Climate change is an enormous challenge which, if not addressed will have detrimental impacts across the globe. This problem is largely produced by human behaviour. Therefore, strategies aimed at influencing behaviour are necessary in addressing this issue. Governments are currently utilising informational campaigns, rewards, penalties, nudging and structural changes to influence pro-environmental behaviour. Although these methods are creating change, it is far from sufficient to address the massive and urgent issue of climate change. Therefore, alternative strategies should be considered. As such, this thesis aims to explore the effectiveness and the extent to which the Social Credit System, as it is being developed in China, can be considered an alternative strategy for producing pro-environmental behaviour. A framework to analyse and describe the SCS was developed by executing a literature review of key environmental behaviour models and intervention strategies aimed at producing pro-environmental behaviour. It concludes that the Social Credit System utilises a variety of methods similar to the behaviour models and interventions reviewed in this thesis, especially as far as rewards and punishments are concerned. However, surveillance stands out as a distinct means of intervention that is not utilised outside China to produce pro-environmental behaviour. The discussion suggests that this aspect of the system might be effective in contributing to address the challenge of climate change due to its coercive nature.

It has been widely acknowledged that environmental damage and changes in the global climate can be attributed to human activities. In their attempt to deal with these issues, current top down approaches to mitigate climate change not only have limited efficacy, but also fail at changing people’s behaviour. In this thesis, we argue that bottom up initiatives can be more successful at engaging people in pro-environmental behaviour change and action than the current top down strategies. The potential of bottom up actions to encourage such change and action is first assessed in literature. A more specific perspective of bottom up initiatives is looked at in which pro-environmental behaviour is encouraged and observed through the lens of urbanism. A practical event on sustainability, co-organized by the authors of this paper at KTH Campus, is then taken as a case study to test and verify if bottom up actions can bring about change in behaviours and generate public engagement in public spaces. The results show that bottom up actions have great potential to reach the community and engage people into sustainable practices. As it was positive and solution-oriented, but also accessible, participative and fun, the event easily attracted people’s attention and interest. The stimulating environment then facilitates the process of sharing and learning information and consequently, it also increases the chances of influencing behaviour change and action.

This study aims to examine the effect of organisational commitment and employee’s pro-environmental behaviour at home on their intention to adopt green practices at the workplace in the context of hotel industry, by taking the theory of planned behaviour as a conceptual framework. Hotel employees play a critical role that affects customers' experiences, which then affects the overall hotel performance. However, the mechanism that affects their behavioural intention has yet to be investigated properly. Thus, a survey was conducted to collect the data from employees working in green and non-green hotels in Malaysia. Overall, there were 407 responses received, which represented a response rate of 55.75 percent. Then, a set of hypotheses was tested using the structural equation modelling. The empirical results indicate that organisational commitments have a positive effect on the attitude for engaging in a green behaviour and subjective norm, which in turn influenced employees’ intention to adopt green practices at work. Meanwhile, employees’ pro environmental behaviour at home has an indirect impact on employee’s intention to adopt green practices in the workplace through their attitude for engaging in a green behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control. The findings lead to a theoretical contribution by incorporating another theory into the theory of planned behaviour, which is the social bond theory through organisational commitment and spill-over effect through pro environmental behaviour at home. Subsequently, a practical recommendation from this research is attainable to policy makers and hotel providers in order for them to understand and increase employees’ willingness to adopt green practices at the workplace. / The full text will be available at the end of the embargo: 15th Dec 2026

