It was rewarding to hear so many positive reactions during the opening and afterwards. As some of you pointed out the ‘crux’ of the matter is ‘sustainability’. What does that mean for our field? In an article published in Gazette (Servaes, 2007 – in attach) I have developed the argument further at three levels: (1) the difference between a top-down and a bottom-up CSSC model, (2) different CSSC strategies used by UN agencies, and (3) the role and place of different interpersonal and commun...   read more >>

The Center, Communication for Sustainable Social Change, is building upon our 20-year record of distinction at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in training researchers in communication, cultural research, and fieldwork methods. These methods are being used in the spirit of understanding social life and local cultures, including those features of that life deemed sustainable and those participants within them want changed. For example, doctoral fieldwork has investigated Asian Indian...   read more >>

The opening ceremony of the SBS Center Communication for Sustainable Social Change was a great success. Scholars, students and senior administrators crowded the room. The highlight of the event was, of course, food for thought from Prof. Robert Cox about environmental communication. He pointed out that strategic communication is needed to mobilize both the grassroots and the elites to the realization that global warming is an emergency issue. Without structural change, such as legislations...   read more >>

Jan Servaes is Professor and Director of the new SBS Center ‘Communication for Sustainable Social Change (CSSC)’ at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (USA, www.csschange.org). He chaired the Scientific Committee for the World Congress on Communication for Development (Rome, 25-27 October 2006), organized by the World Bank, FAO and the Communication Initiative. Let me start by stating at the outset that our Center does not intend to replace, nor compete with other projects or pro...   read more >>

Robert Cox is a professor of Communication Studies and the Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the former president of the U.S. Sierra Club and currently serves as its vice-president for Mission/Strategy. I have been concerned that many of the traditional approaches used in social change communication such as framing, social marketing, messaging, etc, are increasingly inadequate, to address the challenges of campaigns aime...   read more >>