form of pictures and descriptions of extreme events. These attention‐grabbing images are case studies of worst‐case scenarios and serve an important purpose of warning what may happen under certain circumstances; they also have a potential to mislead. On the other hand, long‐term studies of erosion are able to present extreme events in a more acceptable scientific context. Monitoring studies emphasise the importance of frequent, low‐magnitude runoff events and their ability to transport nutrients and pesticides to freshwater systems. Thus, the need for a balanced presentation of erosion which places extreme events in a broad context in space and time. Communicating with practitioners such as farmers requires the use of non‐conventional channels rather than the reliance on academic journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the US approaches an intense inflection point in this grand experiment with democratic ideals, a pinched nerve in the form of a presidential election, this second special anniversary forum considers what resources (I almost said weapons) lay undiscovered or undervalued with which we may forge a future. Fortunately, there are gems – brilliant in the proper light – available for use; from the Global South to the US South, this forum imagines more than geographic places, but rather forms of care and powerful Black feminist community-building and critique of the retrenchment of multiple forms of racialized domination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the food industry accounts for more than one-third of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, it is one of the largest contributors to climate change. Strategies for reducing CO2e (equivalent) emissions must be implemented to regulate the impact the food systems have on the climate. Environmental communication using climate labels and sharing information on carbon footprints can help reduce GHGs emissions from restaurant purchases on a systemic scale. The aim is to gain insights and study how a carbon label influences the concept of a climate-friendly restaurant and its capacity to bridge the gap between knowledge, awareness, and action. What are the motivations for restaurant employees to adopt climate-friendly behavior? How does the label's use influence restaurants' decision to track their carbon footprint over time, communicate the carbon footprint of dishes, and adapt menus to be more climate-friendly? The data were collected with semi-structured interviews with video communication with three restaurant chains, all using labels. The data collected via the interviews were examined using an inductive thematic analysis to identify key themes. The transcending transmission approach to communication was used to gain insights into instrumental and constitutive communication dynamics. As the theoretical framework, 'symbolic interactionism' helps untangle constitutive aspects of environmental communication surrounding climate labels to analyze the process of conceptualization through usage, co-creation, and interpretation. The analysis brought forward three main themes: the interactions between the scientific data accessible in the tool and the restaurants. Second, the diverse implications of sustainability marketing for motivating climate actions and what they look like. And finally, climate actions and how they are being apprehended and implemented by the restaurants. The promise of climate labels was discussed by elaborating on socio-cultural dynamics, sustainability marketing, and activism forces and impulses influencing the motivations for restaurants. We then discussed the capacity to transcend information into action through collaboration and inclusiveness to avoid greenwashing. Restaurants have a commercial interest in implementing climate labels in their business and an intrinsic desire to be a company that takes action for the planet because of the restaurants 'employees' convictions. However, restaurants find themselves in a tricky situation where they can be criticized if they take 'wrong' actions that can be considered greenwashing and criticized if they do nothing. The software enables restaurants to legitimize their actions and communicate them, making them resilient and evolving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, certain environment-related issues have come into the public eye. This article aims to analyse socio-environmental conflicts from both a democratic and a communication policy perspective. Given that these socio-environmental conflicts are the response to public policies, this article seeks to study the role played by the media in shaping them. The study focuses on the Basque Country, where many socio-environmental conflicts arise due to the implementation of public environmental policies. The methodology includes quantitative analysis using the data obtained from conducting a press analysis, and a qualitative approach using information obtained from in-depth interviews and the analysis of documentation. The results suggest a communicational and democratic deficit in the socio-environmental conflicts analysed, since the media do not help to build public opinion in a dialogical and dialectical way. To address this, we need a more diverse field of communication beneficial for environmental issues, so that we can work on information, considering the perspectives of all actors and the main topics of discussion. Environmental issues should go beyond traditional representative policies, inviting a broader range of actors in debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines environmental communication among activists on social media, specifically on Instagram. Drawing from an ethnographic study, it highlights a new type of activism that focuses on daily actions, departing from traditional public protests, based on the belief that collective small-scale actions can drive significant changes. It is performed mainly by individuals, often with large followers, who adopt the influencers' narrative to promote sustainability. We contend that this social media activism relies on personal and visual narratives, and proactive actions to engage the public in sustainability and affordable solutions to the environmental crisis. Through interviews and analysis of their narratives, we explore activists' motivations, hybrid identities, and communication practices around their communities, which can be characterized as a networked collective action for social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the adoption of the recommended rates of fertilizer in the study area. Data were collected from sample respondents, agricultural experts, and extension workers using both structured and semi-structured interview schedules. The Heckman selection model with two-step estimates was employed to identify the determinants influencing the adoption of the recommended rates of chemical fertilizers. The study revealed that the majority (86.5%) of farm households held a positive attitude towards the application of chemical fertilizers. However, 77.1% of the respondents reported not receiving adequate chemical fertilizers for crop growth. Additionally, 85.7% of respondents perceived that the use of chemical fertilizers led to soil acidity, while 77.8% indicated that it reduced soil organisms, including beneficial weeds. The results of the Heckman selection model showed that age, family size, farming experience, and farm size positively and significantly influenced the use of the recommended rates of fertilizers at P < 0.05. In conclusion, high fertilizer prices and low purchasing capacity were identified as factors contributing to the low adoption of recommended rates. The study recommends that farm households be made aware of the importance of adopting the recommended rates of fertilizers to increase production per hectare.

