Special Issue - Communication for organisational sustainability in Africa - call for papers

CALL FOR PAPERS

Special Issue of Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa

Communication for organisational sustainability in Africa

We invite submissions for a forthcoming special issue focusing on organisational sustainability in the  African context from a communication perspective.

Sustainability is commonly defined in the Brundtland Commission Report as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations, 2007). While this definition initially emerged within the context of environmental and societal development, other scholarship emphasises sustainability as the capacity of systems (whether individuals, groups, communities, organisations, society or the planet) to maintain continuity and resilience over time (Aras & Crowther, 2012).

Within organisational contexts, sustainability increasingly refers to the long-term viability and survival of organisations themselves (Florez-Jimenez et al., 2024). This includes their ability to adapt to changing economic, technological, and societal conditions, as well as to maintain legitimacy, stakeholder relationships and operational continuity.

Communication plays a critical role in enabling organisational sustainability (Canel, 2023). Through communication, organisations interpret complex environments, engage stakeholders, negotiate legitimacy, foster relationships, navigate reputational risks and align internal and external stakeholder expectations (Allen, 2016; Eke et al., 2025; Ibn-Mohammed et al., 2024).

While the importance of communication for organisational sustainability has been researched thoroughly, much of the existing literature originates from the Global North. There remains a need to examine how communication contributes to organisational sustainability and long-term viability in contexts characterised by economic volatility, institutional complexity and developmental challenges.

The South African context provides a particularly important setting for such inquiry. Organisations operate within a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment (Enwereji et al., 2024), shaped by socio-economic inequalities, unemployment, governance challenges, infrastructure constraints, and rapid technological change, despite a digital divide and other country-specific challenges (Claassen & Verwey, 2022). These contextual factors place significant pressure on organisations across sectors, including corporations, government and public institutions, and non-profit organisations.

In such an environment, we are prompted to assess the role of communication in making organisations sustainable. How can communication contribute to the survival of organisations in the VUCA South African context?

This special issue aims to advance South African-focused scholarship on organisational sustainability through the lens of communication, drawing on perspectives from corporate communication, strategic communication, organisational and internal communication, public relations, development communication, marketing communication and related communication fields. The focus is on how communication practices contribute to the long-term survival, resilience and effectiveness of organisations across sectors, including corporate, government and non-profit environments.

For this special issue, we welcome empirical and conceptual contributions from all methodological backgrounds, including qualitative, quantitative and mixed-method approaches, as well as theoretically grounded papers that advance communication scholarship in this area.

Submission guidelines

Manuscripts should strictly follow the author guidelines of Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa.

Please click on the following link for the Submission Preparation Checklist and the Author Guidelines of the journal:

https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/about/submissions

All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process.

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Submission process

Manuscripts should be submitted via the journal’s online submission system.

Registration and login access are available at:

https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/user/register  https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/login

Please select the “Special Issue” option from the menu on the first page of your submission.

Also, indicate in the comment section to the editors that your submission is for the Special issue: Communication for organisational sustainability in South Africa.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscript submission: 1 May 2026

Closing date for manuscript submission: 1 August 2026

Guest editor(s)

Prof Lucinda B. Sutton, Dr Elbé M Kloppers, Prof Louise Bezuidenhout and Prof Lynnette M. Fourie (all who are affiliated with the School of Communication and Research Focus Area: Social Transformation, North-West University).

Enquiries

For questions regarding the special issue, please contact the guest editors at:
Lucinda.Sutton@nwu.ac.za