NARRATIVES OF SUSTAINABILITY: FRAMING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT THROUGH THE NATIONAL BROADCASTER’S SOCIAL MEDIA

Authors

  • Prof. Ilona Valantinaitė
  • Robert Leščinskij Vilnius Gediminas Technical University image/svg+xml
  • Vaida Asakavičiūtė

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17501/24246778.2026.10104

Keywords:

sustainability communication, framing, public-service media, cultural heritage, aesthetics, civic engagement

Abstract

This article explores how the Lithuanian public broadcaster’s programme Veranda frames sustainability in its television episodes and related social media content. Sustainability research often focuses on climate crisis, policy or technological change. Veranda, however, offers a different perspective. Its stories usually begin with buildings, interiors, neighbourhoods and cultural memory, allowing environmental meanings to emerge from familiar settings. The material includes all 24 episodes of the first season (2019–2020), together with the social media posts connected to them. We examined the material qualitatively, combining lexical-semantic observation and thematic clustering with a close reading of the corpus. Three recurring frames were identified: heritage, aesthetics and social engagement. They come together through ideas of preservation, durable design, local surroundings and shared practices. Sustainability is therefore presented not as a separate environmental demand, but as an ethical and cultural orientation embedded in everyday life. The case demonstrates how public-service media can make sustainable thinking recognisable by expressing it through familiar social and 
emotional forms.  

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Author Biographies

  • Prof. Ilona Valantinaitė

    Ilona Valantinaitė is a Professor at the Department of Entertainment Industries, Faculty of Creative Industries, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University

  • Vaida Asakavičiūtė

    Vaida Asakavičiūtė is a full Professor at the Department of Entertainment Industries, Faculty of Creative Industries, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University 

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Published

2026-09-16

How to Cite

NARRATIVES OF SUSTAINABILITY: FRAMING CIVIC ENGAGEMENT THROUGH THE NATIONAL BROADCASTER’S SOCIAL MEDIA. (2026). Proceedings of the World Conference on Media and Mass Communication, 10(1), 50-63. https://doi.org/10.17501/24246778.2026.10104