Despite recognition that reductions in fossil-fuel usage are necessary to reduce environmental harm, energy consumption continues to rise globally. There is a growing need to understand how to effectively influence individuals to reduce their energy consumption, particularly of fossil-fuels. Pro-environmental behaviour is the subset of consumer behaviour that is oriented towards reducing environmental impact compared to other options. It is widely agreed that due to a multiplicity of influencers, pro-environmental behaviour is best analysed using an integrated approach that allows the inclusion of different disciplinary perspectives, and seeks to identify the most important influences in the system under study. This dissertation sought to address the broader challenge of how to better design programs and policies that result in behaviour that is more sustainable. The objective of this dissertation was to assess the importance and effects of program structure and advice-giving on the pro-environmental behaviour of participating in a home energy evaluation program that encouraged homeowners to implement energy efficiency retrofits. Program structure was defined as the combination of the price of the evaluation, the financial reward structure, the level of government support, and the focus on influencing eight specific decisions within a specified timeframe. Advice-giving occurred during the initial evaluation with a home energy advisor and with the delivery of the report that contained a set of recommendations. A convergent mixed methods research design was employed to assess the relative importance of the two factors on participation and advice-following, where advice-following was considered as the matching of decisions to recommendations. The quantitative dataset was made up of files that detailed the 13,429 initial and the 6,123 follow-up evaluations conducted by advisors of the Residential Energy Efficiency Project (REEP) in the Region of Waterloo between 1999 and 2011. The qualitative data were gathered through 12 interviews with home energy advisors, eight of whom had worked for REEP and had conducted more than half of the home energy evaluations contained in the quantitative dataset. A natural quasi-experimental intervention that measured self-selection in response to varying program structure was employed to examine for variations in participation, material characteristics of houses, recommendations, and advice-following. To extend our understanding of the process of participation and decision making patterns, other analyses focused on relationships between the number of recommendations, the time between initial and follow-up evaluations, the number and types of decisions made, and the prioritization of decisions. The interviews assessed for differences in styles of advice-giving, and for their impact through comparison with the quantitative data that detailed the recommendations and decisions taken by the homeowners. The results of the effects of both factors were interpreted jointly and compared to previous studies about REEP or the EnerGuide for Houses and program as it was delivered nationally. This dissertation confirmed that an integrated approach to examining pro-environmental behaviour is supported as a useful framework for analysis. The findings support a process-based definition of pro-environmental behaviour as a useful model and form of integration. A convergent mixed methods research design is supported as a valuable and rigorous approach to examine the impact of various influences simultaneously. The delineation of multiple stages in the decision making process greatly enhanced the quality of analyses and findings. The two main factors of program structure and advice-giving affected advice-following. One factor influenced the other, as the program structure affected the receptiveness of homeowners as perceived by advisors, which affected advice-giving. The findings support the importance of both behaviourist and social learning approaches in influencing pro-environmental behaviour, and that their importance varies depending on the stage of the decision process. The findings show that behaviourist interventions, such as the program structure, were associated with variations in participation, and that different subsets of the population of houses from the Region of Waterloo were attracted to the different program structures. Indeed, in each program structure, the decision to return was influenced by different decisions. A critical finding of this study was that these programs were not sufficient to alter the path dependence of energy consumption or of energy systems as the program participants usually did not implement the most effective retrofits, and if they did, the retrofits did not achieve adequate depth of reductions to energy consumption in a timely manner. According to the home energy advisors, many homeowners had pre-conceived ideas upon entering the program of replacing their heating systems and windows. The interpretation of the qualitative and quantitative data showed that these intentions were often not altered, particularly in the case of windows, the decision that advisors believed to be the least effective of energy decisions.

