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(Re)storying Sustainability: The Use of Story Cubes in Narrative Inquiries to Understand Individual Perceptions of Sustainability

Author

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  • Franzisca Weder

    (Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Klagenfurt, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria)

  • Stella Lemke

    (Institute for Social Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Lübeck, 23562 Lübeck, Germany)

  • Amornpan Tungarat

    (Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Klagenfurt, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria)

Abstract

Narratives represent storied ways of knowing and communicating. Therefore, storytelling, framing and narrative analyses have always been a key feature in media and communication research. In this paper, an innovative approach to narrative inquiries is introduced to capture reflections on individual experiences of sustainability over time. Storytelling is perceived as an act of problematization and, at the same time, as method of analysis. Using Rory’s Story Cubes ® (dices with pictograms), we stimulated 35 interviewees from various cultural backgrounds (Asian, European, Anglo-American) to story life events that they relate to sustainability and put it into order and meaning. Our analysis and evaluation of the interviews focused on the story as a whole, which was then linked to the individual biographical background to understand motives and the moral frame(work) for problematizing (un)sustainable behavior. In particular, we focus on problematization as core process of storytelling and complement existing approaches coming from actor-network theory and Foucault’s discourse analysis with Entman’s concept of framing. In this paper, this innovative form of a narrative inquiry is put up for discussion for environmental communication research in order to create a better understanding of individual perceptions of sustainability and sustainability related issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Franzisca Weder & Stella Lemke & Amornpan Tungarat, 2019. "(Re)storying Sustainability: The Use of Story Cubes in Narrative Inquiries to Understand Individual Perceptions of Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-15, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5264-:d:270564
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Myria Allen, 2016. "Strategic Communication for Sustainable Organizations," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, Springer, edition 127, number 978-3-319-18005-2, May.
    2. Daniel Fischer & Franziska Haucke & Anna Sundermann, 2017. "What Does the Media Mean by ‘Sustainability’ or ‘Sustainable Development’? an Empirical Analysis of Sustainability Terminology in German Newspapers Over Two Decades," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(6), pages 610-624, November.
    3. Aliette K. Frank, 2017. "What is the story with sustainability? A narrative analysis of diverse and contested understandings," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 7(2), pages 310-323, June.
    4. Jens Newig & Daniel Schulz & Daniel Fischer & Katharina Hetze & Norman Laws & Gesa Lüdecke & Marco Rieckmann, 2013. "Communication Regarding Sustainability: Conceptual Perspectives and Exploration of Societal Subsystems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(7), pages 1-15, July.
    5. Charles N. Herrick & Joanna L. Pratt, 2013. "Communication and the Narrative Basis of Sustainability: Observations from the Municipal Water Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(10), pages 1-16, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Franzisca Weder & Swastika Samanta, 2021. "Advocacy for Sustainability Communication: Unseen Potential of Queer Communicators in Environmental, Climate Change and Sustainability Science," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Adriana Angel & Lissette Marroquin-Velasquez & Sandra Idrovo, 2021. "Dialectical Tensions of Sustainability and Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Tale from Latin America," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Isabell Koinig & Franzisca Weder, 2021. "Employee Representatives and a Good Working Life: Achieving Social and Communicative Sustainability for HRM," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Franzisca Weder & Jennifer Yarnold & Stefanie Mertl & Renate Hübner & Wilfried Elmenreich & Robert Sposato, 2022. "Social Learning of Sustainability in a Pandemic—Changes to Sustainability Understandings, Attitudes, and Behaviors during the Global Pandemic in a Higher Education Setting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.

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