Communicating Sustainability

Good article in the Guardian which summarises the 'Common Cause' project that WWF is involved in. To put it briefly, Common Cause criticises sustainability writings which appeal to extrinsic values (wealth, public image, social power and concerns about security) because it's been shown that people who focus on these values are less likely to be motivated to contribute to sustainability. Instead the claim is that it's more effective to focus on intrinsic values - social justice, care, acting ethically, improving people's wellbeing etc., i.e., representing sustainability as something that is life-affirming not a short-cut to self-aggrandisement, saving money, and avoiding fines. Here's the article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/social-psychologists-environmental-values

and here's the very useful Common Cause project:

http://valuesandframes.org