COGNITAS Corporate Opacity, Greenwashing and Non-disclosure: an Interdisciplinary inquiry on Truth, Accountability and Sustainability
ProgettoCOGNITAS (Corporate Opacity, Greenwashing and Non-disclosure: an Interdisciplinary inquiry on Truth, Accountability and Sustainability) investigates how companies strategically manage the production and suppression of sustainability information, and how these practices undermine democratic governance of environmental and social challenges in the European Union.
Drawing on agnotology and paradox theory, the project introduces the concept of 'desilience': the systematic erosion of collective epistemic capacity produced when organisations oscillate between greenwashing (active production of misleading sustainability claims) and greenhushing (strategic silence ongenuine environmental performance). Together with strategic ambiguity and greenwishing, these mechanisms represent a structural channel through which private companies influence public deliberation, regulatory processes and democratic accountability — functioning as pathological responses to the sustainability paradox rather than genuine engagement with environmental and social tensions.
The research deploys four complementary methodological traditions across four Italian universities. Unit 1 (UCSC Piacenza, PI: Torelli) develops the agnotological-theoretical framework and maps corporate truth practices through case studies and critical discourse analysis of Italian and international companies. Unit 2 (UNIBG, Co-PI: Molinari) analyses how sustainability reporting standards (ESRS, ISSB, GRI) create incentive structures pushing companies towards misleading or hollow disclosure, and measures the behavioural effects of the CSRD transition. Unit 3 (UNITO, Corazza) investigates corporate truth practices in territorial contexts through participatory action research, co-producing counter-accounting tools with impacted communities. Unit4 (UNIBS, Rocca) applies computational methods — sentiment analysis and text mining — to detect greenwashing, greenhushing and strategic ambiguity incorporate digital communications, and analyses whether the CSRD, Directive (EU) 2024/825 as transposed by D.Lgs. 20 February 2026, n. 30, and circular economy frameworks alter corporate behaviour.
COGNITAS delivers: a validated framework on corporate agnotology and desilience; a free, open-access Research Archive of corporate truth practices patterns; a free, open-source computational detection toolkit; a free Sustainability Communication Literacy Platform for citizens, companies and stakeholders; and policy briefs for DG JUST, DG FISMA, AGCM and CONSOB. A gender-sensitive analytical dimension is integrated throughout.
COGNITAS is propedeutic to Horizon Europe call HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-07 'The role of private companies in democracy' (Cluster 2, WorkProgramme 2026–2027, Decision C(2025)8493). The 36-month PRIN generates the theoretical architecture, empirical evidence base and multi-universityconsortium structure needed for a competitive European submission.
Drawing on agnotology and paradox theory, the project introduces the concept of 'desilience': the systematic erosion of collective epistemic capacity produced when organisations oscillate between greenwashing (active production of misleading sustainability claims) and greenhushing (strategic silence ongenuine environmental performance). Together with strategic ambiguity and greenwishing, these mechanisms represent a structural channel through which private companies influence public deliberation, regulatory processes and democratic accountability — functioning as pathological responses to the sustainability paradox rather than genuine engagement with environmental and social tensions.
The research deploys four complementary methodological traditions across four Italian universities. Unit 1 (UCSC Piacenza, PI: Torelli) develops the agnotological-theoretical framework and maps corporate truth practices through case studies and critical discourse analysis of Italian and international companies. Unit 2 (UNIBG, Co-PI: Molinari) analyses how sustainability reporting standards (ESRS, ISSB, GRI) create incentive structures pushing companies towards misleading or hollow disclosure, and measures the behavioural effects of the CSRD transition. Unit 3 (UNITO, Corazza) investigates corporate truth practices in territorial contexts through participatory action research, co-producing counter-accounting tools with impacted communities. Unit4 (UNIBS, Rocca) applies computational methods — sentiment analysis and text mining — to detect greenwashing, greenhushing and strategic ambiguity incorporate digital communications, and analyses whether the CSRD, Directive (EU) 2024/825 as transposed by D.Lgs. 20 February 2026, n. 30, and circular economy frameworks alter corporate behaviour.
COGNITAS delivers: a validated framework on corporate agnotology and desilience; a free, open-access Research Archive of corporate truth practices patterns; a free, open-source computational detection toolkit; a free Sustainability Communication Literacy Platform for citizens, companies and stakeholders; and policy briefs for DG JUST, DG FISMA, AGCM and CONSOB. A gender-sensitive analytical dimension is integrated throughout.
COGNITAS is propedeutic to Horizon Europe call HORIZON-CL2-2027-01-DEMOCRACY-07 'The role of private companies in democracy' (Cluster 2, WorkProgramme 2026–2027, Decision C(2025)8493). The 36-month PRIN generates the theoretical architecture, empirical evidence base and multi-universityconsortium structure needed for a competitive European submission.