Environmental Themes in Popular Narratives

Christensen, Miyase; Åberg, Anna; Lidström, Susanna; Larsen, Katarina

doi:10.1080/17524032.2018.1421802

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Sustainability is increasingly used by some organisations to frame their marketing strategy, for example as in the case of Marks & Spencer’s “Plan A”, and the sustainability report presents the overarching narrative of a marketing campaign, which communicates a powerful story across a range of media platforms to an audience including business professionals, civil society organisations, academics, investors and members of the public (Bartels et al , 2008). Narratives like these can be powerful political tools (Rhodes and Brown, 2005), particularly influential in an era of “‘post-truth’ politics” (Christensen et al , 2018, p. 2). Furthermore, it is suggested that “the power to tell a story is itself hegemonic” (Brown, 2004, p. 109); in creating a narrative of (ostensibly) sustainable business, business organisations can frame sustainability in a way which serves their interests.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, it is suggested that “the power to tell a story is itself hegemonic” (Brown, 2004, p. 109); in creating a narrative of (ostensibly) sustainable business, business organisations can frame sustainability in a way which serves their interests. This frame can then serve to “define the acceptable parameters of public debate and demarcate who does (or does not) have voice” (Christensen et al , 2018, p. 2).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

No more fairytales: a quest for alternative narratives of sustainable business

O'Dochartaigh

2019

AAAJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore storytelling in sustainability reporting. The author posits that large PLCs use their sustainability reports to support the construction of a fairytale of “sustainable business”, and asks if organisations with an alternative purpose (social enterprises, values-based SMEs) and/or ownership structure (co-operatives, partnerships) can offer a counter-narrative of the sustainability–business relationship. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses the literature on storytelling and organisational mythmaking to gain insight into the construction of narratives and their impact on the reader. A narrative analysis is conducted of the sustainability reports of 40 organisations across a range of entity classes, including large PLCs, values-based SMEs, co-owned businesses and social enterprises. Findings The analysis indicates that the narratives presented in sustainability reporting are of much the same form across entity classes. The author argues on this basis that sustainability reports represent stories targeted at specific stakeholders rather than accounts of the organisation’s relationship with ecological and societal sustainability, and urges scholars to challenge organisations across entity classes to engage with sustainability at a planetary level. Originality/value The paper seeks to contribute to the literature in two ways. First, the author illustrates how the literature on storytelling can be used to analyse organisational narratives of sustainability, and how narrative forms and genres can be mobilised to support potential counter-narratives. Second, the author explores and ultimately challenges the proposition that organisations less often examined in the literature, such as social enterprises and co-operatives, can offer alternative narratives of the sustainability–business relationship.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No more fairytales: a quest for alternative narratives of sustainable business

O'Dochartaigh

2019

AAAJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As it has been noted above, the concept of "environmental awareness" is insufficiently developed; in foreign works it is considered mainly in the context of environmental education. As the result of analysing the academic literature (Jordan & Kristjánsson, 2017;Christensen, Åberg, Lidström, & Larsen, 2018), the following definition of environmental awareness can be proposed. Environmental awareness is a system of knowledge, values, beliefs, behavioral attitudes that contribute to the regulation of interaction with nature and improvement of quality of life.…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Typology Of Environmental Awareness In The Context Of Quality Of Life

Tsvetkova¹,

Иванова²,

Zhelnina³

2020

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Referring to the recognisability of terms, Christensen et al (2018) suggest to use simple vocabulary and metaphors that relate to everyday life while limiting sensational framing. Camporeale, De Nicola and Villani (2015) suggest to use sharable concepts and categories between multi-disciplinary fields.…”

Section: User Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Narratives approaches such stories, storytelling and storylines are emerging as important tools for environmental communication (Moezzi, Janda, & Rotmann, 2017). Narratives can be formally written and told by professionals (Christensen, Åberg, Lidström, & Larsen, 2018) or be less formally exchanged via short stories or in a more personal way (Kurtz, 2014). The storyline term often refers to the unifying theme of a narrative as opposite to the detailed content (Moezzi et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Users’ Perspectives About the Potential Usefulness of Online Storylines to Communicate River Research to a Multi-disciplinary Audience

Arevalo

Verbrugge

Haan

et al. 2018

Environmental Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Effective communication practices are needed to support adaptive, collaborative and integrative environmental management. We propose the use of online storylines to communicate scientific outcomes in a way that is captivating, easily understood and accessible. Based on 20 interviews, we identified important attributes for the storyline content, structure and user interaction. We designed a storyline example about stakeholders' perceptions of a river management intervention with consequences on the landscape. The intended audience consists of multidisciplinary researchers and practitioners that could consider or apply research solutions outside their field of expertise in river management. We introduced the example in a workshop with 14 participants from research and practice. Our findings highlight the importance of including narrative elements via images, interactive figures and timelines to illustrate the research context. Moreover, storylines should explicitly state benefits as well as the limitations of the river research and include a glossary to clarify specific terms.

show abstract

Environmental Themes in Popular Narratives

Cited by 15 publications

References 17 publications

No more fairytales: a quest for alternative narratives of sustainable business

No more fairytales: a quest for alternative narratives of sustainable business

Typology Of Environmental Awareness In The Context Of Quality Of Life

Users’ Perspectives About the Potential Usefulness of Online Storylines to Communicate River Research to a Multi-disciplinary Audience

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About