In Iowa, the state with the largest percent of its land used for agriculture (90 percent) in the nation, compromised water quality is a chief concern among experts. The primary problem is related to the negative environmental impacts caused by nutrient runoff from fields. Although several innovative land-management practices have demonstrated nutrient reduction potential and other soil health related benefits, the practices are not widely utilized on Iowa farm fields. Thus, water quality is at the center of a contentious debate in the state and many farmers are receiving contradictory advice depending on the source of the information. Media and interpersonal communication channels play a primary role in disseminating environmental risk information to the public and farmers (Katz & Lazarfeld, 1955; Rogers, 2010). However, little is known about the way contradictory risk information may shape farmer’s conceptualizations of the water problems in Iowa. Correspondingly, little is known regarding the individuals who are most influential to farmer’s behaviors related to these water issues. To address the potential communication process problems resulting from the clashing ideologies related to the environment and agriculture, this study seeks to investigate the flow of information and networks of influence within the agricultural community in Eastern Iowa. Three studies are conducted to address media, interpersonal, and risk communication components at play in this context. Because mass media are a key source of risk information for the public (McCallum, Hammond, & Covello, 1991; Morton & Duck, 2001; Ho et al., 2013) the first study consists of a thematic textual analysis of online news articles about Iowa’s water quality. A total of 305 articles, published by the Des Moines Register (DMR), Iowa Farmer Today (IFT), and the Farm Bureau Spokesman (FBS), are examined. Themes related to key narratives about Iowa’s water quality problems and the way risks and uncertainty are conveyed in the articles is also investigated. A combination of qualitative and quantitative data was collected to document the types of organizations and key spokespeople used as informational sources in the articles. Findings demonstrate that some messages simultaneously place the blame for causing and the responsibility for solving the problem on the farmers; while others suggest that nutrient excesses are not anthropogenic, are natural, expected, weather dependent, and uncontrollable. Based on the media sources themselves, and the organizations and individuals cited in the articles, this distinction reflects a preeminent pro-agriculture versus pro-environment ideological divide in Iowa. The second study examines farmers’ perspectives on the nutrient issues in Iowa, including their risk perceptions, and preferred sources of information on water quality, both mediated and interpersonal. The study utilizes intercept interviews conducted over a two-month period between July and September 2016 in Middle and Easter Iowa. Analysis of risk perceptions, uncertainty levels, and current mitigation practices revealed a pattern of lower environmental risk perceptions associated with adoption of fewer nutrient reducing practices, and greater uncertainty regarding current nutrient levels. The third and final study built upon data from the previous study and involved in-depth interviews with the individuals who were identified as influential to farmer’s water related land management practices. Definitions of influencers from the level of the individual (i.e., self-identification as an influential), community (i.e., identification of an influential by other farmers), and media narratives (i.e., identification of an influential in an article or media source), in addition to definitions of influentials from previous literature were compared. Findings revealed that influence is highly related to employment position and opportunity to communicate with multiple, various farmers. Personal motivation for engaging in persuasive communication efforts with farmers was revealed as an important factor which may help strengthen theoretical conceptualizations of influential individuals within social networks. This project is a study of environmental communication products, processes, and effects and sought to disentangle the relationships between the risk representation and perception, and influence within agricultural network information flow—an area of research currently lacking. Results help extend scholarship in these areas and illuminate the differing conceptualizations of these variables by mainstream media, agricultural industry media, influential individuals, and agricultural producers themselves. This improved understanding paves the way for subsequent research and intervention efforts to communicate more productively with farmers. The effects of such efforts could help redirect negativity and blame away from farmers, and towards a more productive and holistic approach to solving Iowa’s water quality problems.

