As community gardens (CGs) become increasingly popular, it is timely to investigate whether they further sustainability goals. Underpinning my research were questions like why people get involved in CGs, what benefits they derive, what they learn from gardening, and how governance facilitates that learning. Through interviews with gardeners, my data show that key benefits of gardening included building community, environmental protection, improved health, and resisting the industrialization of food. CG membership also facilitated learning in all three domains of Transformative Learning: communicative, instrumental, and transformation. Learning outcomes included gardening skills, improved insight into self and others, and increased prevalence of pro-environmental perspectives. The primary source of learning was interaction with other gardeners. CG involvement may contribute to sustainability by providing an environment which allows people to connect with nature, learn from others (if governance, garden organization, and social capital are strong), and choose more pro-environmental behaviours. / May 2016

This study examined the perception of barriers to pro-environmental behaviour for different population segments in British Columbia. Cultural cognition scales were used to assign cultural values to participants (i.e., hierarchy-egalitarianism scale and individualism-communitarianism scale). Psychological and socio-cultural barriers were assessed using the list of dragons of inaction. Data on cultural values, perception of climate change risk, perception of barriers, frequency of pro-environmental behaviour, climate change knowledge and socio-demographic variables were collected using online surveys. Egalitarian values were correlated with greater climate change risk perception and with weaker perception of barriers to pro-environmental behaviour. Greater climate change risk perception was also associated with more pro-environmental behaviour. The effect of cultural values on barrier perception was partly mediated by climate change risk perception. These findings suggest that future research should focus on lessening the discrepancy between scientific climate change risk perception and public climate change risk perception, which can, in turn, increase the frequency of pro-environmental behaviour. / Graduate / 0768 / 0451 / lacroixk@uvic.ca

Background: Due to accelerating environmental problems caused by fast fashion sustainable business solutions become increasingly important. Thus, the following thesis examines generation y’s intention to perform in-store recycling at fast fashion retailers and investigates the factors most influential on intention. Besides, it analyses if an attitude-intention gap exists. To fulfil the study’s purpose, a combination of the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1985) and the norm activation model (Schwartz, 1977) is used.   Approach: Within this study a quantitative method in terms of an online survey is applied. Based on a sample of 326 respondents, relationships between variables are analysed with Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression. To further identify differences among groups, Independent samples t-test and ANOVA are conducted.     Findings: The study’s findings reveal that generation y generally intends to participate in in-store recycling, while the intention is significantly higher among women than men. The intention to perform in-store recycling is predominantly intrinsically motivated as it is most driven by individuals’ personal norm.    Value: The findings of our study particularly add value for fast fashion retailers and marketers by presenting a novel research model combining most relevant factors required to adequately address consumers among generation y to perform in-store recycling. This specifically allows fashion retailers to successfully establish the concept of in-store recycling. Our study is further beneficial for sustainability researchers, environmental activists, charity organisations and policy makers to create a more sustainable future.

