HCII 2023 Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23–28
Communicating Sustainability Online: A Soft Systems Methodology and Corpus Linguistics Approach in the Example of Norwegian Seafood Companies

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) in Business, Government and Organizations, 10th International Conference, HCIBGO 2023, Held as Part of the 25th HCI International Conference, HCI International 2023, Copenhagen, Denmark, July 23–28, 2023, Proceedings, Part II Conference proceedings 2023.

Abstract

This article presents a qualitative case study of the Norwegian seafood industry’s sustainability communication on corporate websites. The research questions focused on how sustainability is communicated, and the communication channels employed by Norwegian seafood companies. The study found that sustainability is communicated through ecological certification, awareness towards the environment and social compliance, and engagement in knowledge exchange. The study highlights the need to create standardized language and a coherent discourse for competitive advantages in ecologically value-added products and digital services. Companies can use underutilized digital resources such as podcasts and direct online sales to consumers to improve stakeholder engagement. The study suggests the direct and active involvement of consumers in designing products that consumers desire, which can increase market share for the Norwegian seafood industry. The limitations of the study are the lack of feedback from small to medium-sized companies, limiting the generalizability of the findings. The study recommends that the Norwegian seafood industry supports developing digital service resources for small and medium-sized companies to remain competitive in the long term.

Keywords

sustainability, corporate online communication, seafood, soft systems methodology, corpus linguistics

Cite as:
Lindström, N.B., Cordeiro, C.M. (2023). Communicating Sustainability Online: A Soft Systems Methodology and Corpus Linguistics Approach in the Example of Norwegian Seafood Companies. In: Nah, F., Siau, K. (eds) HCI in Business, Government and Organizations. HCII 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14039. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36049-7_25

Vertical farms and the complex relationships between energy use in food systems, food production and energy resource constraints

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

From 2016, standing in a group discussion with Jack Ng, who is an engineer, and the Founder of Sky Greens Singapore. Sky Greens was founded in 2012.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2021

The current Horizon Europe Work Programme 2021-2022 for Food, Bioeconomy Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment [1] acknowledges a need to address the complex relationships between energy use in food systems, food system productivity and energy resource constraints. Product type, mode of transport, food waste, energy-related food system greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and energy efficiencies in geographies of production along with economies of scale are some of the interacting variables in the food-energy network [2,3]

In Sweden, about 26% of the greenhouse gases emitted come from agricultural activities [2]. Traditional farming practices and food production techniques concurrent with urbanization and globalization are energy intensive. With concurrent urbanization, globalization and changes in demography, the importance of energy use in food systems has become a global food security concern [3], particularly when some studies have shown that crop yields increase in close association with energy inputs [4].

The European regional concerns reminded me of a visit to Sky Greens in Singapore in 2016. I was in Singapore to attend the Responsible Business Forum conference held at Marina Bay Sands, and I had the opportunity too at the time, to visit the world´s first low carbon, hydraulic driven vertical vegetable farm and meet its Founder, Jack Ng.

Seagriculture 2019 “Seaweed Success Stories”

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Mussel served with seaweed pesto and a side of Arame seaweed, by pioneering Seaweed chef Donald Deschagt, Ostend, Belgium for Seagriculture 2019 dinner. The following article also appears on Forskning.no, Fra Fjord til bord.
Text & Photo © JW van Hal, JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2019

An impromptu session of new product testing with a group of friends in northern Norway ensued after I returned from a seaweed trade fair with new product samples of chocolate infused with seaweed or chocolate seaweed. I grew up in Singapore, and one of my first encounters at age of about five with seaweed was at a cousin´s wedding dinner. Seaweed is often served in conjunction with jellyfish at Chinese wedding banquets as cold dish appetizers. As such, I had taken for granted that the chocolate seaweed samples would bring positive reviews with thereafter queries of where to purchase such chocolate bars or when do we see them at the local grocery stores in Tromsø. But the immediate reactions to the chocolate seaweed was tepid at best. Most concluded that chocolate infused with seaweed was not a palatable product, and that a perfectly good product like chocolate was ruined.

