The main goal of the project is to provide an accessible, concise, but comprehensive source of information about sustainable practices to urban planners. The purpose of the project is to bridge the gap between academia and real world planning applications. A website was chosen as the medium because it creates a comprehensive centralized information hub that allows access to various resources through hyperlinks. Websites allow us to present the most relevant information because they can be continually updated. Anyone with access to the internet can freely and easily access the site, reaching a wider audience.
All of the communication techniques were derived from the lessons and readings in a course offered through Arizona State University: SOS 598 Communicating about Sustainability. I am not an expert in communication; therefore I relied heavily on resources provided in the class and guidance from the instructor for communication methods. The following methods were employed when creating the communication for the website:
The website content was adopted from a prior research book project. The original project team identified planning problems and chose solutions to address the problems. The solutions address a wide range of concerns that urban planners commonly face in their practice. There are numerous examples, but the overarching ideas focused on issues in: transportation, water, economy, agriculture, green space, and governance.
The book provided a baseline of information and sources, but the structure, graphics, and writing were adapted for an online format. The following methods were used to change the format from book to website:
All of the communication techniques were derived from the lessons and readings in a course offered through Arizona State University: SOS 598 Communicating about Sustainability. I am not an expert in communication; therefore I relied heavily on resources provided in the class and guidance from the instructor for communication methods. The following methods were employed when creating the communication for the website:
- The writing is clear and grammatically correct. Grammar is important. It is the first step in writing effectively because employing proper grammar allows us to be understood. Grammatical errors reduce an author’s or speaker’s credibility, and thus weaken his or her argument. Planners are degreed professionals and should be addressed as such. Clear writing states who is doing what in each sentence, avoids nominalizations, and avoids using the passive voice unless there is a good reason to do so.
- The writing uses language that is accessible to the planning audience. I focused on an audience-centric approach in all aspects of communication.
- Scientific information is translated so that the target audience can understand it. A lay audience is one that does not have special knowledge about a topic; planners are a lay audience with respect to many concepts in sustainability, but not all.
- The writing appeals to the value system of the intended audience. The objective is to translate sustainability concepts in a way that makes them relevant to planners by appealing to their value system. Appealing to values your audience already holds is more effective than trying to change them. Planners are (more often than not) public servants, so I was able to make some assumptions about their values.
- The writing communicates honestly about uncertainty and the limits of scientific knowledge. The original research pages the website is based on painted a rosy picture about planning for sustainability. The content was edited to include discrepancies, negative outcomes, and unknowns, and thus more honestly reflects the limitations of the solutions presented on the website. It is okay to put the information out there and admit that you don’t have all the answers.
- The information is presented in a logical way and is adequately supported with reasons and evidence. Evidence is essential to making an argument persuasive, and planners want to see concrete evidence that an idea works. The website format lends itself nicely to providing supporting evidence because information that is cited can be hyperlinked, allowing the reader to easily verify the evidence, and find more information on the idea.
The website content was adopted from a prior research book project. The original project team identified planning problems and chose solutions to address the problems. The solutions address a wide range of concerns that urban planners commonly face in their practice. There are numerous examples, but the overarching ideas focused on issues in: transportation, water, economy, agriculture, green space, and governance.
The book provided a baseline of information and sources, but the structure, graphics, and writing were adapted for an online format. The following methods were used to change the format from book to website:
- The language was translated from sustainability discourse into planning discourse. I had an advantage in this project because I hold an accredited degree in urban planning, and additionally held a planning internship. Therefore, I am familiar with the language and terminology that planners use and I was able to craft the language accordingly.
- Unnecessary information was removed. Planners already have a grasp and understanding of many of the overarching planning issues and are familiar with solutions. The emphasis was switched to examples and supporting evidence, which is more useful to planners.
- Bullet points were used to make the information concise and easily absorbed. I determined that a bulleted list was the best format to present information because bullets are designed for concision and clarity. The best way to help people make sense of complex information is to break it down into digestible chunks.
- In-text citations were transformed to hyperlinks. Hyperlinks allow the audience to quickly and easily locate outside resources, which expands knowledge. This avoids synthesis bias of important information and allows planners to interpret source material in their own way.
- Images were only used if they complemented the example presented, or emphasized an action, point, or idea. In some cases this meant removal of images completely because they did not effectively communicate the ideas presented.
- “Implementation strategies” and “Keys to success” sections were added to make the information more useful to planners. Planners want to know about the concrete impacts of an idea before deciding whether to implement, adapt, or reject it.
- An avenue for communication response was added to collect input and feedback. In the future, this will allow for the website to be refined and expanded upon.