För att uppnå nationella och internationella klimatmål och minska den negativa mänskliga klimatpåverkan, samt för att undvika att jordens temperatur stiger ännu mer, behövs ett miljövänligare tankesätt kring hållbarhet och miljöutmaningar. Trots många miljösatsningar i samhället är det viktigt att framhäva och få en uppfattning om individens attityder och beteenden till miljömässig hållbarhet för att lättare påverka individer att agera klimatvänligt. Syftet med denna studie är att få en bild av högskolestudenters attityder och beteenden relaterat till olika miljörelevanta områden och aktiviteter som har en negativ miljöpåverkan, samt vilka bakomliggande faktorer som är av central betydelse för att förstå just dessa beteenden. Studien framhåller tidigare forskning om beteenden relaterat till miljö med koppling till studenter, jämförelsevis mellan kvinnor och män, i relation till media, sociodemografiska och socioekonomiska faktorer. Dessa faktorer belyses även i denna studie och relateras till just de intervjuade studenternas inställning, tankar och beteenden kring miljömässig hållbarhet. Studien utgår från hermeneutiken som tolkningsmetod och med kvalitativa intervjuer som metod för insamling av material. Sammanlagt har åtta personer intervjuats, varav fyra kvinnor och fyra män. Relevanta teorier som theory of planned behaviour, norm activation model och value belief norm theory med ursprung ur socialpsykologin används för analys av empirin. Empirin resulterade i åtta teman som belyser respondenternas olika attityder och beteenden och tankar kring miljömässig hållbarhet. Som tidigare forskning påvisat bekräftar även denna studie att attityder och beteenden inte alltid hänger ihop. Resultatet visar att attityder och beteenden påverkas på två olika sätt. Dels genom personers uppväxt och omgivning men också genom en påverkan från samhället från sociala medier, trender och förebilder. / In order to achieve national and international climate goals and reduce the negative human impact on the climate, as well as to avoid increasing the temperature of the Earth, more environmentally friendly thinking about sustainability and environmental challenges is needed. Despite many environmental initiatives in society, it is important to emphasize and get an idea of the individual's attitudes and behaviors towards environmental sustainability to more easily influence individuals to act climate friendly. The purpose of this study is to get a picture of university students' attitudes and behaviors related to different environmentally relevant areas and activities that have a negative environmental impact, as well as underlying factors that are crucial to understand these behaviors. The study highlights previous research on behavior related to environment and students, comparatively between women and men, in relation to the media and socio-demographic and socio-economic factors. It is these factors that also are highlighted in this study and are related to the attitudes, thoughts and behaviors of the interviewed students regarding environmental sustainability. The study is based on hermeneutics as an interpretation method and with qualitative interviews as a method of collecting material. A total of eight people have been interviewed, including four women and four men. Relevant theories such as the theory of planned behavior, norm activation model and value belief norm theory derived from social psychology are used to analyze the empiricism. The study resulted in eight themes highlighting respondents' different attitudes and behaviors and thoughts about environmental sustainability. As previous research has shown, this study also confirms that attitudes and behaviors do not always coincide. The result shows that attitudes and behaviors are influenced in two different ways. Partly through a person’s childhood and social surrounding, but also through an impact of society from social media, trends and role models.

The apparel and textile industry plays an enormous role in the depletion of natural resources, pollution and other environmental problems. Pro-environmental efforts should thus be encouraged in all stages of the apparel supply chain, but also more specifically at the disposal stage during which consumers should be encouraged to adopt eco-friendly options such as donating, recycling and/ or reselling apparel. The aim of this study was to explore and describe female consumers' pro-environmental disposal motivation and intent regarding apparel in the South African context. The hypothesis and conceptual framework for this study was based on a combination of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and the Norm Activation Theory's (NAT) constructs as the underlying motivational factors that contribute to pro-environmental disposal intent. The research was carried out in the Gauteng province, South Africa. The sample comprised of 315 female consumers; female consumers were of particular interest since they tend to engage in pro-environmental behaviour to a larger extent than males. This quantitative study used a cross-sectional survey design for which a Qualtrics web-based questionnaire was developed. Data was captured and coded to be further subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses. The findings indicated that most respondents are aware of environmental consequences related to the disposal of apparel. Social norms influenced respondents' personal norms, as well as their behavioural intent to make pro-environmental decisions regarding the disposal of apparel. It seems that consumers' attitudes also influence their pro-environmental behavioural intent significantly. In contrast, perceived behavioural control had a weaker influence on pro-environmental intent. The theoretical contribution of this study relates to the relevance of TPB and NAT constructs in the local context. In so far as practical implications are concerned, it was concluded that government and businesses should get involved in promoting pro-environmental apparel disposal options and educating consumers about the benefits of disposing apparel in a pro-environmental manner. / Die klere en tekstiel bedryf speel 'n noodsaaklike rol in die vermindering van natuurlike bronne, besoedeling en ander omgewingsprobleme. Pro-omgewings pogings moet dus aangemoedig word in alle stadiums van die klere voorsienings kettings, maar meer spesifiek ook in die wegdoen fase waarin verbruikers aangemoedig moet word om omgewings vriendelike opsies te oorweeg soos skenking, herwinning en herverkoping. Die doel van hierdie studie was vroulike verbruikers se pro-omgewings klere beskikkings motivering en bedoeling te verken en beskryf in 'n Suid Afrikaanse konteks. Die hipotese en konseptuele raamwerk vir hierdie studie is gebaseer op 'n kombinasie van die Teorie van Beplande Gedrag (TPB) en die Norm Aktiverings Teorie (NAT) se konsepte as die onderliggende motiverende faktore wat bydra tot verbruikers se pro-omgewings wegdoen voorneme. Die navorsing was uitgevoer in Gauteng provinsie, Suid Afrika. Die steekproef het uit 315 vroulike verbruikers bestaan; vroulike verbruikers was van besondere belang aangesien hulle geneig is om betrokke te raak in pro-omgewings gedrag tot 'n groter mate as mans. Hierdie kwantitatiewe studie het 'n deursnit opname-ontwerp gebruik waarvoor 'n Qualtrics web-gebaseerde vraelys ontwikkel is. Die data was ingevoer en verder gekodeer om beskrywende en inferentiële statistiek ontledings te ontwikkel. Die bevindings het aangedui dat die meeste respondente bewus is van hoe die wegdoen van klere die omgewing beïnvloed. Sosiale norme het die respondente se persoonlike norme beïnvloed, asook hul gedragspatrone intensie om pro-omgewings besluite te maak ten opsigte van die wegdoen van klere. Dit blyk dat die houdings van verbruikers hul pro-omgewings gedrags intensie ook aansienlik beïnvloed. In teenstelling hiermee, het waargeneemde gedrags beheer 'n swakker invloed op pro-omgewings voorneme. Die teoretiese bydrae van hierdie studie het betrekking tot die toepaslikheid van TPB en NAT konsepte in 'n plaaslike konteks. In terme van praktiese implikasies, was die gevolgtrekking dat die regering en besighede betrokke moet raak in die bevordering van pro-omgewings wegdoen opsies en die opvoeding van verbruikers oor die voordele van die afhandeling van klere op 'n pro-omgewings wyse. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Consumer Science / MConsumer Science / Unrestricted

