Marie Grusell hopes to contribute to more effective communication on environmental issues
How environmental issues are communicated is of great importance for sustainable development and requires renewal. Associate Professor Marie Grusell at JMG, University of Gothenburg, hopes to be able to contribute to this important work as a new board member in Mistra's research programme on the environment and communication.
Associate Professor Marie Grusell has a new assignment as a board member in the research programme Mistra Environmental Communication.
The programme aims to reframe environmental communication so that it can become more efficient and contribute to Sweden's transformation into a more sustainable society. This will be done, among other things, by gathering and creating knowledge for a more advanced understanding of how environmental issues should be communicated in research and politics as well as in administration.
“Communication on the major environmental issues needs renewal. Therefore, this is a very engaging and urgent assignment and I look forward to being involved in the important work”, says Marie Grusell.
A matter of survival
The programme addresses a range of fields of communication practice and it draws on a transdisciplinary approach. Researchers from a range of scientific disciplinary back-grounds and non-academic partners from crucial sectors in society and organizations meet in six different areas of work. First, legitimacy and effectiveness are examined in government-led dialogues. The second applies environmental psychology and sociological theories of interaction to communication about consumption. Transdisciplinary knowledge science and knowledge co-production about sustainability is the third area. The fourth deals with communication in organisations' networks, in particular the effect of increased visibility and transparency. The fifth area of work explores discursive meetings and negotiations as they unfold in the media and arts. The programme also has a focus area where results are compiled and integrated across subject area boundaries.
“I am at my best getting to know the programme and the subject of environmental communication. In today's society, we must think about sustainability in all parts of everyday life. Communicating this is a matter of survival”, says Marie Grusell.
The four-year research programme is funded by the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra). Today, the programme is in its third year. Right now, a working meeting is being arranged with researchers and social actors on how social media sorts and silences environmental issues. A sub-project on misinformation in the environmental field has also been initiated.
More information
Read more on the project's website: https://www.slu.se/en/subweb/mistra-ec/
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Mistra Environmental Communication is based on a strong consortium of researchers and practitioners – all key societal actors.
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The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, is the host and the programme includes researchers at SLU, Uppsala University, Lund University, Borås University, the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, Charles University Prague in the Czech Republic and the University of Texas in the USA.
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The consortium includes 28 social partners that cover a wide range of work with sustainability challenges – everything from climate work and art to nature conservation, hunting, and agriculture – at local, national, and international levels.
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The programme is based on well-established research and teaching expertise at SLU's Department of Environmental Communication and international research and work with education for sustainable development at SWEDESD (Center for Research and Education on Learning for Sustainable Development), Uppsala University.
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Programme managers are Anke Fischer, professor of environmental communication at SLU, and Eva Friman, director of SWEDESD.