This thesis addressed the question, "How should journalists cover the environment, according to the conversation between the scholarship on environmental journalism and the handbooks on environmental journalism?" Do the handbooks, written for practicing journalists, agree with the academic scholarship on environmental journalism? The conversation between the literature and handbooks is important to examine, as the handbooks are tools journalists may use when reporting on the environment. The handbooks could influence a journalist, who influences the public, who make decisions in a democracy. As well, examining the conversation between the literature and the handbooks reveals whether or not the academy and the practice agree on how to respond to the criticisms and challenges of environmental journalism. Do they offer the same tips for improvement? First, an extensive literature review on environmental journalism revealed the criticisms, challenges, and tips to improve. Second, a qualitative document analysis examined handbooks published for journalists covering the environment to capture definitions, meanings, and similarities and differences among them. Third, the results of the literature review and the results of the document analysis were compared to examine if the handbooks respond, emulate, or differ from the literature content. Findings include five qualitative document analyses of the handbooks, and a comparative essay of the handbooks to the scholarly literature. These findings were based on the researcher's interpretive analysis. The conversation between the literature and handbooks is a healthy one. As the literature presents challenges and criticisms, the handbooks suggest solutions. Most importantly, as the literature presents tips and techniques for improvement, the handbooks agree with the ways to improve. Overall, the scholarship on environmental journalism and the handbooks on environmental journalism are "on the same page." Both support understanding audience needs, obtaining a solid understanding of a topic before reporting, addressing environmental issues thoroughly, translating the science, providing the history of a topic, addressing risk, using diverse sources, maintaining long-term coverage, disseminating objective information, and more training for journalists.

In an attempt to lend legitimacy to the troubled wolf project and to root policies in wolf-affected counties, decision-making was decentralized to stakeholder-based county wildlife management delegations in Sweden in 2009. Drawing from Habermas’ critical theory, this paper suggests that a phenomenon of instrumental rationality is currently circumscribing free and open deliberation in these delegations. Consequently, stakeholders remain fixed in their predetermined positions as wolf-skeptic hunters or pro-wolf conservationists, unable to be swayed by the deliberative process. The aim of this paper is to identify the barriers to deliberation that account for the perseverance of this strategic stakeholder rationality. Three county wildlife delegations are investigated as examples of this. The paper identifies the following four barriers, which are traced to instrumentality: strong sense of accountability, overly purposive atmosphere, overemphasis on decision as final outcome and perceived inability on the part of the delegates to influence decision-making, which is found by and large to still be ruled by scientists. Through these findings, it suggests that such barriers cause delegates to censor their own discursive attempts and to act with strategic rather than with communicative rationality toward the decision-making process. Finally, the paper concludes that the effect of instrumentality in these delegations is currently leading to (1) a crisis of legitimacy for the wolf project, as according to Habermas’ theory and (2) reduced individual freedom under the pursuit of sustainable development, as freedom has been confined to the dimension of the protection and promotion of private interests.