Much work has been done in communicating environmental messages about climate change to promote pro-environmental beliefs and behaviours, yet individual-level behavioural changes are not occurring rapidly enough to make meaningful reductions in environmental harm. Studies have shown that although information-based and scientific means of communicating about climate change are the most common strategies, they are largely ineffective in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour. As an alternative to these fact-based narratives, stories are proposed as effective tools for environmental communication and promoting behavioural change. To determine the impact of the narrative structure of climate change communication on behaviour, this study examined how exposure to fact-based and story-based narrative structures of environmental messages differentially influence the extent of engagement in pro-environmental consumption behaviour. The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was used as a framework to examine the attitudinal and behavioural responses to the story-based and fact-based communication conditions. Specifically, we examined the relationship between non-consumption attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions, and non-consumption behaviour, and explored how narrative structure influences the TPB processes for non-consumption. Participants (n=291) were randomly assigned to read a story or factsheet about the environmental consequences of overconsumption of material goods, or a non-relevant text. Pre- and post-test measures of pro-environmental consumption behaviour were conducted 14 days apart. Post-test attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and behavioural intentions towards practicing non-consumption were also measured. Results demonstrated that both story-based and fact-based narratives were effective tools for promoting pro-environmental consumption behaviour, providing some support for the information deficit theory. Four domains of pro-environmental consumption behaviour were determined as non-consumption, reuse, activism, and green shopping behaviour. The story-based narrative was more effective than the fact-based narrative and the control narrative in increasing non-consumption and green shopping practices, while activism and reuse behaviour were not influenced differently by narrative structure. The TPB was found to be a useful model for assessing non-consumption, such that non-consumption behaviour was predicted by attitudes, perceived behavioural control and subjective norms through the mediating role of behavioural intentions. Non-consumption attitude was the strongest predictor of intentions, and subjective norm was the weakest predictor of intentions. Narrative structures did not have significant effects on the participants’ reported non-consumption attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control or intentions, nor on the relationships between the TPB constructs. The findings suggest that story-based narrative structures are effective tools for delivering climate change information to broad audiences and encouraging pro-environmental behaviour. However, the role of information-based communication should not be discounted. The findings also contribute to the body of research on pro-environmental consumption behaviour by providing a deeper understanding of the psychological mechanisms of non-consumption, an essential yet understudied domain of sustainable behaviour. / Graduate / 2023-01-12

