DN33 - Sustainability, and Education: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate and Communication

Call for Papers DN33 - Discourse, Sustainability, and Education: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Climate and Communication 

26-27 March 2026, University of International Studies (UNINT) in Rome, Italy

In recent decades, the discourse surrounding sustainability and climate change has become central to global public debates, policy-making, activism, education, and everyday life. Discourses on the environment frame not only what is perceived as the climate crisis but also what solutions, responsibilities, and futures are imaginable or excluded (Hajer, 1995; Dryzek, 2013; Stibbe, 2021). This framing takes shape through media narratives, political communication, and institutional discourses that both reflect and influence public engagement (Carvalho & Burgess, 2005; Boykoff, 2008; Cox & Pezzullo, 2019; Moser, 2010).

Education has also emerged as a key arena for cultivating sustainable mindsets and practices, where language, texts, and multimodal communication play crucial roles in influencing knowledge, instilling values, and guiding actions at all levels—from higher education curricula to narrative design in climate change education (UNESCO, 2020, 2021; Sonetti, 2020; Deriu, 2024; D’Orto, 2025). At the same time, discourse-oriented research has shown how pedagogical strategies, framing devices, and communicative practices affect learners’ agency, identity, and capacity for transformative change (Sterling, 2011; Russo & Bevitori, 2023, 2024).

This conference invites scholars to critically examine how sustainability and climate issues are communicated, contested, and enacted through discourse in diverse social, institutional, and technological contexts. We seek to explore how discourse contributes to constructing environmental problems, mobilising collective action, and framing pedagogical approaches to sustainability education. Contributions that interrogate how discursive practices may reinforce inequities, marginalise certain voices, or limit transformative change (Fairclough, 2015; Whyte, 2017; Wodak, 2021; Sultana, 2022) are also welcome.

We invite papers from across the full spectrum of discourse studies—including but not limited to critical, multimodal, narrative, ethnographic, interactional, corpus-based, and practice-oriented approaches—and encourage interdisciplinary perspectives drawing from linguistics, education, media and communication studies, sociology, environmental humanities, and political science (van Dijk, 2008; Charteris-Black, 2018; Kress & van Leeuwen, 2021).

Possible topics and questions include (but are not limited to):

• How are climate change and sustainability represented in media, policy, and public discourse?
• What discursive strategies seem to encourage or hinder sustainable behaviour and collective action?
• How do the ways we talk and write about climate issues in educational settings influence learners’ attitudes, knowledge, and sense of agency?
• How are ideas of climate responsibility and justice constructed across institutional, corporate, and activist discourses?
• What part do digital media, AI-generated content, and algorithmic systems play in shaping environmental narratives?
• How can discourse analysis contribute to interdisciplinary dialogue and inspire meaningful action for sustainability?

We hope the conference will foster theoretical, methodological, and ethical reflection on how discourse studies can contribute to more sustainable, inclusive futures.

Topics and Panels
We invite proposals for 20-minute presentations (followed by 10 minutes of discussion) that align with the conference theme and fit into one of the broad panels. Proposals on related topics are also welcome.

Submission Guidelines

• Abstracts should be 250 words (excluding title and references) and anonymous.
• Include the title of your paper, your name, affiliation, and email address in a separate title page (.doc or .docx format).
• Use APA 7th edition style for references.
• Submit your abstract via email to dn33rome2026@gmail.com.
• Presentations are expected to be in English. Multilingual panels may be considered if sufficient interest arises.

Important dates
Abstract submission deadline: 31 October 2025
Notification of acceptance: 28 November 2025
Registration deadline: 15 January 2026

Fees & Registration
Participants are required to hold an active DiscourseNet membership (€60 for 2 years) and pay a €60 participation fee which additionally covers:

• Catering (refreshments, lunches)
• Social dinner

You can obtain a valid DN membership via this link. More information can be found here. The participation fee is to be paid directly via the DiscourseNet website. Payment instructions will be sent along with the acceptance notification. Participants will be considered registered once DN membership and the participation fee have been paid.

