Rachael Rosenstein

December 1, 2017

Executive Summary: Communicating Sustainability Solutions Through Photojournalism
Introduction
While current strategies and interventions promote urban community sustainability,
effective communication of these solutions is lacking. Documentation of current research tends
to be difficult for non-academics to understand. Sustainability scientists and practitioners need a
way to meaningfully communicate their experiences and solutions to the lay public. This project
sought to address this communication barrier by visually presenting sustainable community
development solutions. Urban and community gardens and their members in Phoenix and
Tempe, Arizona, and Copenhagen and Aarhus, Denmark, were photographed, interviewed, and
examined to demonstrate that photographs can tell a holistic sustainability story.
The photographs focused on aspects of life and behaviors that have contributed to
happiness in local communities. A website was created and a gallery event was mounted for
public review and discussion. Gallery attendees and website visitors were asked to complete a
survey to assess gained knowledge of sustainability solutions, and the degree to which
photography was an effective tool in communicating sustainability solutions.
Feedback confirmed that this visual medium allowed people to think about how to
incorporate sustainable community solutions into their own lives and may have changed people’s
interest in, and thoughts about, sustainability and sustainable solutions. The survey results
demonstrated that photographs can successfully communicate sustainability ideas. Specifically,
viewers gained an increased awareness of how community and urban gardening can increase
happiness, well-being, and sense of community. This visual approach can continue to be used to
better communicate additional sustainability solutions ideas and methods to the public.
Methods and Interventions
Articles were located by searching words and phrases such as “happiness,”
“communicating through the arts,” “community gardens,” and “community development.”
Useful articles were vetted for their relevance to this project through reviewing the abstracts,
introductions, and conclusions. Chosen articles were then analyzed more in-depth to pinpoint
main ideas that supported or opposed my hypothesis. The primary subjects chosen for
photographs included garden landscapes, individual plots, and garden members. I made visual
edits using Capture One 10 software and then previewed the collection to a focus group. An
Excel sheet was then compiled listing the chosen photos together with a ranking system
pertaining to how many people selected each photo. The selections were made based on how
well the photograph communicated sustainability ideas. A website was created by myself (view
here) and a gallery showing of photographs was arranged with the Southeast Regional Library in
Gilbert, Arizona for Friday, November 3, 2017. A public discussion of the photographs was
conducted, and surveys of website and gallery viewers were distributed and collected.
Nine gardens were visited: two in Phoenix, two in Tempe, one in Copenhagen, and four
in Aarhus. Gardens were chosen based on their proximity to where I was staying, that they were
urban or community gardens, and that I got in touch with an employee before visiting. The
number of gardens included was simply a result of time constraints. The questions for garden
members remained consistent throughout most interviews and focused on assessing the degree to
which participants thought their happiness and well-being increased since becoming involved in
the garden, and their reasons for this. The project survey was presented in a questionnaire format
for event attendees and website visitors to answer and was distributed through Google Forms and

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Sustainability Solutions Through Photojournalism

on physical paper. Its purpose was to assess gained knowledge of sustainability solutions and
how effective a tool photography is as a means of sustainability solutions communication.
Before implementing this project, it was difficult to develop specific parameters that
would indicate overall success in terms of sustainability and happiness. I think it is valid to
quantify the number of people whose lives or lifestyles were enhanced or made more sustainable
through their actions, which would indicate a positive change. More specifically to this project,
success is that the photographs were, in fact, able to communicate ideas to the general public
about the positive impacts of gardening on happiness, well-being, community, and sustainability.
Project Outcomes/Results
Preliminary results of the Danish garden member interviews were positive with regard to
impacts on their happiness and well-being. Regardless of age, gender, background, etc., members
answered that gardening has improved their happiness and well-being by at least some degree,
e.g., through being outside and away from daily stresses. This project’s major task was to assess
whether using photojournalism to communicate sustainability solutions was successful, both in
the gallery showing and on the website. The fact that almost all respondents affirmed that the
photographic presentation allowed them to learn something they otherwise would not, such as
the existence of these gardens and how they are beneficial to well-being, demonstrates that using
photojournalism is a successful method of communicating sustainability ideas.
Other important findings relate to the ability to educate people on topics with which they
were previously unfamiliar, and the ability to incite an interest in the audience to become
involved in community gardens. Here, 65.2% of survey respondents from the gallery show and
website said they learned something new from the event or website. For example, a survey
respondent stated they learned it is “a great stress reliever and helps with protecting our youths'
futures.” 82.6% of survey respondents said that they gained an interest in participating in
gardens, with 65.2% saying they were likely or very likely to do so. This demonstrates that it is
possible to provoke interest and action through visual methods and open discussions.
In the short term, this project may have positively affected people’s interest in
sustainability and sustainable solutions. Through participating in the event or viewing the
website, it is likely that attendees were able to draw connections to (and in increase their
understanding of) the ways in which the concepts relate to their own lives. Longer term impacts
could include that gallery attendees and website viewers gained an increased awareness about
sustainability, increased knowledge about sustainable solutions, a global perspective about these
topics, and ultimately will make behavioral changes that lead to increasing overall sustainability.
Possible Next Steps
It would be impossible to claim that this single project addressed the entire challenge of
communicating sustainability ideas to the general public; however, I believe it made an overall
positive impact. I do not think there are any gaps in what I did nor is a different approach
necessary to make it more successful – only that it is a small-scale effort to conquer a global
problem. My project can serve as a template for future sustainability scholars and documenters to
produce more content that successfully communicates sustainability solutions, and can be
utilized in other communities to educate and motivate people about sustainability.
For the specifics of my project, the only way I can see an extension is through hosting
similar events to reach broader audiences. If the initial survey efforts were continued, the results
could be further formalized and assessed as to whether using photography can be a successful
means of communication for sustainability and happiness issues. On a broader scale, there is
room to expand this project by traveling to different cities and completing a similar project in
regard to content, or conversely, to follow my project format but for an entirely different topic.
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