Na emergência da revolução comunicacional instaurada pelas mídias digitais e diante dos desafios postos pela crise ambiental e busca por padrões de desenvolvimento mais sustentáveis, o trabalho desenvolvido teve o objetivo de pesquisar experiências de jornalismo ambiental praticado em espaços digitais voltados (blogs ambientais). Por estar ligado ao subprojeto Novas tecnologias da comunicação e educação ambiental na bacia do rio Corumbataí, vinculado ao Projeto Temático do Programa Biota da Fapesp Mudanças socioambientais no Estado de São Paulo e perspectiva para conservação, este trabalho considerou a bacia do rio Corumbataí como ponto de partida para o desenvolvimento do estudo de forma a criar alternativas para execução da educação ambiental na região. O trabalho desenvolve análises sobre a forma e conteúdo de postagens de nove blogs selecionados e de um blog produzido em âmbito universitário, o educorumbataí. As análises com relação à estrutura dos blogs e postagens, ou seja, de natureza técnica e operacional, foram desenvolvidas por meio de análises webmétricas e as voltadas ao conteúdo, foram realizadas com base no referencial teórico da educação ambiental e diretrizes político-pedagógicas do Programa de Educomunicação Socioambiental do Ministério de Meio Ambiente (2005). As análises webmétricas e de conteúdo dos blogs possibilitaram, num primeiro momento, compreender as manifestações culturais populares e uma nova ética nas relações homem-ambiente e homem-sociedade pautadas e construídas em processos coletivos de transformação social. As temáticas ambientais nesses espaços digitais têm ganhado conotações mais holísticas, saindo da dicotomia catástrofe e impacto ambientais. O uso do blog possibilitou também um fazer educativo e participativo para aqueles que pretendem atuar junto a sujeitos que vivem em elevado estado de vulnerabilidade socioambiental, em função da experiência vivenciada pelos autores e leitores nas construções das postagens abordadas e nas possibilidades educomunicativas de se trabalhar o ambiente na rede. A teorização é feita considerando as correntes da educação ambiental de Sauvé (2005), os princípios de educação ambiental transformadora de Loureiro (2004), os aspectos da complexidade de Morin (1985), inseridas nesses processos, e os conceitos estruturantes acerca de blog, cibercultura, comunicação e jornalismo ambiental. / In the emergency communication revolution brought by digital media and facing the challenges posed by the environmental crisis and search for more sustainable patterns of development, the work aimed to investigate experiences of environmental journalism practiced in digital spaces facing (environmental blogs). By being connected to the subproject \"New communication technologies and environmental education in the river basin Corumbatai\", linked to the Thematic Project of FAPESP \"socio-environmental changes in the state of Sao Paulo and prospects for conservation\" this work considered the basin Corumbatai as a starting point for developing the study to develop alternatives for the implementation of environmental education in the region. The paper develops the analysis of form and content of posts of nine selected blogs and a blog produced in the university, the educorumbatai. The analyzes regarding the structure of blogs and posts, ie, technical and operational, were developed through analysis and webmetrics oriented content, were based on the theoretical framework of environmental education and guidance of the politicalpedagogical Educommunication Environmental Program of the Ministry of Environment (2005). Analyses webmetrics and content of blogs allowed at first to understand the popular cultural events and a new ethics in human-environment relationships and man-ruled society and constructed in collective processes of social transformation. The environmental issues in these digital spaces have gained more holistic connotations, leaving the dichotomy disaster and environmental impact. The use of the blog also allowed to make an educational and participatory for those who intend to work together with individuals who live in a high state of socioenvironmental vulnerability in light of the experience lived by the authors and readers in the construction of posts and discussed the possibilities of working the educomunicative environment in the network. The theory is made considering the current environmental education Sauvé (2005), the principles of environmental education transforming Loureiro (2004), aspects of the complexity of Morin (1985), embedded in these processes, and structural concepts about blog cyberculture, communication and environmental journalism.

In the spring of 2016, a wildfire consumed the boreal forest that encircles the municipality of Fort McMurray, Alberta. Notwithstanding the severity of the blaze, known as “The Beast,” attention turned to the community because of its link to Canada’s largest industrial project – the Athabasca tar/oil sands in northern Alberta. A moment of controversy erupted in May 2016 when commentary pinned the cause of the wildfire on climate change, a charge that was quickly judged insensitive. With this context in mind, Fort McMurray holds scholarly value in the investigation of discourse related to today’s dominant form of energy – fossil fuels. Using a dataset of opinion discourse (N=40) sourced from four Canadian newspapers (The Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Calgary Herald, and the Edmonton Journal), this thesis presents a critical discourse analysis of how commentators and editorial boards articulated the relationship between the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire and concerns about the tar/oil sands contribution to climate change. The opinion pages are free from the journalistic pressure of objectivity and thus offer a place for argumentative narratives to reside. As such, my analysis focuses on the use of storylines in the dataset to give meaning to the wildfire and the tar/oil sands industry. The analysis reveals that the storylines cast environmentalist groups as ideologically motivated radicals while the oil industry was positioned as Alberta’s economic champion, thereby fusing the petro-state with the common good.

