This chapter explores the transformative impact of the digital sphere and artificial intelligence (AI) on environmental communication. The rise of digital platforms has significantly influenced how environmental issues are communicated, promoting awareness, fostering engagement and mobilising action. The first part of the chapter discusses the role of social media and influencers in shaping environmental discourses and collective identities. The second part examines the opportunities and challenges posed by AI, highlighting its potential to analyse large datasets and personalise engagement while also addressing issues pertaining to reliability and the spread of AI-enabled misinformation and fake news. The environmental costs associated with AI technologies, such as high energy and resource consumption, are also explored. The chapter underscores the dual nature of digital technologies, emphasising the need for critical engagement to ensure that technological innovations support environmental justice without exacerbating existing problems.

This chapter explores environmental communication in more detail, with a particular focus on communication and linguistics aspects. It argues that successful environmental communication is not simply about transmitting facts but about fostering understanding, engagement and enabling informed decisions that can drive positive change. The chapter starts by discussing the communication process, highlighting key components and the roles of various constituent parts in this process. It also takes a critical look at traditional communication models and their applicability in an era of extensive digital communication. The chapter then discusses the significance of metaphors and frames in shaping perceptions and fostering understanding of complex environmental issues. Within this context, cultural differences in metaphor use are also examined. This is followed by a discussion of the concepts of symbolic competence and symbolic capital and their relevance to decoding and creating effective environmental messages. The final section introduces the role of visual elements, such as infographics and data visualisation, and their impact on audience perception and engagement.

This chapter outlines the evolution, scope and transformative potential of environmental communication, framing it as a praxis-oriented field rooted in crisis response and care-driven action. It traces the emergence of environmental communication from its activist origins in the 1970s to its present interdisciplinary form. The chapter highlights the sociopolitical and cultural dimensions of environmental struggles, particularly in the Global South. It introduces environmental communication as both a ‘crisis discipline’, committed to documenting unsustainable practices, and a ‘care discipline’, fostering relational ethics and biodiversity awareness. The dual functions of environmental messages – pragmatic (informative and persuasive) and constitutive (identity and meaning-shaping) – are explained through examples ranging from mass media portrayals to grassroots interventions. Emphasising intercultural mediation, the chapter advocates for inclusive dialogues that account for power hierarchies, postcolonial legacies and cultural frames. Ultimately, the text proposes environmental communication as a transformative tool for bridging divides and catalysing collective environmental responsibility, with a particular focus on justice, empathy and critical engagement across global contexts.

In Chapter 1, we set the scene by examining the dynamics of online offensive language. We examine offensive language across a spectrum, ranging from non-polite expressions to grossly offensive (potentially illegal) speech. We also explore the conceptual links between offensive language and related notions such as impoliteness, hate speech and language aggression. Importantly, this chapter focuses on why understanding offensive language is, above all, a concern best addressed by linguists. To achieve this, we discuss the similarities and differences between grossly offensive and (im)polite language. We specifically focus on pragmatic concepts such as locution, illocution and perlocution to explain how they operate at both ends of the spectrum. Finally, we address the challenges of detecting offensive language in computational approaches to combating online hate, emphasising the vital role of linguistic contributions.

In Chapter 4, we focus on the discourse of offensive language. Drawing on Foucault’s concept of discourse, we examine recurring patterns, structures and meanings that convey offensive implications in our corpus. We identify linguistic categories that are overused or underused in comparison to our reference corpus. The key features identified reveal that offensive language is often personal, opinionated and judgemental, and includes intrusive and critical expressions. In this chapter, we also explore the implications of these linguistic tendencies and their role in shaping the discourse of offence. Chapter 4 further demonstrates that the overuse of symbols, such as asterisks, serves to obscure offensive language, indicating both self-censorship and attempts to potentially normalise such language.

