Introduction to environmental communication - Understanding and addressing environmental challenges from a communication perspective
Course description
Environmental communication plays a vital role in addressing today’s environmental and sustainability challenges. How we communicate about issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource use, and sustainable lifestyles—in everyday conversations, social media, or political debate—influences not only how we understand these issues, but also how we respond to them.
Through lectures, workshops, literature studies and group work, this course introduces social science perspectives for understanding environmental communication in a wide range of contexts, from everyday conversations and environmental campaigns to public policy and multi-stakeholder decision-making. You will explore communication not only as a way of sharing information, but also as a process that shapes knowledge, values, identities, and social change.
The course combines theory with hands-on learning. Through interactive workshops and collaborative group projects, you will develop practical skills in designing environmental communication artefacts and facilitating dialogue between people with different perspectives.
Please note: The course includes several mandatory on-campus activities (see Information from the Course Leader and the Course Schedule).
Entry Requirements
Equivalent to 180 credits and specialized studies comprising 90 credits within one of the following subjects/disciplinary domains: natural sciences, technology or social sciences.
Course facts
MX0168, Introduction to environmental communication - Understanding and addressing environmental challenges from a communication perspective, 15.0 Hp
Print syllabus
Syllabus
Finalized by: PN-NJ, 2024-11-15
Valid from : Autumn semester 2025 (2025-09-01)
Level
Second cycle (A1N)
Main field of study
Environmental Science
Grading Scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Course language
English
Entry Requirements
Equivalent to 180 credits and specialized studies comprising 90 credits within one of the following subjects/disciplinary domains: natural sciences, technology or social sciences.
Objectives
The course aims to introduce students to environmental communication as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice that is central for understanding and addressing current environmental challenges. Drawing a combination of relevant theoretical perspectives from social sciences and humanities, students develop an understanding of environmental communication as the joint construction of meaning. This entails moving beyond an understanding of communication as the transmission of information, and highlights the role of social interaction in the shaping and negotiation of discourses, knowledge, values, norms, and practices that can enable, but also constrain social and environmental change. The course includes practice-based components designed to enhance such understanding and to develop practical skills for analysing, producing and facilitating communication.
Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:
- describe different theoretical perspectives for understanding environmental communication, including theories on social interaction;
- discuss the role of environmental communication in shaping diverse perspectives and responses to environmental challenges;
- apply different theoretical perspectives in the production and analysis of environmental communication artefacts;
- apply different theoretical perspectives and approaches for facilitating dialogue.
Content
Subject-related content
This course offers an introduction to environmental communication as an interdisciplinary field of research and practice drawing from multiple disciplines within the social sciences and humanities. Different social scientific perspectives are used for understanding environmental communication as the joint construction of meaning occurring in society through e.g., casual conversations, environmental campaigns and policies, or multi-stakeholder decision-making. The course highlights the importance of understanding environmental communication from both instrumental and constitutive perspectives, to be able to understand its role in the constitution and management of environmental challenges. By combining these perspectives, the course broadens the traditional view of communication as the transmission of expert knowledge and information, and emphasizes the role that different forms of communication and interaction play in shaping and transforming the knowledge, values, norms and practices that co-constitute today’s sustainability and environmental challenges. It also brings forward the struggles, conflicts and power relations present in communication and meaning-making.
Practice-based components are integrated throughout the course to deepen students´ understanding of theoretical perspectives while developing analytical and practical skills. This comprises interactive and interdisciplinary group work to produce and analyse different types of environmental communication artefacts and to facilitate dialogue processes involving diverse perspectives. The interdisciplinary composition of the student group plays a central role in these activities, creating experiences that simulate communication processes in which diverse perspectives and competences meet, challenge one another, and potentially develop.
Teaching formats
To further student learning and promote discussion, a variety of methods are used:
Lectures, literature studies, written assignments, project work, workshops, seminars, proficiency training, presentations.
The course focuses on the following generic competencies:
Critical thinking, problem solving, oral communication, written communication, teamwork, ability to work autonomously, plan and manage time.
The following components are mandatory:
See course schedule.
Examination Formats and Requirements for Passing the Course
- Passed written or oral exam(s) - Active participation in mandatory activities - Active participation in project work For further information, please refer to the course schedule.
Responsible Department/Equivalent
Department of Urban and Rural Development
Supplementary information
Included in program
- EnvEuro - European Master in Environmental Science
- Environmental Communication and Management - Master's Programme
Module set
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-term exam | 5.0 | 0001 |
| Final exam | 10.0 | 0002 |
The Course Replaces
MX0068, MX0066, MX0072, MX0100, MX0115