Ecology values in seaweed aquaculture: A visit to Ocean Rainforest, Færoe Islands 2019

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Air dried seaweed at Ocean Rainforest, Færoe Islands 2019. Ocean Rainforest produces high quality seaweed of various types. The seaweed are farmed in the pristine offshore waters of the Færoe Islands. Their products include Saccharina Latissima (sugarkelp/kombu/breiðbløðkutur sukurtari), Alaria Esculenta (winged seaweed/wakame), Laminaria Digitata (tangæe / oarweed/tarablað) and Palmaria Palmata (dulse/dilisk/søl).(Ocean Rainforest, 2010)
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2019

Ecology values of seaweed aquaculture

The use of marine algae/seaweed in culinary presentations and gastronomy in Far Eastern countries such as China, Japan, South Korea and parts of Southeast-Asia is well known. In Scandinavia however, seaweed is mainly associated with humble origins, local coastal activities and historical narratives (Efstathiou & Myskja, 2018). In Norway, seaweed was regularly washed ashore during storms, making harvest of the seaweed accessible for use for animal feed and as soil fertiliser (Indergaard, 2010). During the 18th century in the Scandinavian coastal regions, seaweed was also gathered to produce potash and soda ash that were used for cleaning and to make glass. The alginate industry blossomed in the 1960s in Norway when seaweed was harvested manually from the coast for applications in the food industry as a thickening agent.

Moving on about fifty years to modernity, the past decade has witnessed a (re)discovery of seaweed as a natural resource and raw produce. Seaweed is increasingly studied and understood for its fundamental grounding in ecological values that are much needed in the management of today´s natural resources and marine environments. Seaweed is proving to be not only a valuable industry resource with potential applications as biofuel that can help mitigate carbon dioxide emissions in terms of substitution for fossil fuels (Milledge, Smith, Dyer, & Harvey, 2014), but it can also help with global adaptation to the effects of extreme weather condition in a warming hemisphere, for example, by damping wave energy and protecting shorelines, and by increasing oxygen supply in the waters that mitigate ocean acidification (Duarte, Wu, Xiao, Bruhn, & Krause-Jensen, 2017).

To that extent, the aquaculture of seaweed is the fastest-growing component of global food production (FAO, 2018). And while that is good news, considering the increasing market demand and applications of seaweed in various industries, seaweed aquaculture is currently constrained due to competition for suitable aquaculture areas. Other challenges that seaweed aquaculture faces are inadequate engineering systems capable of coping with rough offshore conditions, such as the type of weather we encountered for the day, on our way to visit Ocean Rainforest, as well as the lack of environmentally friendly automated harvesting and processing technologies.

Torskefiskkonferansen 2019 Tromsø, Norway

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Geir Sogn-Grundvåg [1], Senior Researcher at Nofima, and keynote speaker at Torskefiskkonferansen 2019, Clarion Hotel, The Edge, Tromsø, Norway.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2019

Hosted by the Norwegian Seafood Council [2], Torskefiskkonferanse 2019 took place on 10 October 2019, in Tromsø at Clarion Hotel, The Edge. The event saw a convening of more than 400 participants from various industry sectors, as well as academia and research. This one-day event is an excellent arena for the exchange of knowledge and for networking purposes.

26-28 Jun. EURAM 2019 Conference, Lisbon, Portugal

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Paper presentation at EURAM 2019, SIG12 Research Methods and Research Practice at ISCTE – Lisbon University Institute, Lisbon, Portugal.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson & CM Cordeiro 2019

The annual conference for the European Academy of Management, EURAM 2019, took place between 26 to 28 June in the beautiful historic city of Lisbon in Portugal. EURAM was founded in 2001 and today has members from more than 49 countries around the globe. This year’s theme, “Exploring the future of management” [EURAM 2019 Conference Program PDF] saw a high degree of involvement with more than 1700 paper submissions on a variety of management themes that were organized in 14 Special Interest Groups (SIGs).