Recognizing the importance of food waste as an environmental and social problem, this thesis aims to test nudging as a successful tool to promote a pro-environmental behaviour towards food waste reduction. The present research uses an experiment in a university canteen in Gotland, Sweden, with two interventions - posters with informational prompts and practical tips. Through quantitative analysis, we were able to conclude that nudging reduced overall food waste but with no statistical significance for the informational treatment. Furthermore, the informational prompts and the suggestions of shortcut solutions had similar positive impacts on food waste, with no significant difference. However, the study highlights some aspects that limit these results to a short-term perspective due to the experimental period of two months. On the other hand, the complementary qualitative data from interviews with customers revealed that nudges, especially practical suggestions, can be more useful as an awareness tool rather than a technique to actually change behaviours. Overall, the findings show that the two interventions reduced food waste with a continuous decreasing trend. Therefore, nudging can be a useful technique for canteens and restaurants to influence consumers’ behaviour towards food waste reduction.

Using an online charitable dictator game experiment (n=214), we explored how different, randomly assigned experimental treatments (social media posts) containing anti-climate-change sentiment (n=77, 36%), misinformation (n=74, 34.6%) and a control condition (n=63, 29.4%) impacted the real donation behaviour of pro-environmentalists to an environmental non-governmental organisation. Participants were recruited through social media (Facebook, Linked-In, and Reddit). We found that the treatments resulted in minimal differences to donation likelihood and amount. We used the same charitable dictator game experiment (n=56) to explore how these experimental treatments containing anti-climate-change sentiment (n=20, 35.7%), misinformation (n=26, 46.4%) and a control condition (n=10, 17.9%) impacted the social media response behaviour of pro-environments, as well as their real donation behaviour. We found that the treatments resulted in differences to reply frequency (p=0.02935) and minimal differences to reply tone (p=0.05698), while donation behaviour was unaffected. Donation behaviour did not stratify with demographic factors with the exception of geographic location (p=0.04825). These results suggest that the donation behaviour of pro-environmentalists is resistant to climate-change misinformation and anti-climate change opinions presented through social media, while these treatments may influence social media reply behaviour. Further research into the effect of this reply behaviour on other social media users and online spaces as well as whether these observations apply to the general population is necessary. These results also call into question the necessity of moderating misinformation and climate scepticism in online spaces, as there is some evidence that this content does not negatively affect prosocial behaviour, and instead may encourage cross-attitudinal discussion. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

Unga vuxna är en viktig målgrupp att uppmana till att anta en miljövänlig livsstil, då stadiet mellan tonår och vuxenliv präglas av förändring och utveckling av livsstil och vanor. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka unga vuxnas vanor gällande miljöbeteende och vilken typ av motivation de har för att handla miljövänligt. Genom en enkätundersökning som inkluderar 294 svar har denna studie funnit att unga vuxna är motiverade till att vara miljövänliga. Studien visar att identified regulation är den mest dominanta typen av reglering till miljöbeteende. De huvudsakliga barriärerna mot ökat engagemang kan härledas till de tre grundläggande psykologiska behoven autonomi, kompetens och tillhörighet. Nyckelord: motivation, miljöbeteende, unga vuxna, SDT, miljö / Individuals experience a fundamental change upon becoming adults. They develop lifestyles and habits that they will carry with them throughout the rest of their life. Therefore urging this group to adopt an environmentally friendly lifestyle is vital. The purpose of this study is to identify environmental habits and motivation for pro-environmental behaviour among emerging adults in Sweden. Through a questionnaire survey including 294 responses, the study has found that emerging adults are motivated to engage in environmental activities with identified regulation as the predominant type of regulation. The main barriers for further engagement are the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness.Keywords: motivation, pro-environmental behaviour, emerging adults, SDT, environment

