Fracking Good Sustainability Communications
Fracking. It’s a messy process that involves the fracturing shale rocks deep underground using a cocktail of pressurized water and chemicals to extract natural gas. With various instances of water-table contamination, flame-throwing taps and a healthy does of suspicion of the oil companies involved; it’s no wonder that it’s been grabbing headlines.
In fact, we’re screening a film about it at our next Green Wednesdays event. But this isn’t about filming screening clubs, it’s about super sustainability communications. With a process that’s inherently underground, it’s important to communicate the issues associated with fracking in a way that viewers can comprehend. We recently stumbled across a stupendous example of this; a website that brings together beautiful design, intuitive usability and clear messages. The site www.dangersoffracking.com was build by industrial designer Linda Dong. As a new user you tentatively explore that wondrous functionality that HTML5 coding allows. You find yourself being drawn into the engrossing story of how fracking works and the issues that it creates. The website takes you on an entertaining and informative journey, you engage with the issues and you feel compelled and empowered to act. You’re left with the simple message that fracking isn’t a good idea and, conveniently, there’s a link for you to take action via Twitter or Facebook. It seems to me that too often in the sustainability sector, people and organisations rely too heavily on the worthiness of their message. They often have the right intentions, but fall short on the quality of delivery. It shows that the best sustainability communications are those that combine eye-catching design, innate usability, apparent agency and well crafted messaging.
About the Author
Tom
Tom has a degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia as well as a Masters in Science Communication from Imperial College London. During his studies he read extensively on communicating environmental issues, and wrote his Masters thesis on communicating sustainability through the medium of film. After his studies, Tom founded Nice and Serious as he passionately believed that film was the most powerful way of engaging our society with the challenges and solutions to the environmental problems we face. Tom also dedicates time to communicating environmental issues to the wider public, having given talks with Ben at the Natural History Museum, the Bank of America and the University of East Anglia.
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