Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Climate crisis as a business opportunity : Using degrowth to defamiliarize place branding for sustainability

Sullivan, Katie ; Bertilsson, Jon LU and Rennstam, Jens LU (2024) In Place Branding and Public Diplomacy
Abstract
Place branders express a desire for their work to aid in addressing crises such as climate change through sustainable developments that assist with brand positioning, yet little is known about how place branding professionals manage tensions and contradictions that arise between sustainability and investment development. This paper qualitatively explores how place branders talk about ecological sustainability at a place branding conference. We pose the research question, how do place branders communicatively construct the meaning of place branding for sustainability? Our key finding is that place branders reframe ecological crises as an “exclusive” business and brand-building opportunity. Rather than viewing this as “business as usual,” we... (More)
Place branders express a desire for their work to aid in addressing crises such as climate change through sustainable developments that assist with brand positioning, yet little is known about how place branding professionals manage tensions and contradictions that arise between sustainability and investment development. This paper qualitatively explores how place branders talk about ecological sustainability at a place branding conference. We pose the research question, how do place branders communicatively construct the meaning of place branding for sustainability? Our key finding is that place branders reframe ecological crises as an “exclusive” business and brand-building opportunity. Rather than viewing this as “business as usual,” we use defamiliarization as a method of disrupting common sense and presenting the familiar as “strange,” and we employ degrowth ideas as a tool for doing so. We show how place branding for sustainability is constructed as a matter of making a place attractive to businesses that can generate green growth, and how this is done by suppressing aspects that challenge this view. In doing this, we provide a deeper insight into how certain, pro-growth-oriented sustainability practices are communicatively maintained, and into the struggles branders face when tasked with place branding for sustainability. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
keywords
place branding, sustainability, green growth, degrowth, defamiliarization, investments
in
Place Branding and Public Diplomacy
pages
11 pages
publisher
Palgrave Macmillan
ISSN
1751-8040
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5d891d6c-bc97-4e65-ace6-5f5e3c15ba73
alternative location
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/s41254-024-00348-3.pdf
date added to LUP
2024-07-29 11:50:26
date last changed
2024-08-06 10:42:07
@article{5d891d6c-bc97-4e65-ace6-5f5e3c15ba73,
  abstract     = {{Place branders express a desire for their work to aid in addressing crises such as climate change through sustainable developments that assist with brand positioning, yet little is known about how place branding professionals manage tensions and contradictions that arise between sustainability and investment development. This paper qualitatively explores how place branders talk about ecological sustainability at a place branding conference. We pose the research question, how do place branders communicatively construct the meaning of place branding for sustainability? Our key finding is that place branders reframe ecological crises as an “exclusive” business and brand-building opportunity. Rather than viewing this as “business as usual,” we use defamiliarization as a method of disrupting common sense and presenting the familiar as “strange,” and we employ degrowth ideas as a tool for doing so. We show how place branding for sustainability is constructed as a matter of making a place attractive to businesses that can generate green growth, and how this is done by suppressing aspects that challenge this view. In doing this, we provide a deeper insight into how certain, pro-growth-oriented sustainability practices are communicatively maintained, and into the struggles branders face when tasked with place branding for sustainability.}},
  author       = {{Sullivan, Katie and Bertilsson, Jon and Rennstam, Jens}},
  issn         = {{1751-8040}},
  keywords     = {{place branding; sustainability; green growth; degrowth; defamiliarization; investments}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Macmillan}},
  series       = {{Place Branding and Public Diplomacy}},
  title        = {{Climate crisis as a business opportunity : Using degrowth to defamiliarize place branding for sustainability}},
  url          = {{https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/s41254-024-00348-3.pdf}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}