Despite recognition that reductions in fossil-fuel usage are necessary to reduce environmental harm, energy consumption continues to rise globally. There is a growing need to understand how to effectively influence individuals to reduce their energy consumption, particularly of fossil-fuels. Pro-environmental behaviour is the subset of consumer behaviour that is oriented towards reducing environmental impact compared to other options. It is widely agreed that due to a multiplicity of influencers, pro-environmental behaviour is best analysed using an integrated approach that allows the inclusion of different disciplinary perspectives, and seeks to identify the most important influences in the system under study. This dissertation sought to address the broader challenge of how to better design programs and policies that result in behaviour that is more sustainable. The objective of this dissertation was to assess the importance and effects of program structure and advice-giving on the pro-environmental behaviour of participating in a home energy evaluation program that encouraged homeowners to implement energy efficiency retrofits. Program structure was defined as the combination of the price of the evaluation, the financial reward structure, the level of government support, and the focus on influencing eight specific decisions within a specified timeframe. Advice-giving occurred during the initial evaluation with a home energy advisor and with the delivery of the report that contained a set of recommendations. A convergent mixed methods research design was employed to assess the relative importance of the two factors on participation and advice-following, where advice-following was considered as the matching of decisions to recommendations. The quantitative dataset was made up of files that detailed the 13,429 initial and the 6,123 follow-up evaluations conducted by advisors of the Residential Energy Efficiency Project (REEP) in the Region of Waterloo between 1999 and 2011. The qualitative data were gathered through 12 interviews with home energy advisors, eight of whom had worked for REEP and had conducted more than half of the home energy evaluations contained in the quantitative dataset. A natural quasi-experimental intervention that measured self-selection in response to varying program structure was employed to examine for variations in participation, material characteristics of houses, recommendations, and advice-following. To extend our understanding of the process of participation and decision making patterns, other analyses focused on relationships between the number of recommendations, the time between initial and follow-up evaluations, the number and types of decisions made, and the prioritization of decisions. The interviews assessed for differences in styles of advice-giving, and for their impact through comparison with the quantitative data that detailed the recommendations and decisions taken by the homeowners. The results of the effects of both factors were interpreted jointly and compared to previous studies about REEP or the EnerGuide for Houses and program as it was delivered nationally. This dissertation confirmed that an integrated approach to examining pro-environmental behaviour is supported as a useful framework for analysis. The findings support a process-based definition of pro-environmental behaviour as a useful model and form of integration. A convergent mixed methods research design is supported as a valuable and rigorous approach to examine the impact of various influences simultaneously. The delineation of multiple stages in the decision making process greatly enhanced the quality of analyses and findings. The two main factors of program structure and advice-giving affected advice-following. One factor influenced the other, as the program structure affected the receptiveness of homeowners as perceived by advisors, which affected advice-giving. The findings support the importance of both behaviourist and social learning approaches in influencing pro-environmental behaviour, and that their importance varies depending on the stage of the decision process. The findings show that behaviourist interventions, such as the program structure, were associated with variations in participation, and that different subsets of the population of houses from the Region of Waterloo were attracted to the different program structures. Indeed, in each program structure, the decision to return was influenced by different decisions. A critical finding of this study was that these programs were not sufficient to alter the path dependence of energy consumption or of energy systems as the program participants usually did not implement the most effective retrofits, and if they did, the retrofits did not achieve adequate depth of reductions to energy consumption in a timely manner. According to the home energy advisors, many homeowners had pre-conceived ideas upon entering the program of replacing their heating systems and windows. The interpretation of the qualitative and quantitative data showed that these intentions were often not altered, particularly in the case of windows, the decision that advisors believed to be the least effective of energy decisions.

This study examines the concept of sustainable lifestyles. It is concluded that the concept of sustainable lifestyles is derived from the bigger term sustainable development and that the concept sustainable lifestyles exists as an antipode to unsustainable lifestyles. Sustainable lifestyles are still a new concept within the academic field of urban planning and design and some confusion regarding the definition remains. Three case studies were made investigating urban planning for sustainable lifestyles. The sites were Houthaven in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Royal Seaport in Stockholm Sweden and Western Harbour in Malmö, Sweden. Urban planning for sustainable lifestyles was explicitly carried out in the Royal Seaport, in the other two cases the concept of sustainability was approached more generally but nonetheless the methods used were quite similar in all three cases. How people in the society of today are seen as responsible for e.g. buying ecological food, driving ecological vehicles and living a sustainable lifestyle, are analysed through the approaches of governmentality and biopower. There has been a shift from a centralised governing of sustainability implementations to a decentralised one where the individual responsibility stands in focus. There are different views of what a sustainable behaviour and lifestyle could incorporate. According to the technocentric approach, technical solutions to environmental problems are sufficient, but according to the ecocentric approach, behavioural changes are needed in order to obtain sustainability. This has implications for the planning of sustainable lifestyles. In some cases technical solutions are favoured in front of behavioural ones and the other way around. The two tracks of understanding leads to two different pathways of sustainability and a need to recognize and comprehend the differences are crucial in planning for sustainable lifestyles. Sustainable behaviour and habits relate to actions, which e.g. minimizes the use of natural resources or incorporates the switch from an unsustainable habit to a sustainable one. Sustainable behaviour is often referred to as pro-environmental behaviour and circles around consumption. There are several ways of replacing unsustainable habits with sustainable ones discussed in this study. / <p>email: bratel@kth.se</p>