De senaste decennierna har miljöfrågor blivit mer och mer aktuella och kommuner i Sverige har idag ett ansvar att arbeta för hållbarhet och med miljöaspekter. Detta försvåras av att begreppet hållbar utveckling är vagt och därmed är öppet för tolkningar om var tyngdpunkten ska ligga när det gäller de sociala, ekonomiska och ekologiska aspekterna. Inom en kommun sker arbete inom många olika verksamhetsområden och ofta finns övergripande styrdokument, till exempel miljöpolicys eller visioner som gäller miljöpåverkan och som syftar till att miljöhänsyn ständigt ska finnas närvarande i all verksamhet. En vanlig arbetsform inom kommunal verksamhet är i dag att arbeta i projekt, vilket gör att projektledare då har möjlighet att inom ramen för projektet kunna påverka miljöaspekter. En del projekt har som uttalat syfte att ha en positiv miljöpåverkan, men den här studiens inriktning är projekt där miljökopplingen inte vid en första anblick är så uppenbar. Studiens teoretiska ramverk utgår från teorier och modeller om hållbar utveckling i projekt, men handlar också om vilka faktorer individer påverkas av när det gäller vad som hindrar eller möjliggör för dem att bete sig på ett miljövänligt sätt. Studien använder sig av kvalitativ metod och utgår från tre olika kommuner där sex projektledare har intervjuats om deras upplevelser av hinder och möjligheter för att ta in miljöaspekter i sina projekt. Flera av respondenterna upplevde att det fanns goda möjligheter för att ta in miljöaspekter i projekt. De visade själva en positiv attityd och upplevde att det generellt fanns god vilja för miljöarbete, både hos politiker, ledning och medarbetare, samtidigt var detta svårare att koppla till projekt för en del respondenter, då det inte alltid framgick tydligt i styrdokument och arbetsuppdrag och hälften av respondenterna upplevde inga förväntningar på att ta in miljöaspekter i det aktuella projektet. De hinder som framkom var projektets ekonomiska ramar, brist på detaljerad miljökunskap, brist på kommunikation men också att det fanns motsättningar, vilket också kunde påverka att andra, både inom projektgrupp, i verksamheten eller bland kommuninvånarna har olika syn på vad som bör prioriteras. Även projektets förutsättningar kunde innebära både hinder och möjligheter för att ta in miljöaspekter i projekt. Inom den dagliga verksamheten fanns inom vissa områden rutiner och vanor etablerade av miljöskäl, men när det gällde hur miljöaspekter skulle tas in i projekt var förutsättningarna sämre. I studien redovisas också förslag på hur utvecklingsområden som skulle kunna förbättra förutsättningarna för kommunala projektledare att ta in miljöaspekter i sina projekt och som kan göra att en del hinder kan övervinnas. Enligt respondenterna är dessa mer kunskap, utbildning och stöd, fler konkreta hjälpmedel men också mer diskussion kring miljöfrågor för att de ska kunna få högre prioritet. / Over the recent decades environmental issues has become increasingly more relevant and municipalities in Sweden carry the responsibility to strive for the attainment of sustainability and environmental aspects. This work is however obstructed by the difficulty to define the term sustainable development which leads to a hesitancy of which aspect to focus on when it comes to social, economic and environmental aspects. Within a municipality, work is often performed within several branches and there are often regulating documents, environmental policies or visions which aim for the environmental aspect to always be included. Projects are common within municipality work, which means that project managers have an opportunity to influence the environmental aspect within their respective project. Some projects have a clear purpose to attain an environmental effect, though the purpose of this study is to examine projects where the environmental aspect is not clearly stated. The theoretical framework in this study is based on theories about sustainable development within projects, as well as the factors affecting individuals when it comes to behaving in a fashion that is environmentally plausible.This study make use of a qualitative method and was conducted in three municipalities with six project managers interviewed about their experiences of obstacles and possibilities to work with environmental aspects within their projects. Several of the respondents had good experiences of working with environmental aspects in their projects. These respondents showed a positive attitude and had the general conception that there was a positive attitude towards environmental aspects among politicians, the management and co-workers alike. For some respondents though, this was not the case. They had difficulties connecting environmental aspects to their projects. Partly because there were no clear instructions in the regulating documents or assignments, but also because they perceived no expectations of such. Obstacles that were observed were uncovered economical hindrance, lack of detailed environmental knowledge and lack of communication. There were also issues of disagreement within the project staff, the branch or between the residents of the municipality of what to prioritize. Even the prerequisites of the project would sometime be a hindrance, as well as promotive, to the environmental aspects. Within the daily work there were routines and habits established because of environmental reasons, though when it came to how environmental aspects were to be included in projects the conditions were worse. This study also suggest development areas that could improve the conditions for project managers within municipalities to include environmental aspects. According to the respondents these are knowledge, education and support, concrete support as well as more discussions concerning environmental issues with the purpose of increasing their priority.