Making Meaning With Laura Santamaria

Communicating Climate Change

This episode features a conversation with communication designer, researcher, and semiotician, Dr. Laura Santamaria. It was recorded in January 2024.

Laura’s work focuses on developing insights and methodologies for influencing paradigm change towards social and environmental justice. And her passion lies in empowering organisations and professionals with the necessary tools to achieve such change.

With over two decades of experience in brand strategy, design innovation and cultural research, she has honed her skills across a wide array of sectors, including finance, consumer goods, fashion, charities, and startups.

Laura is currently Research Lead at the Royal College of Art’s School of Communication, while continuing her work as an independent consultant in the private sector.

Amongst other things, Laura and I discussed how humans, whether as individuals or in communities, construct meaning, how meanings can become appropriated or changed over time, and why deep contextual knowledge is vital to understanding how climate messages might be received by given audiences.

Additional links:

Laura’s paper entitled, “Seeing the Invisible: revisiting the value of critical tools in design research for social change”.

Another good one entitled, “It’s All About Con[Text]: A Design Semiotics Approach for Managing Meaning-Value in Innovation Processes” from Marketing Semiotics: A Research Guide for Marketers at the Edge of Culture.

The Words that Work guide, which Laura contributed to and is a great read.

Plus a fascinating paper Laura shared from Wolsko, and colleagues, entitled, “Red, White, and Blue Enough to Be Green: Effects of Moral Framing on Climate Change Attitudes and Conservation Behaviors.”

And some additional insight from Jane Bryson, from 2008. “Dominant, Emergent, and Residual Culture: The Dynamics of Organizational Change.”