For complex and socially contentious environmental issues, such as climate change and disease prevention, science communication has proven difficult. As many science communication scholars have determined, education is not the only factor impacting the public's willingness to act upon or even accept scientific information. In this study, we propose using Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems as a framework for research in science and environmental communication. We argue that by focusing on the functions of relevant social systems, the occurrence of communication conflicts may be explained, and new approaches to overcome communication obstacles can be developed. In this study, we provide examples of the theory's utility by looking at pertinent studies regarding relevant systems integral to addressing climate change and sustainability issues, as well as propose new subjects for exploration.

Abstract The ongoing biodiversity and climate change crises require society to adopt nature‐based solutions that integrate and enhance ecosystems. To achieve successful implementation of nature‐based solutions, it is vital to communicate scientific information about their benefits and suitability. This article explores the potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as a tool for automating and scaling up science communication, outreach, and extension for nature‐based solutions. To illustrate the potential of GenAI, we present three case study examples; (1) reporting scientific information on ecosystem services, future land use options, and nature‐based solutions for farms (2) interactively providing guidance in response to homeowner questions about biodiversity‐friendly garden design and (3) visualising potential future scenarios of landscape change that incorporate diverse nature based and technological solutions. These examples demonstrate potential applications which may be relevant to other systems and types of nature‐based solutions. While GenAI for nature‐based solutions offers significant opportunities, this new technology brings risks of bias, false information, data privacy, mistrust, and high energy usage. Alongside technological development, we require integrated social research into ethics, public acceptability, and user experience, to maximise the benefits of GenAI while limiting these risks. GenAI offers an opportunity to accelerate the dissemination of nature‐based design strategies and reach a broader audience, by synthesising information and producing tailored content for specific users and locations. By harnessing the power of GenAI alongside human expertise, we can support nature‐based solutions to tackle the complex challenges of future sustainability. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

The effective disaster governance plays an essential role in enhancing resilience organising prompt evacuations and delivering assistance to impacted areas is apparent. Within the context of Lumajang, this approach often involves through multi-agency collaboration to reducing casualties and mitigating the overall impact of the eruption on residents and infrastructure. The primary goal of this study is to explore the impact of the collaboration process during the implementation of disaster governance, and to explain and explore the mutual and nonlinear interaction between them. This inquiry was conducted in the Lumajang Regency, an Indonesian disaster-prone area. In this study, we also propose a questionnaire-based partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) with multiple latent variables: disaster governance (X), collaboration process (Y), and impact on community (Z). The results of this study found that collaboration has a direct impact on several aspects of disaster governance implementation, especially in terms of transparency enhancement. This confirms that collaboration is an effective way to build mutual commitment and a shared understanding to increase transparency and accountability principles. However, this finding also reveals that some of the collaboration aspects are difficult to perform under disaster governance implementation because of several reasons such as historical background, past experiences, or limited capacity of the implementing agency.

