The Strategic Role of Communication for Sustainability & Innovation
Posted on June 25, 2015 by Dr Paola Fiore, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.
What do "communication" and "sustainability" mean linked together? What do we understand by "communication"? What does "sustainability" imply for us?
People have different understandings of “communication” and “sustainability”. It depends on numerous linguistic and cultural characteristics in various countries in Europe and around the world, which can go far sometimes from the original definition of Sustainable Development set in 1987 by the UN Brundtland Commission as the “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
Agreeing that the process of communication is about the exchange of information between two or more individuals, we also need to differentiate between other specific communication practices such as “interpersonal communication” (happening directly or indirectly between two or more people), “mass communication” (which is consumed by many readers or viewers) and “group communication” (occurring within organized social groups, associations or parties).
As the main aim of “communication” is understanding, we can argue that a key function of communication is finding common solutions for universal problems.
If we consider “communication” in relation to “sustainability”, we can say that it refers to an understanding of the concept and content of sustainable development, as well as the exchange of related information needed to reach sustainable development. Within such a framework, “communication” is a reciprocal process of sending and receiving information, which has to be made accessible and reach the addressees.
Therefore, it is easy to understand why the “communication content” has to be tailored to the exact requirements of the desired target groups that we want to reach with our message. Having said that, the need for a “communication on sustainability” truly exists when relevant information on sustainable development issues is communicated and has some kind of effect on individuals, groups of people, communities, and society as a whole.
Unfortunately, the matter of “communicating on sustainability” still plays a minor role, in many countries of the world, and the consciousness of the necessity of a more responsible and sustainable development is anchored in a very small percentage of the global population.
For this reason, it is fundamental that private and public schools and universities are able to prepare professionals to build, manage, and verify sustainability communication plans, both from a strategic and creative point of view, in order to implement a communication campaign related to the key challenges of sustainability.
Higher education institutions should offer courses about coaching and training to help develop proper strategies and tools, as well as consider the possible scenarios, and the sustainability knowledge and strategic thinking required to effectively create and promote authentic and ethical messages and communication initiatives towards a more sustainable development.
Coaching, teaching, and learning for a more sustainable future should include the study of corporate, social, environmental and institutional communications, as well as local and global cultures and environmental sciences and technology, as a fundamental stimulus for continuous research, use and experiment of new languages and means of communication for sustainability.