This chapter explores how literature and film can develop environmental competence by subverting anthropocentric worldviews and reimagining human–nature relationships through fictional narratives. Using an imagological lens, it examines how stereotypes of nature and Indigenous people – often rooted in colonial hierarchies – are reconstructed in novels like The Lost Origin and films like Prey and Avatar for the purpose of questioning. These works destabilise ecophobic attitudes, expose capitalist exploitation and foreground Indigenous perspectives grounded in respect for nature and environmental stewardship. The chapter emphasises the polysemous and affective power of stories to challenge normative behaviours and encourages learners to critically engage with cultural media as tools for sustainable education and ethical transformation. Ultimately, literature and film are thus framed not merely as artistic outputs but as potent agents of environmental awareness, interspecies empathy and social critique.

This chapter introduces the reader to the fields of language processing (psycholinguistics) and neurolinguistics. Studies of language processing in the brain, especial fMRI studies are discussed. The story of the discovery of Broca’s area is recounted. The reader is also introduced to garden-path sentences.

This chapter focuses on how human language is encoded in our genes. In particular, studies of SLI (Specific Language Impairment) are discussed. It is shown that certain bgenetic mutations can cause “breakage” in language ability. The reader is also introduced to studies about the corresponding genes in animals and Neanderthals.

This chapter explores ecopsychology’s potential to examine the psychological roots of environmental destruction and promote sustainable alternatives. Tracing connections between ecopsychology, positive psychology and economics, it critiques mainstream psychology’s individualistic focus and its neglect of sociopolitical and ecological contexts. Through concepts like the ‘empty self’ and ‘revolt of nature’, the chapter foregrounds systemic dysfunction in capitalist societies, arguing that well-being and reconnection with nature must replace growth imperatives. Key alternatives include degrowth strategies, well-being-oriented policy frameworks and transcultural initiatives such as Joanna Macy’s ‘Work That Reconnects’ and Aboriginal-led equine-assisted learning. The chapter concludes that genuine environmental and social transformation requires interdisciplinary ecological paradigms that disrupt resourcification, technosalvationism and nationalist tribalism – while fostering empathetic relationships between humans and non-human life.

Chapter 3 explains our research methods, data collection and ethics. In this chapter, we focus on how we have addressed the typical challenges of interpreter bias in studying online offensive language. To mitigate these issues, we ground our study in naturally occurring data flagged as offensive by the targets themselves. We also introduce the reader to the world of social media content creators and discuss who the targets in our study are, and provide some demographic information about them. We discuss the use of Sketch Engine as a tool to address our primary objective of exploring the formal, lexical, semantic and discursive strategies involved in the construction of offensive language. We also discuss Wmatrix5, a corpus tool used to explore the semantic dimensions of offensive language. In addition, we explain how quantitative analysis was combined with thematic and linguistic-pragmatic approaches to examine how frequency and context shape offensive meanings. Chapter 3 further outlines our ethical considerations, including the responsible handling of data and the protection of participant anonymity, throughout the research process.

This chapter reconceptualises environmental competence as a dynamic capability rooted in an interconnected blend of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, understanding and desire. Drawing on foundational models, it examines the structural components of pro-environmental behaviour and links these to empirical studies emphasising the foundations of ecological action. Building on this, the chapter introduces dynamic frameworks – particularly the sustainability competency models developed by Wiek, Withycombe and Redman and extended by Redman and Wiek – which emphasise collaborative, anticipatory, normative and strategic dimensions of sustainability planning. Through reflective tasks and case-based learning, readers are encouraged to recognise and cultivate transformative competencies, such as intercultural mediation and intra-personal awareness, essential for navigating global environmental challenges. The chapter also highlights concepts like Kickwa alli kawsay and Japanese kizuna as culturally embedded pathways towards sustainable living, reinforcing the argument that environmental competence must be pluralistic, inclusive and action-oriented. Ultimately, the text advocates for a holistic shift from static notions of competence to adaptive, integrative models that empower individuals and communities to enact meaningful change within diverse societal contexts.

This chapter examines the idea that language is organized non-linearly. It also emphasizes the importance of grammatical/function words. The reader is also introduced to the concept of chunking (constituency), illustrated at the level of words in a sentence. Human language is compared to genetic code. It is argued that chunking helps explain what meanings are or aren’t available for ambiguous sentences. Finally, sentence fragments are considered as well.