-
Chapters from the paperback
- Introduction
- Ecocriticism
- Optimisation
- Grounded Economic Awareness
- Advertising Awareness
- Transition Skills
- Commons Thinking
- Effortless Action
- Permaculture Design
- Community Gardening
- Ecological Intelligence
- Systems Thinking
- Gaia Awareness
- Futures Thinking
- Values Reflection and the Earth Charter
- Social Conscience
- New Media Literacy
- Cultural Literacy
- Carbon Capability
- Greening Business
- Materials Awareness
- Appropriate Technology and Appropriate Design
- Technology Appraisal
- Complexity, Systems Thinking and Practice
- Coping with Complexity
- Emotional Wellbeing
- Finding Meaning Without Consuming
- Being in the World
- Beauty as a Way of Knowing
- Citizen Engagement
- Re-Educating the Person
- Institutional Transformation
- A Learning Society
- Additional chapters
- Interviews
Home » The Handbook of Sustainability Literacy » Chapters from the paperback » New Media Literacy
New Media Literacy
New Media Literacy: communication for sustainability. John Blewitt, Director of Lifelong Learning, Aston University
____________________
Given that a great deal of our understanding of the environment - its habitats and peoples - is derived from new and traditional media, it is imperative that any notion of sustainability literacy is connected with ongoing work on media literacy. Many individuals and virtually every organization have websites, and the growth of user generated content, social networking, online games, online distance learning and 3-D virtual worlds suggests our relationship with the physical world, including what passes for the natural environment, is increasingly mediated. Actual heritage sites, urban reconstructions and lost cities can be re-imagined virtually. It is possible to walk with dinosaurs or fly through the emergent ecocities of Dongtan or Masdar. Numerous sustainability scenarios are envisaged and communicated by governments, corporations, think tanks and NGOs which offer a powerful visual and aural persuasiveness. In this context, sustainability literacy, however defined, requires a sensitivity to virtual realism, to media ecology, and to those ongoing processes through which we shape and are shaped by increasingly ubiquitous technologies.
