Communicating Sustainability

227 Pages·2018·4.496 MB·English

by  Margaret Robertson

“‘Sustainability’ is an elusive concept. It’s vague, and fully comprehending it
requires us to envision what cannot readily be seen. Yet communicating about
it persuasively is one of the most urgent challenges we face. In Communicating
Sustainability, Margaret Robertson takes a very solid step toward achieving that
lofty goal.”
—Sam H. Ham, Professor Emeritus, University of Idaho, USA
“Communicating anything effectively requires understanding not only the con-
tent you want to convey, but also your target audience: how they perceive, learn,
and think, as well as what motivates them. Communicating Sustainability provides,
in one easy-to-read resource, the knowledge you need to enable you to explain
sustainable practices to your audience, and to motivate them to follow through
with action.”
—Jeffrey Johnson, Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco, USA
“Margaret Robertson’s book provides an in-depth examination of the many
methods used to present sustainability and contains a new and relevant perspec-
tive on how sustainability is explained. This comprehensive and thoughtful work
engages all readers and describes a range of tools used to effectively explain sus-
tainability. The reader leaves with a new-found understanding of the subject.”
—Michael Meister, Director Of Exhibition Design,
American Museum Of Natural History, USA
“If sustainability is the major concern for people in the 21st century, then com-
municating sustainability is one of our biggest challenges. This book is not
only timely, but critical in generating the level of public involvement neces-
sary to move towards a more sustainable future. The book integrates and then
applies existing communication theory and practice to the complex situations
that underpin sustainability and should be required reading for all sustainability
practitioners.”
—Gianna Moscardo, Professor, James Cook University, Australia
“Margaret Robertson has synthesized an impressive amount of interdisciplinary
research into a fascinating and readable book. To achieve sustainability, we need
to understand how complex ecosystems and organizations work. But to commu-
nicate beyond the bubble of the converted, we also need to know how people
work. Importantly, Communicating Sustainability draws on state-of-the-art research
in human cognition to suggest methods of communication between communities
with widely divergent values. Such a comprehensive and scientifically grounded
approach to a multifaceted problem makes this a truly exceptional text.”
—Rebecca Todd, Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia, Canada

CommuniCating
SuStainability
Margaret Robertson
CommuniCating SuStainability
Communicating Sustainability is a book of evidence-based strategies for making
sustainability vivid, accessible, and comprehensible. To do this, it brings t ogether
research from a range of specialties including cognitive psychology, visual
perception, communication studies, environmental design, interpretive exhibit
design, interpretive signage, wayfinding, storytelling, courtroom litigation,
information graphics, and graphic design to illustrate not only what approaches
are effective but why they work as they do.
The topic of sustainability is vast and complex. It interconnects multiple
dimensions of human culture and the biosphere and involves a myriad of systems
and processes, many of which are too large, too small, too fast, or too slow to
see. Many people find verbal explanations about all of this too abstract or too
complicated to understand, and for most people the concepts of sustainability
are regarded as quirky, peripheral, and not essential to everyday life. Yet the
challenges of sustainability concern the very survival of most species of life on
Earth, including the human species. In order for life as we know it to survive
and thrive into the future, sustainability must become broadly understood—by
everyone, not just activists or specialists. This book offers tools to help make
complex systems and nuanced, abstract ideas concrete and comprehensible to the
broadest range of people. The goal of communication, and of this book, is to
build understanding.
Margaret Robertson is a member of the American Society of Landscape
Architects (ASLA) and teaches at Lane Community College in Eugene, O regon,
USA, where she coordinates the Sustainability degree program. She is the
author of Sustainability Principles and Practice (second edition) and Dictionary of
Sustainability.

First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Margaret Robertson
The right of Margaret Robertson to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Names: Robertson, Margaret, 1950– author.
Title: Communicating sustainability / Margaret Robertson.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018009976 (print) | LCCN 2018026502 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315659015 (eBook) | ISBN 9781138963054 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138963061 (pbk) | ISBN 9781315659015 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Sustainability—Social aspects. | Communication in the
environmental sciences. | Communication in economic development.
Classification: LCC HC79.E5 (ebook) | LCC HC79.E5 R62425
2015 (print) | DDC 338.9/27014—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018009976
ISBN: 978-1-138-96305-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-96306-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-65901-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by codeMantra
ContentS
Abbreviations xi
Part i
Perception and Communication 1
1 Context: Why It Matters 3
About This Book 3
Sustainability: Life in the Anthropocene 4
Information Overload 6
Positive Messages: Beyond the Deficit Model 7
Social Factors 8
2 Perception and Cognition 12
Visual Perception 12
Emotion 17
Cognition 18
3 Communication Principles 23
Guidelines for Clear Communication 24
Visual Communication 27
Part ii
making Sustainability Visible 31
4 Metaphor 33
viii Contents
5 Stories 37
The Significance of Stories 37
Narrative Principles 38
Narrative Structure 40
Some Examples 41
6 Interpretive Exhibits and Signs 44
Interpretation 44
Exhibit Design 55
Personal Interpretation 59
Interpretive Signage 60
Art 64
Planning for Interpretation 65
7 Wayfinding 71
Wayfinding and the Ancient Human Brain 71
The Wayfinding Process 72
Wayfinding Planning and Design 77
Signage 78
Maps 81
8 Visible Processes 84
Models 84
Concrete Representation 85
Frames 90
Infrastructure 90
Green Infrastructure 91
Buildings and Sites 92
Part III
Practical Details 95
9 Graphic Design 101 97
Shapes 97
Color 98
Typography 101
Composition and Design 104
Grids and Other Layouts 107
The Golden Section 108
Doing Design 109
Contents ix
10 Images 110
Images Have Impact 110
Comparing Photographs and Drawings 112
Choosing Images 113
Composing Photographs 115
Digital Images: Rasters, Vectors, and Resolution 116
Finding and Using Images 117
11 Graphs and Diagrams 119
Information Graphics Help Us Understand
Systems 119
Tables 120
Graphs 121
Other Charts 122
Diagrams 123
Maps 124
Design 125
Information Visualization 126
12 Reporting Tools 128
Indicators 128
Frameworks 131
Footprints 132
Labels 132
Menus 134
Information Dashboards 135
13 Digital Media 136
Websites 136
Video 142
Multimedia 144
Interactive Digital Media 144
Simulations 146
Animations 149
Social Media 150
14 Meetings 153
How to Have a Good Meeting 153
Public Participation 161
Conferences and Workshops 162
Planning Tools 166