Communication is more than just a message conveyed through words written, spoken or signed; it is an art. Communication is context, cultures, experience, values, norms and technology. Communication takes place between persons, but is influenced by technology and interpreted within the framework of society—our daily lives.1
How does one get a whole society, let alone a whole world, to change course of action? In ancient times, the word of a king carried out at the sword of his men would ensure
observance. In modern times, words serve as the sword, its command carried out through communication. In its early years, the Norwegian environmental organization The Bellona Foundation2 won environmental battles with activism. Members would cut their way through fences and chain themselves to the gates of polluting companies to draw attention to
environmental crimes. The activities were brought to public attention primarily through the mass media. Today Bellona not only uncovers crimes but actively seek out solutions, often with the support of science and technology. Activism has not been forgotten although the fence cutting has decreased, but the channels of communication open to Bellona have
increased. The aim is still the same, though, persuasion, persuading people to take the green road and help save our planet. This is the same goal the environmental movement always has had, but Bellona works to achieve this with solutions firmly founded in science and
technology. This is especially true of Bellona’s Hydrogen Project where the solution to energy and climate problems is hydrogen as an energy carrier and hydrogen technology.
1 These are my thoughts in my own words.
2 In Norwegian: Miljøstiftelsen Bellona. The Bellona Foundation will hereafter be referred to as “Bellona.” In addition, it should be mentioned that the organization has a policy of not referring to particular names when writing editorials or offering a point of view. As a rule in formal writing opinions and ideas are not attributed to an organization, as it is considered grammatically incorrect. I will, however, do so in this thesis both to adhere by the anonymity promised to interviewed sources and to stay in accordance with the Bellona policy.
The object of this case study is Bellona and their Hydrogen Project. The idea is to look at the communication process in which The Bellona Foundation engages in within this project. Bellona bases its solutions to environmental problems on science and technology, making the organization a science mediator. Through the presentation of models of science communication, the need for an interactive, multi-directional approach that makes
problematic the receiver and recognizes the receiver as an active participant in addition to adhering to the correlation between message and context of the receiver will be demonstrated.
By contrasting this theoretical framework with the communication process and examining its respective stages, this case study aims to examine how Bellona carries out and perceives the different and whether Bellona recognizes the framework highlighted in the science
communication models and adheres to these factors within the Hydrogen Project.
Bellona’s aim is to achieve a hydrogen society through communicating to the “world”
that this is the solution for the future. The ultimate goal is a world running on hydrogen—a hydrogen society—where hydrogen is the primary energy carrier and 0-emissions is achieved.
If achieved, this scenario is of course a few years ahead of us, as a change of technological trajectory is not achieved overnight. In addition to being long-term, the Hydrogen Project is complex, taking on global problems like energy shortage and global climate change. The Hydrogen Project is about communicating and ultimately implementing a solution, hydrogen as the leading technological trajectory, replacing the petroleum trajectory the world is
following today. Since the solution is technological, the hydrogen issue is high in content when it comes to science and technology.
The Hydrogen Project’s slogan is “From talking to walking the Hy-Way,” illustrating that it is not enough to inform target audiences about hydrogen, action has to be taken, as well. However, one thing is to get people to talk about hydrogen technology and understand the hydrogen solution; quite another thing is to get them to walk the hydrogen highway. What
seems to be essential is to be an effective communicator on several levels. This means that Bellona needs to be a disseminator of information but also a receptor and catalyst. The Hydrogen Project is not only about informing about a solution but also the creation of one, as is reflected in the two informational levels of the project: popularization and development of the solution. Sounds simple enough but the environment within which the communication process takes place is a complex system of actors, interests, perceptions, cultures, experiences and ideas. It is also an environment where there are competing issues and where rational factors are not always the determinant of whether a message is heard or not. In addition, the communication process is influenced by the nature of the issue, which is certainly true for the Hydrogen Project. Within this environment it becomes crucial to take a holistic approach to the communication process and recognize that importance of interaction with the target groups and the multi-directional flow of information.
In chapter 3 and 4 will present Bellona, the Hydrogen Project and its solution in order to give an understanding of the organization the framework within which the Hydrogen Project emerged and what Bellona is trying to communicate through this project.
In order to understand Bellona’s role as a science mediator, provide a broader framework for the communication process and an understanding of how complex the
communication process is, the traditional model of science communication will be presented.
This model makes a number of assumptions about the communication process and hence provides a contrast to how the communication process should be perceived in order to communicate efficiently. As a mediator of science one has to recognize that communication is an interactive process with a multi-directional flow of information. It is also crucial to make problematic the receivers and recognize their differing contexts because this influences the construction and effect of a message. A message’s effect upon a receiver is not a function of scientific content only. Finally, it is important to view the receivers as active participants.
In chapter 6, the four stages of the communication process will be presented. The division into the four stages has been made in order to make it easier to study the process.
The first stage concerns the construction of a message to be communicated through a project.
Here it is important to recognize that a message is more than a scientific and technological foundation. At this stage the role of science and technology for Bellona and the
communication process within the Hydrogen Project will also be considered. The second stage concerns the construction of a strategy in regards to how the message should be communicated to target groups. The third stage concerns the channels, which have been divided into direct and indirect channels. The focus will mainly be on two indirect channels, the mass media and the Internet. In terms of the two mediums it is interesting to see whether they are adversary or complimentary tools and how they compare to direct channels. The final stage concerns feedback and how this is used in the project.
Chapters 7 and 8 will present and discuss the findings from a survey and interviews conducted with Hydrogen Project members. Chapter 7 will present three phases of the Hydrogen Project, the perception of target groups and their roles and importance to the project, and a Bellona’s roles in the project. Chapter 8 will study how Bellona handles and perceives the communication process stage by stage, attempting to get a picture of whether Bellona engages in an interactive and dynamic communication process or adheres to the traditional model of science communication.