With billions of sports fans all over the globe, athletes have a considerable platform to advocate for the environment and catalyse behaviour change. The purpose of this paper was to explore the role of leadership in athlete environmental activism. Furthermore, this study aimed to add to the existing literature on pro-environmental behaviour change by investigating the interventions performed by nature-based athletes when encouraging their fans to adopt pro-environmental behaviours. In this paper, a qualitative research design was employed and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten individuals who were identified as fans of nature-based athletes. The collected data was analysed using deductive thematic analysis, based on the leadership theory of Charismatic Leadership (CL) and the pro-environmental behaviour change theory of Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) Theory. The results indicated that all but one of the Charismatic Leadership Behaviours described in theory were performed by nature-based athletes, the exception being “setting goals with moral overtones.” Moreover, the study deduced that all VBN Interventions detailed in the academic literature were made by nature-based athletes when encouraging pro-environmental behaviour. The analysis process also revealed two additional findings: nature-based athletes mainly communicate their activism through social media and nature-based athletes’ fans want their favoured athletes to incorporate pushing for systemic change in their activism, in addition to encouraging individual behaviour change. Finally, a model was proposed that synthesises the theories of CL Behaviours and VBN Interventions, based on the findings of this study. This study contributes to the literature on pro-environmental behaviour change under the VBN framework and Charismatic Leadership. Additionally, this paper explores the role of leadership in athlete activism and athlete environmental activism, two topics which have not been extensively researched.

With the growing environmental concern, outdoor education has been looked at recently as one of the instruments that provoke environmental consciousness in an attempt to alleviate the ecological crises. The outdoor natural places are evidenced to have numerous affordances for children, one of which is raising their environmental consciousness, but what is the formula required for attaining this? This study aimed at exploring how outdoor activities in nature reinforce the young students' environmental consciousness, from their teachers’ perspectives. Thirteen primary school Swedish teachers from five national and international primary schools in Sweden were recruited conveniently as a representative sample for this thesis study. Data was collected through qualitative semi-structured interviews, then analyzed using the hermeneutic thematic analysis. The study findings showed the perceived affordances of outdoor education in regard to environmentalism, and the factors of the optimum implementation of outdoor activities in natural settings. The teachers' accounts manifested that outdoor encounters in nature allow experiential learning and enhance the young students' environmental consciousness in terms of their ecological literacy, connectedness to nature, appreciation for nature, positive attitudes toward nature, and prospective pro-environmental behaviour. Moreover, the teachers highlighted the necessity of pedagogical guidance accompanying the outdoor activities in nature, in terms of clear environment-oriented curriculum goals, environment-related content, motivated teacher guiding discussions, and modelling pro-environmental behaviour.

The aim of this study was to comparatively evaluate the Conservation Education programmes of the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa (NZG) in Pretoria, South Africa, the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC) in Entebbe, Uganda and Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, in order to devise a Model for an effective zoo Conservation Education Programme. A mixed-methods strategy, namely concurrent triangulation, was used for data-collection. The quantitative method was that of surveys by means of group-administered questionnaires. The population for the quantitative study was school groups that visited the zoos. The qualitative research questions were addressed by means of individual semi-structured interviews. Interpretive analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The participants of the qualitative study were staff members at the zoos and other key figures in the zoo – and conservation sector. The impact of Conservation Education programmes of the zoos were evaluated by means of a logic model. The quantitative results indicated that the Conservation Education programmes were successful in increasing the knowledge of the learners and in increasing their intention to change behaviour. This study further indicated that, although attending zoo Conservation Education programmes has the potential to increase the attitudes and values of learners, this was not always the case. Furthermore, the results show that when learners tested high with regard to their knowledge, attitudes and values prior to attending a Conservation Education programme, their knowledge, attitudes and values will not change significantly after they attended a Conservation Education programme. Furthermore, the results of the qualitative study indicated that the evaluation of Conservation Education programmes and the training of zoo educators should receive more attention to ensure the success of these programmes. It can be concluded that the role of zoos have become even more important to conserve biodiversity through their Conservation Education programmes. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

By following a climate-friendly diet, consumers have the potential to reduce climate change. However, despite the growing awareness of the climate-friendly food options that are available, consumers still choose foods with a high carbon footprint. Following a survey design, this study aimed to determine the extent to which four psychological processes (denial, conflicting goals and aspirations, tokenism, and interpersonal influence) limit consumers’ climate-friendly food choices in South Africa. Data were collected from 151 participants using the Climate-friendly Food Choices Scale and the Psychological Barriers Scale. Regression analysis indicated that conflicting goals and aspirations and denial were the two main psychological barriers to climate-friendly food choices. Overall the barriers were negatively associated with climate-friendly food choices. Gender did not produce a significant effect in the study. Different age groups varied with regards to the extent to which they experienced the psychological barriers, but they did not differ significantly with regards to how often they made climate-friendly food choices. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)