Public Communication for Sustainable Cities: Citizens, Institutions, and the Ecological Crisis

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Introduction

Cities have become critical arenas in the global response to the ecological crisis. While international agreements and national policies provide frameworks for action, it is within municipalities, local authorities, and communities that ecological transitions become established. Urban sustainability depends not only on technical solutions, but also on effective, inclusive, and participatory communication that connects institutions with citizens, businesses, and civil society. This Special Issue positions strategic communication as a central enabler of ecological transformation at the municipal and community levels, exploring how communication shapes dialogue, collaboration, and collective action in urban contexts.

Research on sustainability communication has so far produced important work – for example, on corporate social responsibility, environmental reporting, and climate advocacy - but the communicative infrastructures of municipalities and local communities remain less explored. Yet, it is precisely at this scale that citizens experience ecological impacts, negotiate change, and co-create solutions. Local governments, city networks, and grassroots initiatives increasingly carry the burden of implementing climate policies, mobilizing stakeholders, and fostering behavioural change. For example, recent work by Čičmancová, Hák, Holubec, and Janoušková (2024) shows how Slovak municipalities communicate sustainability online through strategic documents and websites. Similarly, Palm, Pfeffer, Raith, and Brandstetter (2025) demonstrate how German municipalities use interdisciplinary communication models to advance energy transitions, highlighting the need to adapt communication to local contexts. Communication is not peripheral to these processes but fundamental: it frames problems, builds trust, mobilizes participation, and connects diverse actors across sectors.

This Special Issue brings together conceptual, empirical, and practice-based contributions that highlight the communicative dimensions of urban sustainability. It invites studies on how municipalities design participatory governance processes, how communication professionals mediate between policy and practice, and how storytelling, data visualization, and dialogue can facilitate ecological transitions. Weder (2023) illustrates how sustainability storytelling evolves through “communicative niche construction,” showing how narratives shape public discourse and organizational adaptation. From outside Europe, Larbi, Kellett, and Palazzo (2022) explore urban sustainability transitions in the Global South and argue that participatory communication and governance matter particularly for aligning policy with citizens’ priorities in contexts of rapid urban expansion and infrastructural constraints.

The originality of this Special Issue lies in its focus on this “local turn”: while much of the scholarship tend to propose top-down frameworks or corporate strategies, we highlight the role of communication in municipalities, city-regions, and community initiatives. We build on European literature that shows how participatory approaches at the local level enhance resilience and legitimacy. For instance, Niemann and Hoppe (2018) provide evidence from European pioneers demonstrating how sustainability reporting by local governments can strengthen transparency and stakeholder inclusion.

The Special Issue also seeks to generate practical impact, so that municipal communication teams, policymakers, and civil society organizations can find actionable insights into dialogue, engagement, and participatory tools. By highlighting case studies of innovation in public communication, from climate dashboards to participatory storytelling, the issue will offer transferable models for strengthening ecological governance.

Ultimately, the aim is to advance both scholarly debate and professional practice by situating communication at the heart of sustainable urban development. By bridging research and action, theory and practice, this Special Issue responds to the urgency of the ecological crisis while equipping municipalities, citizens, and organizations with the communicative capacities needed for transformative change.

List of Topic Areas

• Strategic communication in municipal climate action;
• Citizen engagement and participatory governance;
• Dialogue and stakeholder communication in local sustainability initiatives;
• Communication for sustainable mobility in rural areas;
• Visual communication and climate data dashboards;
• Role of communication professionals in public sector transitions;
• Climate storytelling and activism at community level;
• Strategic communication for regenerative and climate-resilient cities;
• Comparative urban/rural narratives of sustainability;
• Multi-level governance and climate neutrality messaging;
• Cross-sector partnerships (e.g. municipalities + SMEs).

Guest Editors 

Dr Adalberto Arrigoni (Leeds Beckett University), a.arrigoni@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Dr Wim J.L. Elving (Hanze University of Applied Science), w.j.l.elving@pl.hanze.nll

Dr Catrin Johansson (Mid Sweden University), Catrin.Johansson@miun.se

Dr Ileana Zeler (Autonomous University of Barcelona) Ileana.zeler@uab.cat 

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

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Author Guidelines

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to “Please select the issue you are submitting to”. 

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key Deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 1st October 2025

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31st March 2026

Closing date for abstract submission: 30th November 2025

Email for submissions: a.arrigoni@leedsbeckett.ac.uk