Designing Climate-Related Social Media Communication to Engage Young Adults : A Research Through Design Exploration of Municipal Communication

Sammanfattning

This study explores how climate-related social media communication can be designed to engage young adults within municipal communication contexts. As younger audiences increasingly consume information through fast-paced and visually driven platforms such as TikTok and Instagram, municipalities face challenges in adapting traditional public communication practices to contemporary digital environments. The study investigates how communication strategies related to storytelling, emotional engagement, platform adaptation, gamification, and participatory communication influence young adults’ perceptions of engagement and relevance in climate-related communication. The study applies a qualitative Research Through Design (RtD) approach, combining literature review, qualitative surveys with municipal employees, semi-structured interviews with young adults, thematic analysis, prototype development, and prototype evaluation. Municipal employees contributed insights regarding communication challenges, institutional expectations, and current communication practices, while young adults shared perspectives on social media habits, communication preferences, and engagement with climate-related content. The findings suggest that young adults engage more strongly with communication that is visually engaging, emotionally resonant, platform-adapted, and connected to everyday life. Storytelling, short-form video formats, humour, gamification, and community participation were consistently associated with increased attention, memorability, and willingness to participate in sustainability initiatives. At the same time, participants emphasised the importance of maintaining institutional credibility, transparency, and realistic implementation within municipal communication. Based on these findings, a series of communication prototypes was developed and iteratively refined through participant feedback. The findings and prototype insights were further translated into a practical municipal social media engagement handbook aimed at supporting municipalities in developing more engaging and participatory climate communication strategies for younger audiences. The study contributes insights into how municipalities may combine platform-adapted communication practices with institutional legitimacy within digital communication environments and demonstrates how Research Through Design methods can support communication development within public-sector contexts.