The Heart of Change
CRUXCATALYST
Supporting Sustainability Change Agents To Be Effective Communicators
Though I no longer write Crux posts, there is years’ worth of material that remains relevant and useful, and I still post to the Crux Facebook page.
Crux is about supporting sustainability leaders in being more effective change agents, and doing so in a compassionate, fun, engaging and irreverent way.
The vast majority of sustainability communication is either missing in action (not happening), missing the mark (not hitting the target audience/s in a way that resonates) or missing the point (focusing on the wrong thing).
So much of our sustainability communications is the equivalent of shouting loudly at someone who does not speak our own language. Becoming ever more strident, earnest, or scary is not going to create the shift.
If people aren’t getting it, that’s not their fault – its our responsibility to frame and communicate our messages so they resonate.
In 'The Crux Files' are some of the best offerings from Cruxcatalyst, including guest posts, on values, interpersonal communication, psychology, leadership and more.
Values & Motivating People
About Crux
Sharon Ede
I’ve been working in the environment and sustainability movement since 1993, as both an NGO volunteer, and in government. I’ve been a speaker, guest lecturer, activist, and worked in both grassroots community development and organisational change for sustainability roles.
My expertise is drawn from the school of life, the real world – using a range of methods to communicate complex ideas and translating it from ‘sustainability-speak’ to a variety of audiences; supporting others to bring about change; and helping people with understanding the issues so they can make better decisions..
But over time, I have become increasingly frustrated that we have not yet – not really – communicated the bigger sustainability challenge picture to people.
It’s my quest to discover how to ignite the concern within people to understand the need for action on the sustainability challenge by rapidly increasing sustainability literacy.
I want to share what I’ve learned over nearly twenty years in this caper, and bring you the kinds of great examples of change-making communication I’m finding – within and beyond the sustainability sphere – to arm you with better ways of getting your message across.
About the Name
The word itself is one I invented:
crux, meaning both at the core (or the crossroads), and also rather aptly in relation to sustainability:
— n , pl cruxes , cruces
1. a vital or decisive stage, point
2. a baffling problem or difficulty
Crux is also the formal (Latin) astronomical name for the Southern Cross (crux australis), a constellation in the southern hemisphere
catalyst, meaning change agent
– noun
1. a person or thing that precipitates an event or change
© 2018