This thesis investigates how hotels communicate their sustainability efforts to their customers on their websites. As sustainability is becoming more known and more expected, businesses feel more pressure to have sustainable initiatives. However, sustainability has no international standards, meaning that businesses can have quite different ideas of what sustainability entails. Therefore, this study looks into different sustainable initiatives that hotels have. The thesis uses discourse analysis to compare what sustainability issues are addressed and how they are presented on the websites. This is done by comparing six theoretical perspectives: sustainability, marketing, storytelling, implementation, and certification. The study was conducted by investigating the websites of 75 hotels in four different cities across the world: Helsinki, Berlin, Los Angeles, and Wellington. In addition, eight international hotel chains were investigated. The hotels are first compared within countries and, afterwards, the countries are compared with each other. The study finds that the most common sustainable initiatives in hotels are environmental changes within the hotels. Furthermore, it is found that there is a lot of variation between how hotels present their sustainability initiatives. While some hotels present their initiatives clearly, some others only vaguely mention them or hide them away. While many hotels have certification, they do not show the certificates clearly. Furthermore, none of the international chains have certification. The thesis concludes in suggesting a possible future study that would examine how the sustainable initiatives on the websites differ from reality.

The fast fashion industry has a large negative impact on the environment and its workers. Consumers purchasing fast fashion are reinforcing the dominant social paradigm, the assumption that humans are superior and the Earth’s resources unlimited. Even though customers are reconsidering their fashion consumer behavior, they often fall back to making unsustainable choices. Research has shown that communication strengthens ethical consumption and supports reducing the attitude-behavior gap. This study proposes that sustainable communication encourages fashion customers to reason with themselves in a way their behavior evolves to be more sustainable. The aim is to investigate customers’ reception and interaction with sustainable communication using the example of the ethical fashion brand Nudie Jeans. Based on the theories of the attitude-behavior gap and sustainable communication, semi-structured in-depth interviews with Nudie Jeans customers were conducted. The analysis of the interview responses demonstrates the initial presence of an attitude-behavior gap and low awareness of sustainable communication among customers. The research indicates that after customers have developed an awareness of sustainable concerns in the fashion industry, a fashion brand can succeed in encouraging customers to adjust predominant consumption patterns towards more ethical ones. On this basis, it is recommended that ethical fashion brands continuously use transparent sustainable communication to educate consumers about the environmental and social maladministration in the fashion industry.

Climate alliances like the Climate Council Jönköping have a big impact on combating environmental issues on a local level. Research shows that communication plays a crucial role in such cross-sector partnerships to enhance the collaboration between its members. This thesis wants to explore the impact of climate alliances on their members’ sustainable communication and CSR initiatives, using the example of the Climate Council Jönköping. Based on different theories, namely Communication Constitutes Organization Theorizing, the Model of CSR Implementation, and the Value Belief Norm Theory of Environmentalism, the aim was to contribute knowledge to the research fields of sustainable communication, CSR, and collaboration. To explore the existing research gap, twelve semi-structured interviews with experts from different member organizations of the Climate Council were conducted. By applying qualitative content analysis, it became visible that the Climate Council’s impact on communication and CSR efforts differs among the members. On the one hand, it can be difficult to include the campaigns of the council into one’s own communication. On the other hand, the membership raises awareness about sustainability and environmental topics and enables collaboration and knowledge exchange through cross-sector partnerships. Based on the findings, it can be recommended to the Climate Council to provide more communication material for the members for easy integration. Additionally, more events can increase the visibility of the council and raise awareness for local cross-sector collaborations to tackle environmental problems, enable new networking options, and establish innovative partnerships.