Environmental communication has led to expansive understanding of how to improve outcomes and processes to serve the underserved in natural resources and agricultural situations. As a practitioner, this article reflects on the pathway to build a profession outside of traditional academic careers to bring together diverse partners and disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Methaodos: Social Science Journal / Methaodos: Revista de Ciencias Sociales is the property of Departamento de Ciencias de la Comunicacion y Sociologia, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Drawing on legitimacy theory, we study the nexus between green communication and the implementation of green practices, and in particular, we focus on the determinants of their discrepancy. Based on a large sample of firms in 58 countries over a 19‐year period, we employ an index to measure the discrepancy between green operations and the communicated practices, mapped to each firm's board structure. The results provide the first empirical evidence that larger, more gender‐diverse, and more independent boards are associated with a preponderance of green communication over implementation. We interpret this imbalance as a strategy to participate in the public discourse to gain moral legitimacy. Conversely, CEO duality is associated with a discrepancy in the opposite direction, with firms focusing more on implementing green practices than talking about them, suggesting that these firms aim mainly at gaining pragmatic legitimacy from their stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media are increasingly used to obtain and disseminate information about environmental issues. Yet, environmental communication research has focused mainly on social media discussions pertaining to climate change, while overlooking public awareness and discourse regarding the other planetary boundaries (i.e., important and interlinked environmental issues other than climate change). Moreover, while discussions about climate change are often found to be polarising, it remains to be seen if this extends to other environmental issues. We used network analysis and topic modelling to analyse two million environment-related tweets and identified nine 'green communities' of users. Climate change was the most popular issue across all communities and other issues like biodiversity loss were discussed infrequently. The discourse was less polarised than previously assumed, was largely pro-environmental, and originated more from the Global North than the Global South. The relevance of our findings for policymakers and researchers in environmental communication is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Closure of a forest for biosecurity purposes led to the marginalisation and disconnection of Year 6 children from a local forest of significance to them in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The marginalisation of children's voices and concomitantly of their knowledge, ideas, and values from environmental issues can be viewed as an example of epistemic injustice, which manifests widely in the environmental area, particularly in relation to marginalised groups. To counter this marginalisation and promote epistemic justice, we explored how the creative arts involving a child-driven environmental communication project could foster children's sense of agency by supporting the protection of a local forest affected by a tree disease. We show that the creative arts could facilitate the children's meaningful engagement in environmental issues in a learning environment that fostered child-centric approaches that enabled children to express their visions for sustainable futures in distinctly unique ways that were relevant to them. Furthermore, enabling the children to participate as environmental communicators re-established their relationship with their local forest and re-balanced the power structures that had led to the children's sense of marginalisation. The insights on how this child-centred relational approach can promote epistemic justice and provide a meaningful contribution to the long-term sustainable management of forest ecosystems has implications for other marginalised groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current media landscape, communication about sustainable fashion is so pervasive that it risks becoming background noise: a sea of "studium" that fails to "prick" the reader, despite the enormity of the stakes (Barthes 2000). This article asks how we might tell better stories when it comes to sustainability in the fashion media, drawing upon insights from fashion studies and environmental communication. The practices of fashion and dreaming are closely connected but this alliance does not always marry well with discourses on sustainability, which can elicit feelings of "green fatigue". In light of this, the following article asks how fashion media might be used as a vehicle for social dreaming, rather than consumerist dreaming, in order to make sustainable fashion more desirable. Fashion media is about storytelling and so, too, is utopia, with this article theorizing independent media as a micro-utopian network through which radical narratives can be explored (building on Wood 2007). The focus here is on English-language content produced by independent magazines, not-for-profit organizations and academics. Taken collectively, these marginal forms of media represent a space where social dreaming is already taking place, with reference to discourses on utopia, slow fashion, and green consciousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Garbage contributes significantly to the environmental damage. The issue of global warming is an emerging and growing issue. This research aims to understand Griya Luhu’s proprietary strategy in delivering environmental campaign digital waste banks in rural areas. Environmental communication is an advocacy method. Environmental campaign