Building Interdisciplinary Narratives For Change – Visual Storytelling in Rosendal

Last changed: 17 November 2020
Students walking in the area of Rosendal.

This project aimed to bring urban issues as a relevant context into the Environmental Communication (EC) Master’s program by introducing a pilot course module into the interdisciplinary course Introduction to Environmental Communication (MX0115). In the implemented module, students were placed in interdisciplinary groups, according to different academic backgrounds and nationality. Each groups focused on a concrete relevant theme for urban sustainability, e.g. nudging, cycling and urban gardening. To visualise their findings, students went on a one-day excursion (or Research Lab) to Rosendal, a new, self-acclaimed sustainable residential area in Uppsala, to record short stories by social media app Instagram.

In the course Introduction to Environmental Communication (MX0115)there are a high number of exchange students from different backgrounds. The division has successfully broadened its thematic scope by externally funded research projects focusing on urban planning and consumption. Therefore, these themes are to be brought into the curriculum to (1) increase the interdisciplinary allure of the Master and (2) emphasise the important role of communication when imagining sustainable urban futures collaboratively.

In the implemented module, students were placed in interdisciplinary groups, according to different academic backgrounds and nationality. Each groups focused on a concrete relevant theme for urban sustainability, e.g. nudging, cycling and urban gardening.

To visualise their findings, students engaged in the Research Lab in Rosendal to record short stories by social media app Instagram. The Research Lab took place on September 12, 2019 in Rosendal. Their task was to ask informants and inhabitants as well as to capture their own reflections.

Three main objectives was achieved

  • prepare the module instructions over summer and invite relevant informants to the Research Lab to share their perspectives on urban sustainability
  • run the module as a pilot in September 2019
  • evaluate and explore further developing the activity in line with relevant research projects such as Nudging and Participation (NAP) as well as possible further engagement with the division of Landscape Architecture.

In sum, this module creatively made use of the multiple backgrounds of the EC students and offered an experiential exercise in the ‘backyard’ of SLU. It pedagogically helped creating a common ground for students to link their own knowledge and experience in a creative and critical way to a relevant local case of contested urban sustainability and highlighted how narratives can be used (and misused) as a change-making practice.