Course: Sustainability Communication | OnCourse UB

  • Introduction II

    • Introduction Part 2

    • This video introduces sustainability communication: the communication of sustainability, about sustainability, and for sustainability. It outlines a definition of sustainability and its dimensions and development. It also discusses sustainability in the media and the inherent challenges. Moreover, you are invited to get started and familiar with various literature.

    • The Sustainable Development Goals

      In 2015, the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda, setting 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for socially, economically and ecologically sustainable development. The agenda is a roadmap for the future that will enable people around the world to live in dignity while preserving the natural foundations of life in the long term. 

      The SDGs build on decades of work by countries and the UN:

      • Numerous conferences on sustainable development and climate protection have been held by the members of the United Nations. Always with the aim of promoting sustainable development.
      • Various previous worldwide programs were developed, such as the Agenda 21 or the Millennium Development Goals.

      The Brundtland-Report, published in 1987, forms the basis for recognizing the need for action and for raising awareness of the urgency of the issue of sustainable development. In fact, the term "sustainable development" was defined for the first time in this report. The report with the title "Our Common Future" was published by the World Commission on Environment und Development of the UN.

    • Do you want to get into some readings? Here are the most important bits of literature - so far... 


      • Portney, K.E. (2015). Sustainability. MIT. Cambridge, MA.
      • Robertson, M. (2019). Communicating Sustainability. Routledge, London & NY.
      • Weder, F, Karmasin, M., & Krainer, L. (2021): The Sustainability Communication Reader. A Reflective Compendium. Heidelberg, Berlin et al.: Springer VS.
      • Godemann, J., & Michelsen, G. (2011). Sustainability communication–an introduction. In Sustainability communication (pp. 3-11). Springer, Dordrecht.
      • Hoppe, I., & Wolling, J. (2017). Nachhaltigkeitskommunikation. In Forschungsfeld Wissenschaftskommunikation (pp. 339-354). Springer VS, Wiesbaden.
      • Newig, J., Schulz, D., Fischer, D., Hetze, K., Laws, N., Lüdecke, G., & Rieckmann, M. (2013). Communication regarding sustainability: Conceptual perspectives and exploration of societal subsystems. Sustainability, 5(7), 2976-2990.

    • If you want to get inter-active: check this link for sharing your individual experiences:


    • Optional Task

    • Assignment icon
      Quick question (Optinal) Assignment
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