advocacy is the act of persuading or arguing in favor of a particular cause, policy, idea, or set of values on an issue. Advocacy is a powerful medium for organizations with various social and environmental changes. Currently, the existing environmental campaign advocacy only focuses on urban areas. Economic limitations and waste issues have become the main reasons why Griya Luhu, an NGO Bali-Indonesia-based, wants to provide environmental campaigns to rural communities on Bali Island through their Digital Bank Sampah (Digital Waste Bank). This research was conducted through in-depth interviews with the Chairman and members of Griya Luhu. The outcome of this research shows that Griya Luhu used various strategies, including a communal approach, raising environmental issues, and empowering the community during the Digital Waste Bank program. Griya Luhu's primary strategy was to empower the community, especially in rural areas. Their empowerment is to push people to use digital technology and make the waste bank work more transparent. Thus, the community is more concerned with the environment, especially the problem of waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ongoing biodiversity and climate change crises require society to adopt nature‐based solutions that integrate and enhance ecosystems. To achieve successful implementation of nature‐based solutions, it is vital to communicate scientific information about their benefits and suitability.This article explores the potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) as a tool for automating and scaling up science communication, outreach, and extension for nature‐based solutions.To illustrate the potential of GenAI, we present three case study examples; (1) reporting scientific information on ecosystem services, future land use options, and nature‐based solutions for farms (2) interactively providing guidance in response to homeowner questions about biodiversity‐friendly garden design and (3) visualising potential future scenarios of landscape change that incorporate diverse nature based and technological solutions. These examples demonstrate potential applications which may be relevant to other systems and types of nature‐based solutions.While GenAI for nature‐based solutions offers significant opportunities, this new technology brings risks of bias, false information, data privacy, mistrust, and high energy usage. Alongside technological development, we require integrated social research into ethics, public acceptability, and user experience, to maximise the benefits of GenAI while limiting these risks.GenAI offers an opportunity to accelerate the dissemination of nature‐based design strategies and reach a broader audience, by synthesising information and producing tailored content for specific users and locations. By harnessing the power of GenAI alongside human expertise, we can support nature‐based solutions to tackle the complex challenges of future sustainability. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have researched the 'wildness' or 'tameness' of public screens for staging image events. This study argues that in non-democratic contexts, public screens are not totally wild or tame but are constrained by institutional limits, straddling the tame and the wild. In networked public screens, activists should keep a careful balance between tameness and wildness, staging 'interactive' image events to conduct bottom–up social mobilization to pressure the local state while avoiding being perceived as a threat. Through a case study of environmental activism in China, we identified two interactive strategies that were organized around image events. One was a visible interaction through which activists manipulated the mediated visibility of environmental problems by constructing image events. The other was an invisible interplay through which states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in closed-door negotiations to solve the problems exposed, without relinquishing the potential for social mobilization by constructing image events. These two forms of interactions, visible and invisible, form a circuit and are interconvertible in specific situations. With the shrinking of institutional space, invisible interaction is becoming the dominant mode of interaction with the state. The formation of such an interactive circuit has largely constrained the power of environmental images in social mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La presa di coscienza sui cambiamenti climatici, le politiche dello European Green Deal e il PNRR in Italia, hanno generato, tra il 2017 e il 2021, importanti cambi di paradigma strategico-legislativi. Il presente studio si interroga sulla comunicazione di questi temi tramite l’utilizzo degli strumenti dell’information design. Nello studio sono considerate infografiche prodotte in tre livelli di azione (globale, europeo, nazionale) da quattro istituzioni. L’obiettivo è verificarne la coerenza di contenuto e analizzare le strategie di visualizzazione del dato scientifico.

The study analyzed environmental news content in Leadership and The Punch newspapers from May 1, 2019, to July 31, 2020. The study aimed to determine the images used in news reporting about the environment based on the salient features they embody in the news. The findings revealed 151 articles about the environment while 117 contained images, split between Leadership (52) and The Punch (65) newspapers, indicating their prominence in environmental reporting. While some of the utilized images in the news reports captured the impact on the environment (air, land, and water) and its inhabitants, pictures of politicians were the most featured ones. The information/awareness theme was dominant, demonstrating a development communication perspective. The study also established a notable use of the “Health” theme, implying a connection between health and the environment, predominantly because of COVID-19.

