The Observatory

The Environmental Communication Observatory

The observatory is a platform to examine the wider implications of society’s digital transformation concerning control over knowledge, power and visibility in sustainability transformations. The observatory is a partnership between Mistra Environmental Communication, the Swedish Library Association, the Wikimedia Foundation Sweden, and the Search Studies Research Group at Hamburg University of Applied Science.
Contact person

Jutta Haider

  • Leader of the focus area Information
  • Swedish School of Library and Information Science (SSLIS), University of Borås
  • Email
Concerned with the social study of information, Jutta Haider researches the algorithmic shaping and datafication of everyday life, and media and information literacy in environmental meaning-making.

The Environmental Communication Observatory is a platform for exploring, investigating, and commenting on developments at the intersection of environmental communication, information cultures, and datafication.*

We use rapid response research and evidence-based commentary to identify and analyse emerging issues in order to contribute to public debates. We do this work in the form of authored publications, interviews, and other forms of public engagement. Our publications has so far addressed: 


We also continued to comment on the integration of generative AI into society’s scholarly information infrastructures and the risk for evidence-hacking this entails. 

Observing and critiquing the often corporate digital infrastructure through which environmental concerns are defined, negotiated, and made public remains our main focus, especially in light of the upcoming elections in 2026. 

 

*The process of transforming aspects of life into digital data that can be analysed and used for decision-making. 

Publications

Mistra Environmental Communication Annual report 2025

2026-03-31
Download

Foundation models’ acceptable use policies disregard the environment and nature

Scientific paper
2025-10-16
Björn Ekström, Lisa Engström & Jutta Haider write in Nature Machine Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-025-01134-3
Link

Blogpost: Commodified and Digital Airscapes: Reflections on sensing and breathing air in the 21st century.

Blog post
2025-04-12
Graminius, C. In: Arcadiana. A blog about literature, culture and the environment.
Link

All talk and few facts: Reflecting on the role of podcasts in climate obstruction.

Scientific paper
2025-04-18
Tattersall Wallin, E. writes in Information Matters.
Link