After realizing there might be a problem with how the University of Edinburgh shares its sustainability information, I started thinking seriously about how I could combine my background in journalism with my interest in sustainability. This reflection helped me see my previous studies in a new light—I realized that my journalism background could actually be an asset, not a barrier, to researching sustainability.

As someone who studied journalism as an undergraduate, I’ve had solid training in communication theory and practice. I understand how information flows, how different audiences receive and interpret messages, and how communication strategies work. These are exactly the kinds of skills that can be used to look at how well a university shares its sustainability efforts. By approaching sustainability from a communication angle, I realized I could avoid some of the technical challenges, while also bringing a fresh perspective to the topic.

After going through some relevant readings, I found that effective communication plays a key role in driving sustainability forward. Even the best sustainability plans won’t go very far if people don’t know about them or don’t understand them. Especially in a university setting, awareness and participation from students and staff can really influence whether sustainability goals are achieved. This made me even more confident that studying how universities communicate their sustainability efforts is both valuable in theory and useful in practice.

I also started thinking about what specific challenges might exist when trying to communicate sustainability in a university. A university is a complex place, with very different types of people—students, staff, researchers, visitors—all with different needs and ways of accessing information. How can we design communication strategies that actually reach all these groups? On top of that, sustainability itself is a complex topic. It involves technical systems, policies, and behavior change. So how do we turn all that into something people can easily understand and feel motivated to act on?

These questions really match my interests and also play to my strengths. By studying how universities communicate sustainability, I can use what I’ve learned in journalism to help solve a real-world problem, while also learning more about the sustainability field itself.

What’s even better is that this direction feels like a perfect balance for me. I don’t have to worry about lacking technical knowledge, but I can still go deep into a subject I care about—using a perspective I’m comfortable with. I truly believe that this kind of interdisciplinary approach can offer new insights, especially when it comes to understanding how communication supports real action on sustainability.

The more I thought about it, the more I believed this topic is worth exploring. It’s not just about what we do—it’s about how we tell people what we’re doing. In a time when climate change is becoming more urgent, smart communication might be the key to getting more people involved. And since I’m standing right at the crossroads between journalism and sustainability, I might actually be in a good position to contribute something meaningful.

Blending My Journalism Background with Sustainability Research / Yunyi Yang / Future Infrastructure, Climate Change and Sustainability: KIPP & Futures Project (2024-25) by is licensed under a