This research investigates the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) as a science communication tool to promote pro-environmental change. A laboratory experiment (N = 70) was conducted to examine the short-term effects of VR immersive video, in comparison with flat screen video, on level of presence, message perception, and cognition. Viewing the VR video produced greater levels of presence, which was associated with increased positive perceptions of the video, perceived importance of water issues, and pro-environmental attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Implications are discussed in terms of how immersive VR can be used as science communication tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a reflection on environmental communication as a discipline of care as an opportunity to imagine and reconstruct, both theoretically and practically, the role of environmental communication in the global south, under an inclusive perspective that represents one of the greatest challenges for environmental communication today. In this essay, I recount several of the experiences I have had in the environmental sciences: First, I share a teaching project, a project of an environmental science degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) that involved working with rural communities, an environmental NGO. Secondly, the construction of a teaching material for an endangered indigenous language. Third, a video project involving socio-environmental research as part of the Institute for Research in Ecosystems and Sustainability of the UNAM, which was coordinated across different regions of Mexico. Fourth, I reflect on an investigation with digital native media and its audiovisual communication in social media. In conclusion, I consider how the move to emphasize care in an age of environmental crises might provide space for greater inclusion of global south praxis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food-related communication research provides a lens for interrogating environmental discourses that neglect questions of different, power, privilege. In this essay Alana Mann presents a critical food systems agenda for environmental communication that foregrounds the voices and perspectives of those most affected by food injustices. She highlights the role of ethnoterritorial social movements that not only contest the appropriation of land and productive resources but also reproduce an ethics of care for all species and the land itself. The essay concludes with examples of contemporary food initiatives that draw on these epistemological foundations to enable the meaningful participation, inclusion, and agency of those marginalized in our food economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of threatening ecological crises, the imperative of reorienting the field of environmental communication toward a crisis and care orientation has gained prominence. Although notable progress has been achieved in this endeavor since the publication of Cox's influential work on the "crisis discipline" in 2007, the field has seen limited contributions from non-Anglo-American perspectives. This commentary addresses this gap by articulating the potential of African relational perspectives in framing environmental communication as both a crisis and care discipline. African relationality espouses a social paradigm that prioritizes other-regarding values, advocating for a more compassionate, context-sensitive, and relationship-centered approach to environmental discourse. Within this commentary, I discuss how African relationality complements the contributions of care theory, fostering a shift from a detached, observer-centric stance in environmental communication to one that actively engages within the interconnected ecological network we collectively inhabit. This brief synthesis invites a more inclusive, empathetic, and action-oriented environmental communication research and practice to confront the pressing ecological challenges of our time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, the facets related to environmental crises (in the plural) have grown increasingly intricate. What began as environmentalists' apprehension over nature degradation and the encouragement of citizendriven initiatives has evolved. The current shift in emphasis and prevailing message strives to foster a culture where citizens refrain from independent initiatives. Instead, the directive is to heed the guidance of the knowledgeable (scientists, politicians, corporations, interest groups, etc.), as substantiated by our investigative findings, which align, in part, with existing literature. Conversely, our exploration into environmental communication, notably the insights gleaned from longitudinal research concerning pro-environmental knowledge, attitudes, and actions, reveals a decline in citizens' effective inclinations toward embracing pro-environmental behaviors. Meanwhile, the escalation of the climate crisis is fueling heightened levels of echo-anxiety and solastalgia. This trajectory is closely intertwined with a growing global disillusionment within society - not just regarding the future - instilling a sense of disillusionment concerning pro-environmental messages and slogans disseminated by governing bodies and corporations. This has led to a state resembling learned helplessness, as articulated by Seligman, or what we prefer to term "induced" helplessness, rather than fostering conditions conducive to empowerment. This article comprehensively examines various reports and our inquiries, revealing how communication management and its constituents lie at the heart of forging novel narratives, fresh cognitive dissonances, and emerging social representations. Notably emphasized is the pivotal role played by information and communication technologies (ICT), particularly through dissemination on widely-used social networks. Since the 2010s, these platforms have assumed a paramount role in shaping socialization processes, surpassing educational institutions and conventional mass media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the digital age, effective website promotion plays a pivotal role in attracting visitors to alternative forms of tourism. This study examines the websites of 177 UNESCO Global Geoparks and 190 International Dark Sky Parks, employing specific evaluation criteria essential for enhancing the promotion of alternative tourism forms such as geotourism and astronomical tourism. Our findings reveal that geopark websites adeptly promote geotourism through a diverse array of digital tools, with the potential for minor enhancements. In contrast, the majority of dark sky park websites exhibit limited visibility in the promotion of astronomical tourism. These identified criteria and results serve as crucial benchmarks for optimizing the websites of UNESCO Global Geoparks and International Dark Sky Parks, thus ensuring the comprehensive fulfillment of established promotional standards for alternative tourism destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]