Digital innovation and environmental communication at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University: Stakeholder engagement, platform affordances, and institutional trust

Abstract

This article analyzes Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University's environmental sustainability communication through the lens of digital innovation and stakeholder engagement. While environmental communication is often evaluated by the presence of green claims, university credibility increasingly depends on how digital platforms connect those claims to audiences, evidence, governance, and participation. Using a qualitative desk-based analysis of official PSAU digital materials, the article examines how the university's web ecosystem presents sustainability through Green University actions, Vision 2030 initiatives, digital transformation projects, IT governance, research and innovation, SDG/ESG coordination, digital learning indicators, and international impact ranking narratives. The article argues that PSAU's messaging is best understood as a platformed sustainability discourse: a communication system in which websites, portals, mobile apps, learning technologies, data-management structures, and news formats mediate the relationship between environmental responsibility and institutional trust. The analysis identifies five stakeholder functions: informing, legitimating, educating, mobilizing, and evidencing. It also identifies gaps, including the need for more interactive feedback loops, clearer audience segmentation, and direct links between digital transformation indicators and environmental outcomes. The article proposes an engagement model based on listening, evidence, translation, participation, reporting, and renewal.