Hållbar utveckling har på senare år blivit allt mer omtalat och ett ämne som ses som en lösning på den rådande klimatkris som världen står inför. För att ämnet ska uppmärksammas i samhället krävs det att organisationer och beslutsfattare kommunicerar budskapet, dock saknas det tydliga definitioner för hur kommunikationen ska konstrueras. Syftet med denna studie är att, ur ett explorativt synsätt, undersöka vilka visuella och retoriska element som används av den ideella organisationen Svenska Turistföreningen för att konstruera hållbarhet samt hur elementen samspelar med varandra i konstruktionen. Samtidigt önskar studien bidra med ytterligare kunskap om relationen mellan ideella organisationer, hållbarhet, kommunikation och sociala medier.Studiens empiriska material består av fem Instagram-inlägg som analyseras genom en semiotisk bildanalys och en retorisk textanalys. Analysresultatet visade på att de objekt som var synliga i bilderna kontextualiserade bilden och förankrade budskapet. Resultatet visade också att appellformerna ethos och logos var delaktiga i den textuella kommunikationen medan pathos inte återfanns. Samspelet i konstruktionen av hållbarhet synliggjordes mellan de konnotationsbärande objekt som återfanns i bilden och appellformen ethos som återfanns i texten. / Sustainable development has in recent years increased and is a topic that is seen as a solution to the current climate crisis the world is facing. In order for the subject to be noticed in society, it is required that organizations communicate the message of the climate crisis. However, there are no clear definitions for how the communication should be constructed. The purpose of this study is to, from an exploratory point of view, examine the visual and rhetorical elements that are used by the Swedish non-profit organization Swedish Tourist Association to construct sustainability in communication and how the elements interact with each other in the construction. At the same time, the study contributes with further knowledge about the relationship between non-profit organizations, sustainability, communication and social media. The empirical material of the study consists of five Instagram posts that are analyzed through a semiotic image analysis and a rhetorical text analysis. The result showed that the objects that was visible in the images contextualized the image and anchored the message. The results also showed that the rhetoric elements ethos and logos were involved in the textual communication while pathos could not be found. The interplay in the construction of sustainability was visible between the connotation-bearing objects that was found in the images and rhetoric element ethos that was found in the text.

The textile industry is an unsustainable industry that contributes to many environmental and social challenges. As a promising approach to its transformation, this thesis explores the con-cept of anti consumption. It investigates how non governmental Organizations (NGOs) com-municate the concept in the context of fashion on Instagram. The study aims to explore the key themes used and seeks to understand how organizations critique the capitalist system and to whom responsibility for its implementation within the communication is attributed . A total of 45 Instagram posts from the organizations Fashion Revolution and Remake were examined in a thematic analysis.The NGOs expose exploitative power dynamics and colonial structures and reveal manipulation as a tool of capitalism. In contrast, the value of clothing is redefined and happiness in individuality is examined. While brands are held accountable in the communication, the emphasis is on individual responsibility.

The purpose of this study is to investigate preschool teachers' communication and treatment with children in preschool. With questions about how pre-school teachers experience the communication and what meaning they consider communication in the day-to-day activities. Sociocultural theory is used to study the communicative activities and from a phenomenological perspective, the phenomenon is described. The hermeneutic perspective conveys the experiences of the phenomenon. The methods used for the study were through qualitative interviews with preschool teachers, which consisted of structured questions and with open follow-up questions. Qualitative interview ideas were chosen when questions were made for more open answers and where the experiences form the basis of the phenomenon of communication. The result showed several different themes that formed the basis for sustainable communication in preschool. The conclusion or the very essence of the phenomenon of communication was based on the interpretative phenomenological analysis; Possibility of sustainable communication, where prototypes like time, child vision and, among other things, cooperation showed the necessity for making sustainable communication with the children in preschool and especially for children in need of special support. / Syftet med denna studie handlar om att undersöka förskollärares kommunikation och bemötande med barn i förskolan. Med frågeställningar om hur förskollärare upplever kommunikationen och vilken betydelse de anser kommunikationen har i den dagliga verksamheten. Genom sociokulturell teori studeras de kommunikativa aktiviteterna och utifrån ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv beskrivs fenomenet. Det hermeneutiska perspektivet förmedlar upplevelserna i fenomenet. Metoden för studien skedde genom kvalitativa intervjuer med förskollärare som bestod av strukturerade frågor och med öppna följdfrågor. Kvalitativ intervjuguide valdes då frågorna är gjorda för mer öppna svar och där upplevelserna utgör grunden för fenomenet kommunikation. Resultatet visade på flera olika teman som utgjorde grunden för en hållbar kommunikation i förskolan. Slutsatsen eller själva essensen av fenomenet kommunikation blev utifrån analysen interpretativ fenomenologisk analys; Möjliggörande av hållbar kommunikation, där prototeman som tid, barnsyn och bland annat samarbete visade på det nödvändiga för att möjliggöra en hållbar kommunikation med barnen i förskolan och speciellt utifrån barn i behov av särskilt stöd.