In search of China produced red wines: International wine pavilions, the 100th China Food & Drinks Fair (CFDF) spring fair 2019, Chengdu, China

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Headed for the international trading pavilions for wine, at the 100th China Food & Drinks Fair (CFDF) spring fair 2019, Chengdu, China.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2019

One of the oldest and largest international food fair, the China Food and Drinks Fair (CFDF) saw its 100th anniversary this year held in Chengdu, China. The exhibition was held in two parts. The first event, the Táo IWSS (International Wine & Spirits Show) took place from 17 to 20 March 2019. This event had decentralized locations, held at the hotels Shangri-La and Kempinski in Chengdu. In 2018, this 4 day trade-only show exclusive for wine, spirits and beers sector had 15 pavilions showcasing both renowned and emerging international wine-producing countries and regions that included China. 32 innovation events with industry keynote speakers were held with specific themes. A total of 80 000 traders gathered in this 4 day event in 2018, with the Shangri-La hotel in Chengdu housing more than 600 exhibitors and the Kempinski hotel housing more than 500 exhibitors. The second event, the 100th CFDF took place from 21 to 23 March 2019 at the Chengdu Western China International Expo City.

Food packaging and technology: The 100th China Food & Drinks Fair (CFDF) spring fair 2019, Chengdu, China

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

At the food and food technology halls 1-3 at the 100th China Food & Drinks Fair (CFDF) spring fair 2019, Chengdu, China.
Text & Photo © M Svorken, CM Cordeiro 2019

With a population that is 18.41% of total world population, China ranks top of the list of countries and dependencies by population [1]. Standing on the exhibition grounds, in the midst of the CFDF 100th spring fair in Chengdu, you certainly feel as stardust, that make part of the constellation of individuals moving through just this one fair. The vast spaces and large numbers of individuals walking by, easily masks one of the country’s upcoming significant challenges, which is a decline in birth rate and an increase in life expectancy [2]. As such, the upcoming domestic issues for the country is one that needs multiple levels and time-frames of strategic policy planning that includes food, agriculture and technology.

Intelligent packaging at the Táo IWSS (International Wine & Spirits Show), 17-20 March, Shangri-La Hotel, Chengdu, China 2019

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

At the Táo IWSS (International Wine & Spirits Show), 17-20 March, Shangri-La, Chengdu, China 2019
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2019

The 2019 Táo IWSS (International Wine & Spirits Show) took place from 17-20 March in Chengdu, China. It was a 4-day trade-only event of the 100th CFDF (China Food and Drinks Fair), where exhibitors move from showcasing at hotels to the Chengdu Western China International Expo City from 21-23 March. In 2018, Táo IWSS had 15 pavilions between the Kempinski hotel and the Shangri-La hotel housing exhibitors from both renowned and emerging wine-producing countries and regions, including China. Record trade visitors were documented in 2018 with over 550 international and domestic exhibitors at the Kempinski hotel, and over 600 exhibitors in Shangri-La hotel. There were over 80,000 trade buyers from China alone to the Táo IWSS in 2018.

Torskefiskkonferansen 2018 Tromsø, Norway

Posted on by Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

At Torskefiskkonferansen 2018, I had the opportunity to meet and speak with Jarle Aarbakke, Norwegian politician with the Labour Party and current Deputy Mayor of Tromsø. He is also Professor Emeritus in Pharmacology (Medicine) at the Department of Medical Biology at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tromsø (UiT) and formerly served as Chancellor of UiT and the Higher Education Council. Mayor Jarle Aarbakke opened Torskefiskkonferansen 2018 with a Welcome Speech.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2018

Hosted by the Norwegian Seafood Council [1] who has its headquarters in the city known as Paris of the North, Torskefiskkonferansen 2018 was held in Tromsø, Norway, on Thursday, 18 Oct. 2018 at Clarion Hotel, The Edge. An important annual event for the cod fish industry sector of Norway, this year’s working theme for the conference was “Torskefisk (Cod Fish) goes global!”. The purpose of the event was to provide a platform for the industry as well as academics to exchange knowledge and views on the continued development of the Norwegian cod fish industry and its position in global markets.