Communicating sustainability

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how institutions of higher education (IHEs) in the USA communicate sustainability through their websites. Specifically, the authors compare how and to what extent sustainability is communicated through an institution-wide sustainability website versus operational and academic department websites. Design/methodology/approach -This paper describes the results of a content analysis of over 700 websites at IHEs in the USA which were selected in a stratified random sample. Each website was coded with responses entered into a data matrix. The data in the matrix were then evaluated and compared for important factors related to communicating about campus sustainability. Findings -Although there has been an increase in the number of commitments to sustainability by IHEs, at the time of this content analysis the commitment was not reflected on the websites of the IHEs sampled. Given the common use of websites at IHEs in the USA to communicate to large groups, colleges and universities should ensure that their websites reflect actual practice. Practical implications -The findings from this study may encourage IHEs in the USA to better communicate their practice related to sustainability. The implementation of the sustainability communication component in AASHE STARS may also play an important role in increased and better communication about campus sustainability. Originality/value -This study describes the first large-scale content analysis of university websites evaluating sustainability characteristics. This paper gives a starting point and recommendations for IHEs who wish to enhance communication about sustainability through their websites.

Communication on Sustainability in Spanish Universities: Analysis of Websites, Scientific Papers and Impact in Social Media

“…As noted above, recent research has analysed university websites in several countries [35][36][37]63]. The present study aimed to supplement earlier work by furnishing information on 50 Spanish universities' websites on the grounds of 15 indicators grouped under three subject headings.…”

“…The internet has become an important tool for informing about sustainability matters, especially where large audiences are targeted [35]. Corporate websites are among the communication channels most commonly used by the world's largest companies for such disclosure [57][58][59].…”

“…Website communication has now become the primary strategy deployed by organisations to build an institutional reputation and define their brand image [60], an observation extensive to communication on sustainability. Analogously, institutional websites are being used by higher education institutions (HEIs) to share information and engage the campus community in sustainability efforts [35][36][37]44,[61][62][63]. Websites can fuel interaction, networking and communication among students, staff, stakeholders and the community [64].…”

“…Although such sites do not always accurately mirror universities' actual sustainability performance, they are a good and speedy source of reliable information on the sustainability indicators that serve for inter-university comparisons. Along these lines Dade and Hassenzahl [35] analysed the websites of 700 HEIs in the United States, whilst Son-Turan and Lambrechts [36] used a similar method to analyse eight public and private universities in Turkey. More recently, Amey et al [37] reviewed 95 Canadian universities' use of their websites to inform about sustainability matters.…”

Sustainability as Cognitive “Friction”: A Narrative Approach to Understand the Moral Dissonance of Sustainability and Harmonization Strategies

“…The state of art in sustainability communication is, that there are only a few bits of literature offering an overview in this area (Brackin et al, 2011;Godemann and Michelsen, 2011;Dade and Hassenzahl, 2013;Allen, 2016). They show, that sustainability studies and other scientific engagement with the notion of sustainable development has an interdisciplinary, as well as transdisciplinary character (Weder et al, 2019b).…”