The DN33 is open to non-presenting participants on condition that they hold an active DiscourseNet membership.

An exception concerning the DN membership fee is made for non-presenting participants of the host institution (UNINT).

Venue & Practical Information
The conference will take place in person at Università degli Studi Internazionali di Roma (UNINT), Via Cristoforo Colombo 200, 00147 Rome, Italy.

Further details about the venue, travel, accommodation, and the conference programme will be published on the conference webpage hosted on the DiscourseNet portal and on the UNINT website (Events section).

Audience & Participation

We welcome participation from early-career researchers, established scholars, and professionals interested in the interdisciplinary intersections of discourse, education, and climate communication.

Publication Opportunities

Selected contributions may be considered for publication in the DiscourseNet Work-in-Progress Series, the Palgrave Book Series, or UNINT’s forthcoming interdisciplinary journal on climate and discourse.

Committees and Organisation

Local Organising Committee (UNINT): Marina Brancaccio and Cristina Benicchi

International Organising Committee: Thomas Jacobs and Benno Herzog

Scientific Committee: Bevitori, Cinzia (UNIBO); Benicchi, Cristina (UNINT); Bortoluzzi, Maria (UNIUD); Boyd, Michael S. (ROMA TRE); Brancaccio, Marina (UNINT); Caimotto, Maria Cristina (UNITO); Frontera, Manuela (UNINT); Grego Kim (UNIMI); Herzog, Benno (UV.ES); Jacobs, Thomas (UCLouvain); Milizia, Denise (UNIBA); Mori, Laura (UNINT); Patera Salvatore (UNINT); Re, Anna (IULM); Russo, Katherine E. (UNIOR); Zappettini, Franco (SAPIENZA) 

Keynote(s): name(s) to be announced soon

Contact

For questions, please contact the organising team at: dn33rome2026@gmail.com

Selected References

• Bortoluzzi, M., & Zurru, E. (Eds.). (2024). Ecological communication and ecoliteracy: Discourses of awareness and action for the lifescape. Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350335851

• Boykoff, M. T. (2008). Media and scientific communication: A case of climate change. In D. G. E. Liverman, C. P. G. Pereira, & B. Marker (Eds.), Communicating environmental geoscience (pp. 11–18). Geological Society of London. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP305.3

• Carvalho, A. (2007). Ideological cultures and media discourses on scientific knowledge: Re-reading news on climate change. Public Understanding of Science, 16(2), 223-243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662506066775

• Carvalho, A. (2010). Media(ted) discourses and climate change: A focus on political subjectivity and (dis)engagement. WIREs Climate Change, 1(2), 172-179.

• Carvalho, A., & Burgess, J. (2005). Cultural circuits of climate change in UK broadsheet newspapers, 1985–2003. Risk Analysis, 25(6), 1457–1469. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2005.00692.x       

• Carvalho, A., & Peterson, T. R. (Eds.). (2012). Climate Change Politics: Communication and Public Engagement. Cambria Press.

• Carvalho, A., van Wessel, M., & Maeseele, P. (2017). Communicating the Environment: Challenges and Futures for Environmental Media and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan.

• Catenaccio, P., Garzone, G., & Reisigl, M. (2023). Introduction. Dimensions of framing: Representation, cognition, interaction [Editorial]. Textus, 1(1), 7–24. https://doi.org/10.7370/108616

• Charteris‑Black, J. (2018). Analysing political speeches: Rhetoric, discourse and metaphor (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic.

• Charteris-Black, J. (2021). Crisis and Coronavirus: Metaphor, Symbol and Schema. Cambridge University Press.

• Corner, A., Whitmarsh, L., & Xenias, D. (2012). Uncertainty, scepticism and attitudes towards climate change: Biased assimilation and attitude polarisation. Climatic Change, 114(3-4), 463-478.

