Whether it’s the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, or plastic pollution – environmental challenges are putting societies around the world under immense pressure. Franzisca Weder, professor at the Institute for Strategic Organizational Communication at WU Vienna, explores how we talk about sustainability, and what needs to change.

How sustainability is currently taught at universities — and why that’s not enough

“Many organizations, especially large companies, communicate about sustainability to meet stakeholder or shareholder expectations. And that’s also the kind of communication that is often taught at universities,” says Franzisca Weder.

She and her team analyzed bachelor’s and master’s programs across the globe, accompanied by a systematic literature review. Their findings show: Sustainability is indeed covered by many higher education institutions – but often only in single courses, modules, or electives, and usually taught from a business or management perspective.

“Sustainability experts learn about environmental issues, but they don’t learn the communication skills they need to drive change,” Weder explains. Conversely, in communication programs, sustainability is treated as just another topic, another issue. “In most cases, communication about sustainability is still seen as transmitting information from a sender to a receiver,” she adds. Traditional teaching methods, however, fall short of what is needed.

Unconventional approaches and ‘productive unsettlement’ as an opportunity

There is significant potential in unorthodox teaching approaches – including experimental and participatory formats that unsettle students in a productive way and encourage them to actively engage in negotiation and reflection processes. “Institutional structures and strong hierarchies in higher education can be barriers to more participatory, co-creational learning approaches,” says Weder.

This is why she collaborates closely with her students to develop projects that open up new perspectives by creating new meaning together, for example creating new, alternative narratives of sustainability. “We need to move beyond merely transmitting information. We need to disrupt routines and create moments that unsettle and spark conversations,” Weder emphasizes.

Detailed results and further information

More on Franzisca Weder’s research in the video
Interview with Franzisca Weder, in which she talks about the areas of her life where she likes to be a bit rebellious.

Study: Weder F., Kierans P.M. (2025): Unorthodox? Sustainability as Discursive Guidepost for Creating Transformative Agency. In: Professional Communication Education. Sustainability. 2025. 17(15)

Press contact

Julia Kreimel 
Science Communication
Tel: + 43-1-31336-5478
Email: juliakreimel@wu.ac.at