“With these yearly conferences we aim to create a platform to meet and learn from each other to move forward in reframing communication for sustainability. By co-creating the programme together with the participants we were able to explore environmental communication in critical, innovative and creative ways”, says main organisers Eva Friman and Maria Nyström.  

This year’s Mistra Environmental Communication conference invited participants to meet around the topic of politics of disagreement. As one of the conference participants said – “the topic is very timely”, when international political tensions are challenging and changing established norms and ways of communicating. Polarisation, disinformation, and escalating disagreements in one forum are spilling over to other areas, while business as usual seems to continue elsewhere. All in all, we seem to find ourselves in the middle of a broader shift when sustainability is concerned. The conference dealt with howresearchers and other actors in environmental communication and sustainability, can analyse and make sense of current developments, and offer our insights.  

The conference programme presented twelwe sessions with different perspectives on the topic, such as game-based approaches to planning and dialogue, workshops on navigating conflict through Aikido, and academic paper presentation sessions on political discourse.  

“Conflict isn’t something to win or settle – it’s an opportunity to create something constructive together”, Quote from the leaders of the session: Aikido as a Practice for Transformative Disagreement in Environmental Communication

The topic was also explored in a keynote by Associate Professor Leah Sprain. In her talk “A Cautionary Tale of Attempting to Cure Politics without Disagreement” she emphasised the importance of embracing the messiness of disagreement, especially in a time marked by democratic and environmental crises. Read Leah’s and colleagues’ reflection about the day here.  

“The topic was very timely and I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss it from various angles. I always find the EC community inspiring and fun to meet!”, said one participant in the conference evaluation.  

Read more reflections from the conference here.  

Stay involved in the Mistra Environmental Communication research network! Welcome to the Environmental Communication Day (Miljökommunikationsdagen) on October 8 in Lund. Register and read more here (in Swedish). Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter to keep informed about upcoming events.