• Cox, R., & Pezzullo, P. C. (2019). Environmental communication and the public sphere (5th ed.). Sage.

• Demata, M. (2017). Representations of climate change refugees in The Guardian and The New York Times. Anglistica AION, 21(2), 23–35. https://doi.org/10.19231/angl‑aion.201722

• Deriu, F. (2024). Sustainable green educational paths in the Italian higher education landscape: An analysis of green degree programmes. Sustainability, 16(13), 5497. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16135497   

• D’Orto, E. (2025). Narrativity and climate change education: Design of an operable narrative framework. Sustainability, 17(4), 1587. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041587  

• Dryzek, J. S. (2013). The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

• Entman, R. M. (2004). Projections of Power: Framing News, Public Opinion, and U.S. Foreign Policy. University of Chicago Press.

• Fairclough, N. (2015). Language and Power (3rd ed.). Routledge.

• Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). Continuum. 

• Hajer, M. A. (1995). The politics of environmental discourse: Ecological modernization and the policy process. Oxford University Press.

• Hansen, A., & Machin, D. (2019). Media and Communication Research Methods (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.

• Hulme, M. (2009). Why we disagree about climate change: Understanding controversy, inaction and opportunity. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511841200 

• Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2021). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design (3rd ed.). Routledge.

• Lakoff, G. (2010). Why it matters how we frame the environment. Environmental Communication, 4(1), 70-81.

• Lorenzoni, I., Nicholson-Cole, S., & Whitmarsh, L. (2007). Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications. Global Environmental Change, 17(3–4), 445–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2007.01.004

• Machin, D. (2013). What is multimodal critical discourse analysis? Critical Discourse Studies, 10(4), 347-355.

• Moser, S. C. (2010). Communicating climate change: History, challenges, process and future directions. WIREs Climate Change, 1(1), 31–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.11    

• Nerlich, B., Koteyko, N., & Brown, B. (2010). Theory and language of climate change communication. WIREs Climate Change, 1(1), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.2

• Pearce, W., Holmberg, K., Hellsten, I., & Nerlich, B. (2014). Climate change on Twitter: Topics, communities and conversations about the 2013 IPCC Working Group 1 report. PLOS ONE, 9(2), e87431.

• Pink, S., Horst, H., Postill, J., Hjorth, L., Lewis, T., & Tacchi, J. (2016). Digital Ethnography: Principles and Practice. Sage.

• Russo, K. E., & Bevitori, C. (2023). Environment, climate and health at the crossroads: A critical analysis of public policy and political communication discourse in the EU. In P. Cap (Ed.), Handbook of Political Discourse (pp. 328–344). Edward Elgar.

• Russo, K. E., & Bevitori, C. (2024). The language of crisis in the “virocene”: A critical corpus-informed analysis of COVID-19 and climate change discourse in the EU. Iperstoria, (23). https://doi.org/10.13136/2281-4582/2024.i231444  

• Sonetti, G. (2020). A review of current strategies within Italian universities’ education for sustainability initiatives (2016–2019). Sustainability, 12(13), Article 5246. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135246   

• Sterling, S. (2011). Transformative learning and sustainability: Sketching the conceptual ground. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, 5, 17-33.

• Stibbe, A. (2021). Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By (2nd ed.). Routledge.

• Sultana, F. (2022). Critical climate justice. The Geographical Journal, 188(1), 118-124.

• UNESCO. (2020). Education for sustainable development: A roadmap. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000374802

• UNESCO. (2021). Getting every school climate-ready: How countries are integrating climate change issues in education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000379566

• van Dijk, T. A. (2008). Discourse and power. Palgrave Macmillan.

• Whyte, K. (2017). The Dakota Access Pipeline, environmental injustice, and U.S. colonialism. Red Ink, 19(1), 154-169.

• Wodak, R. (2021). The Politics of Fear: The Shameless Normalization of Far-Right Discourse. Sage.

We look forward to welcoming you to Rome!