Sustainability Communication
Chapter from the book: Göngen, M. A. (ed.) 2023. Digital Media Studies.

H. Buluthan Çetintaş
Necmettin Erbakan University

Synopsis

The concept of sustainability is a responsibility that requires the participation of all relevant people and institutions. Sustainable development, which emerged in the late 1980s, is based on the idea of leaving an environment where today's societies can meet their needs while leaving an environment where future generations can meet their vital needs. Sustainable development, which should be considered in the long term, is based on keeping economic growth and environmental protection together. In this respect, it means determining, taking into account, and taking the necessary measures to present and future obligations such as protecting the environment and natural resources and ensuring global social and economic equality. Corporate goals, sustainability understanding, and social and economic responsibilities are interconnected with sustainable development. Corporate success depends on ensuring this integration and harmonizing environmental, social, and ethical responsibilities at the corporate level. The form and quality of communication between institutions and their stakeholders are important in ensuring that corporate sustainability activities are of the desired and targeted quality. This situation has brought sustainability communication, a concept that can be considered within the scope of corporate communication, to the agenda. In its most general sense, sustainability communication is the communication of an institution's economic, social, and environmental issues to its stakeholders. Although there is no agreed-upon definition of sustainability communication, the accepted definitions are transferring information about sustainability, informing and raising consumer awareness; critical, deliberative, and transformative communication; and disclosure of information; It is possible to evaluate it in five dimensions: persuasive/commercial communication and misleading communication. Sustainability communication, which helps institutions to announce their sustainability efforts to the public, is a necessary practice in terms of informing and raising awareness of environmental issues within and outside the institution. In the study, the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, the concept of corporate sustainability, and the concept of sustainability communication were explained, evaluations were made and suggestions were made for future studies, respectively. It is hoped that the study will contribute to the limited Turkish literature on the subject.

How to cite this book

Çetintaş, H. B. (2023). Sustainability Communication. In: Göngen, M. A. (ed.), Digital Media Studies. Özgür Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.58830/ozgur.pub259.c1179

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Published

October 21, 2023

DOI