This research has investigated how environmental communication is reaching out in urban Kenya and what knowledge and attitude exists. Key aim was finding what perception stakeholders had on effective ways to communicate to reach goals of a sustainable development. Focus laid on solid and liquid waste, because of great improvements needed in infrastructure and behavior. In addition, comparison was made to current sustainability goals. Qualitative interviews with semi structured questions were conducted in Kitengela (Kajiado county) and Machakos Town (Machakos county), with six different target groups each and a total of 48 respondents. General knowledge of possibilities to reuse and recycle solid waste was quite high, but sewage is not very common to refer to as a resource. The sensitization today on the issues was mainly through schools and media. A perception was that people don’t care or know, but there are conversations about the menace of litter and sometimes dirty water. Nearly 75 % said service of clean water and environment would be worth almost any price. Many expressed frustrations on the lack of management and implications that follow when wanting to act well or create awareness, but no system to support a sustainable behavior. Suggestions of communicative methods had emphasis on reaching all age groups where people gather, like schools and churches/mosques. The approach should be positive with concrete feedback on profits of sustainable living, while presenting a vivid vision for everyone to work towards.

In Sweden, the environmental quality goal 13 for A Varied Agricultural Landscape, that combines environment, food production and rurality and aims at keeping the agricultural landscape open, was considered as not achieved in 2016. One of the reasons for this non-achievementis the agricultural intensification and specialisation and in turn the decrease in number of pastures during the 20th century, threating thus habitats, diversity and values resulting from a continuous, traditional use of the land commonly called ‘biological heritage’. This study focuses on the traditional and sustainable animal husbandry using pastures, contributing to both the preservation of biological heritage and the production of high-quality food. It relies upon the assumption that the link between artisan food production and biological heritage is not well understood nor highlighted by the different actors taking part into the process of producing, selling, buying and consuming artisan food products in the rural areas of mid-northern Scandinavia, and therefore the study attempts to contribute with knowledge about how biological heritage is understood, described and communicated within this context. For such purposes the study takes a phenomenographic approach with biological heritage, pastures and artisan food products as the conceptions to be tested, and consists of semi-structured interviews of three agencies and surveys of artisan food producers and consumers. It adopts an environmental communication theoretical framework where a model is suggested for investigating actors’ learning process of biological heritage, from agencies to producers to consumers. The results reveal three phenomenographic categories showing that agencies and producers understand biological heritage in terms of (1) cared habitat and cared species, (2) historical and cultural know-how and (3) animals and their tasteful diet, and it is showed that the necessity of a continuous, traditional human use was less put forward than the cultural dimension of biological heritage. Also producers communicate about biological heritage to consumers through both their products and their actions. Furthermore the results show that consumers’ understandings of biological heritage are similar to the agencies’ and producers’ phenomenographic categories and that they could make a link between artisan food production and biological heritage, but only to some extent. Finally, in order to create an economic value for such products, a sense of place for pastures is argued to be a basis for people’s willingness to take care of and safeguard pastures. This study can be the starting point for further research, especially for investigating how producers actually interact with consumers about biological heritage when selling their products.

Given the severe environmental problems we are facing, it is crucial to communicate environmental knowledge to society in order to facilitate a trajectory towards sustainability. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how departments at Swedish universities, whose research revolves around environmental topics, communicate their research. At four departments at two universities, I examine based on semi-structured interviews (I) with whom and in what ways these departments communicate their research, (II) what the motivations are to do so, and (III) if there are challenges in communicating environmental science. For examining the departments’ communication strategies, I apply the theory of a multi-model framework of expert-public interaction. This multi-model framework, however, proved to be too simplistic for the complexity of reality, as the models underlying this framework are too intertwined, and not competing descriptions of reality. They rather describe specific aspects of communication practices.  The results show that even though there are two-way communication practices with both the government, specific stakeholders, and the general public, the mere dissemination of environmental knowledge seems to be the default practice of science communication at the examined departments - especially concerning the general public. The motivation to communicate environmental knowledge is of intrinsic nature, to give something back to society and to increase awareness about sustainability practices. Discovered challenges in science communication include a general lack of time to effectively communicate research results, as well as deficient education in science communication for researchers.  For transforming into sustainable societies communication strategies need to be improved.