Purpose – Recent studies demonstrate the serious influence of social media on scholarly communication. However, scientists from academia seem to be rather carful in trying new technologies (Kaiser, Köhler, Weith 2016), with most preferring private channels first (Pscheida et al., 2013). Nevertheless, science and innovation are a public issue of wide interest. Communication is a fundamental prerequisite for transfer of information and creation of knowledge, but not sufficient to sustainably implement knowledge in society (Johnson & Chang 2000). Any innovative development from R&D needs to be published and distributed by means of communication and learning. Only if processes of learning are added relevant knowledge can be converted into actions and become effective (Larsen-Freeman 2013). Design/methodology/approach – New media technologies open up a variety of technological tools and innovative individual and organizational collaboration patterns. Does science consider such opportunities? What kind of data can be used to investigate the ICT / social media usage from a functional perspective? The authors decided to build their argumentation on two cases studies, describing the structural design of research networks, which are indeed quite similar. Therefore, the funding measure „Sustainable Land Management” as well as the research network „eScience Saxony” were considered. Both combine a series of smaller R&D projects within the context of a wider network. The data shows, however, differences in structure and scope (some projects follow a transdisciplinary approach while others do not) as well as further similarities in relation to the usage of social media. Originality/value – As a research question it is examined how actors of network projects design processes of transfer and implementation of knowledge in their project networks. For the empirical investigation, qualitative data of the two cases is obtained and evaluated systematically. The findings emphasize (1) the equality of knowledge communication and organization of joint learning experiences and, moreover, (2) similar conceptual understanding of transfer across projects. Moreover, they (3) consider similar media scenarios as appropriate. Marginally, also (4) processes of communication and learning receive attention – which are used as the operationalization of transfer and implementation in the studied networks. Practical implications – The aim of the research presented is to investigate the various effects of the research networks as a specific form of organizational intervention (Härtel et al, 2015). The authors thereby give attention to the transfer and implementation strategies from the perspective of knowledge communication, in respect of knowledge management, and use theoretical approaches from different disciplines including developmental and social sciences (Stützer et al., 2013) as well as education and organizational studies to elaborate the meaning of research and innovation networks.

This case study examines how luxury fashion brands communicate their sustainability practices on the brands' sustainability page on the company's website and whether selected luxury fashion brands are greenwashing and bluewashing. The luxury brands selected for this study are Stella McCartney and Gucci, on the grounds that both brands have different types of businesses and approaches. To understand the context, this study uses the triple bottom line sustainability concept by Elkinton (1998), sustainable luxury fashion brands (Godart & Seong ,2017; Wiedmann et al., 2009; Joey et al.,2012; and Franco et al. 2019), greenwashing concept by Delmas & Burbano (2011) and bluewashing concept (Sailer et al., 2022). To conduct the analysis, this study uses textual, eco-lexicon categorization developed by Thomas (2008) and the categorization from Milanesi et al. (2022) is adapted for visual analysis and the sins of greenwashing by Terra Choice (2010) to see the potential of greenwashing. The results shows that Stella McCartney and Gucci sustainable communication serves as their marketing strategy which encourage purchase and therefore it is problematic. Both brands use vague, ambiguous words, terms, and certifications and lack of transparency. While the images are not yet seen as a potential tool to communicate sustainability initiatives. Even though the brands are known as sustainable fashion brands, the result demonstrates brands show irrelevancies and paradoxes between what the brands communicate and their actual practices ; therefore show potential greenwashing and bluewashing.