Metaphors for the “žcommons” in the media

Author: Franzisca Weder – University of Queensland, School of Communication and Arts, Australia

Co-author:
Nikolá Dobric – Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt

What a nice title: Communicating the Sustainable Development Goals – For Everyone![1] However, not only the United Nations offer tools, means and workshops like this to communicate sustainability and the related 17 “goals”. National and international consultants advice to tell the “sustainability story”, use “pics more than words” or other strategies to “associate your brand with sustainability”. Nevertheless, coming from a science communication perspective, we seem to just beginning to get to grips with the gravity of the challenge of communicating sustainability.

At this stage, we’re “trapped” in a pilot study on value-based messages about environmental goods (air, water and soil) in the media and how they change as they travel in the public sphere, understood as „sphere of influence created when different individuals engage each other in communication – through conversation, argument, debate, and questions – about subjects of shared concern or that affect a wider community” (Cox, 2013, p. 6). Therefore, we would love to put our idea and first insights from the pilot study up for discussion at PCTS and learn about arguments and metaphors for the “commons” (in general and related to the SDGs) in the scienctific, political, and economic discourse as well as in the media – and about the differences across cultures.

[1] http://www.un.org/webcast/pdfs/160421pm-sdgs-com.pdf, 28.09.2017.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Idea in progress
Theme: Stories
Area of interest: Comparing science communication across cultures