This thesis investigates how environmental meaning is constructed within families, considered as units of socialisation, and what role family members play in it. Family socialisation is a dynamic moment in which family members interact and generate meanings, values, beliefs and habits. Drawing on theories of the social construction of reality, symbolisation and symbolic interactionism, the thesis examines sustainable symbols and shared beliefs among parents and young adult children, considered relevant both for understanding how the family social group feels towards the environment and for understanding what motivations can be found behind the family's environmental habits. By conducting semi-structured interviews with parents and young adult children, recurring patterns of sustainable meanings and symbols were identified. The results show that the family context is regarded as the first site of environmental awareness and education, where sustainability discourses take the form of open conversations focused on individual behaviour and family values. In these conversation, parents and young adult children cover specific roles that dynamically contribute to the creation of environmental meanings. The thesis is considered relevant in that it creates a solid understanding of both the form that environmental discourse takes within families and the intrinsic motivations that justify this form, so that more conscious environmental communication and education can be developed.

Trots att den svenska marknaden för transport av el utgörs av ett naturligt monopol är kundnöjdhet ändå av betydelse för att, genom ett gott samarbete mellan organisation och kunder, upprätthålla ett gott varumärke och facilitera hållbar utveckling. Elnätsföretag har högre kundkrav på extern kommunikation än andra sektorer vilket gör att de också behöver leverera mer kvalitativ extern kommunikation för att upprätthålla kundnöjdhet. Trots flera internationella standarder för miljökommunikation är det få som förser verksamheten med konkreta verktyg för lyckad extern miljökommunikation. Syftet med detta arbete är att identifiera vilken typ av information, kopplat till hållbarhetsfrågor, som elnätskunder tycker är relevant och intressant samt huruvida detta skiljer sig mellan målgrupper. Detta görs genom en enkätundersökning som är utformad för att identifiera vilken typ av hållbarhetsbudskap som har effekt på kundernas inställning till, och förtroende för, sitt elnätsbolag. Resultatet tyder på att olika innehåll i miljökommunikation genererar olika effekt på nöjdhet och förtroende. Det visar också att hållbarhetsbudskap som kunderna föredrar inte nödvändigtvis är de budskap som ger störst effekt på förtroende och kundnöjdhet. Resultatet kan ligga till grund för vidare studier i riktad extern kommunikation med syfte att motivera och understödja hållbar utveckling på elnätsbranschen. / Even though the Swedish market for the transport of electricity constitutes a natural monopoly, customer satisfaction is nevertheless important to, through good cooperation between the organization and customers, maintain a good brand and facilitate sustainable development. Electricity network companies have higher customer requirements for external communication than other sectors, which means that they also need to deliver more qualitative external communication to maintain customer satisfaction. Despite several international standards for environmental communication, few provide the business with concrete tools for successful external environmental communication. The purpose of this work is to identify what kind of information, linked to sustainability issues, that electricity grid customers find relevant and interesting, and whether this differs between target groups. This is done through a survey designed to identify the type of sustainability message that has effect on customers' attitudes towards, and confidence in, their electricity grid company. The results suggest that different content in environmental communication generates different effects on satisfaction and trust. It also shows that sustainability messages that customers prefer are not necessarily the messages that have the greatest effect on trust and customer satisfaction. The result can form the basis for further studies in targeted external communication with the aim of motivating and facilitating sustainable development in the electricity grid industry.