This dissertation consists of three journal articles that explored the effectiveness of a digital game, called EnerCities, in producing pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors by using a mixed-methods study approach. The first study was conducted as a quasi-experimental study among undergraduate students in the United States. Based on the Attitudinal Learning Instrument (ALI), this study found that the attitudinal learning gained from EnerCities influenced participants’ pro-environmental behavioral intentions significantly. This learning was retained until five weeks after game play according to the qualitative results of the study. The second study, conducted in India, used EnerCities to study the differences in attitudinal learning among high school students who played the game collaboratively or individually, using the ALI and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Results showed that the attitudinal learning and its effect on pro-environmental behavioral intentions between collaborative and individual players was similar. This study also showed that EnerCities had significantly impacted the environmental attitudes and behaviors of the game players when compared to students who did not play any game, although all students had studied environmental studies through traditional instructional methods since elementary school. The third study, conducted among high school students in India, compared the environmental attitudes between game players and students who did not play any game based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale. Both the unidimensional and multi-dimensional properties of the NEP were considered. It was found that EnerCities had impacted game players’ environmental attitudes significantly. All the three studies showed that digital games are more effective in promoting attitudinal (cognitive, affective, behavioral and social) learning compared to traditional instructional methods. This supports the implementation of digital games as a pedagogical tool in influencing environmental attitudes and behaviors.

Les enjeux environnementaux contemporains nécessitent la mobilisation de l’ensemble des acteurs sociétaux. Dans ce contexte, comprendre adéquatement la participation politique citoyenne face à l’environnement est primordial. En recensant la littérature, on note que certains courants analytiques concluent à la nécessité d’élargir les concepts de participation politique et d’activisme environnemental afin de mieux considérer l’impact du mode de vie et de la sphère privée. En nous appuyant sur les points saillants de ces deux littératures, nous avançons une typologie qui différencie les gestes activistes pro-environnementaux selon leur «nouveauté» (en tant qu’objets analytiques de nature politique) et leur radicalité. Afin de valider empiriquement ce modèle et de déterminer si les nouveaux comportements activistes environnementaux sont réellement politiques, nous avons analysé les données d’un sondage réalisé auprès de 3458 Canadiens issus de la population générale et de 2653 membres de groupes environnementaux canadiens. Nous avons d’abord effectué une analyse factorielle exploratoire afin d’identifier différents types de gestes pro-environnementaux. Après avoir associé les facteurs résultant aux quadrants de notre typologie, nous avons effectué une série d’analyses de régression linéaires visant à comparer les caractéristiques des gestes conventionnellement politiques et des nouveaux comportements activistes. Les résultats tendent à confirmer la vision voulant que ces derniers aient une forte résonance politique. Il semble donc nécessaire de tenir compte du potentiel élargi de la notion de comportement politique, de façon à tirer des conclusions plus justes, tant au niveau de l’évaluation de la participation politique citoyenne que de l’engagement activiste lié aux enjeux environnementaux. / Contemporary environmental issues require the mobilization of all societal actors. In this context, it is essential to be able to adequately understand citizen political participation regarding the environment. In reviewing the literature, we note that certain analytical currents conclude that there is a need to broaden the concepts of political participation and environmental activism in order to better consider the impact of lifestyle and the private sphere. Based on the highlights of these two literatures, we propose a typology that differentiates pro-environmental activist actions according to their "novelty" (as analytical objects of a political nature) and their radicality. In order to empirically validate this model and to determine whether new environmental activist behaviours are truly political, we analyzed data from a survey of 3458 Canadians from the general population and 2653 members of Canadian environmental groups. We first conducted an exploratory factor analysis to identify different types of pro-environmental actions. After associating the resulting factors to the quadrants of our typology, we conducted a series of linear regression analyses to compare the characteristics of conventional political actions and new activist behaviours. The results tend to confirm the view that the latter have a strong political resonance. It therefore seems necessary to consider the broader potential of the notion of political behaviour in order to draw more accurate conclusions, both in terms of assessing citizen political participation and activist engagement in environmental issues.

Threat perception related to environmental issues such as air pollution may be a determinant of pro-environmental behaviors. Among the potential threats of air pollution, include the perceived impacts on the psychological, social, and economic wellbeing of a community. Because of rapid increases in population growth, urbanization, and the mountainous landscapes, the American West is extremely susceptible to the adverse impacts of air pollution. A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from the Air Quality Perception Survey conducted in Cache County, Utah. The survey focused on the public perception of air pollution in Cache County and perceived impact on personal and community life. From a sample of 289 returned surveys, the data were examined to determine the possible link between threat perception and the decision to engage in specific pro-environmental and avoidance behaviors. The analysis found that threat perception predicted some pro-environmental and avoidance behaviors.

Klimatförändringarnas stora problematik är ett av de mest diskuteradeämnena idag och är högst avgörande för framtiden och kommandegenerationer. Dagens ungdomar anser att klimatet är den viktigastesamhällsfrågan och ungdomar en viktig grupp att lägga fokus på vidforskning. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur unga motiveras att ageramer klimatvänligt utifrån tillit till klimatforskare, känslan av att kunnapåverka samt oro för klimatförändringarna. Tidigare forskning på vuxna harhittat signifikanta samband mellan alla dessa aspekter vilket denna studieockså gjorde. I studien fann vi även att oro för klimatförändringarna var denunikt viktigaste faktorn för att förklara det klimatvänliga handlandet när mankontrollerade för de andra variablerna. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av enwebb-enkät som distribuerades till gymnasieelever i Göteborg och Rönninge(N=106). Aktuell studie utfördes med en tvärsnittsdesign där måtten vartillförlitliga och väl validerade. Resultaten har bidragit till både praktiskaimplikationer såväl som intressanta teoretiska frågor för framtida forskning. / Climate change and the major problems it brings is the most discussed topictoday and are crucial for the future and future generations. Today'sadolescents consider the climate changes to be the most important societalissue and young people are an essential group to focus on when it comes toresearch. The aim with this study was to examine how young people getmotivated to act more pro-environmental based on trust in climate scientists,efficacy and climate change concern. Previous research with adults has foundsignificant correlations between all these aspects, so did this study. The studyalso found that climate change concern was the sole most important factor inexplaining pro-environmental behavior when controlling for the othervariables. The study was executed with a web survey that was distributed tohigh school students in Göteborg and Rönninge (N=106). The study wasconducted with a cross-sectional design where the measurements werereliable and well validated. The results have both practical implications aswell as it has aroused interesting theoretical questions for future research.

Rock climbing has become a popular adventure activity, yet it poses a threat to the environment, particularly to the rare species that inhabit the lower vegetation density of rock faces. To address this concern, effective evironmental communication is necessary to provoke environmentally responsible behavior among climbers. This study explores what the most effective form of environmental communication is, that elicits a positive response from rock climbers. Regulatory Focus Theory as well as the nature values distinction (intrinsic, instrumental, and relational) are employed to assess the effect of value-based messages on rock climbers' environmental behavior. Moreover, this research investigates how personal values of rock climbers (biospheric, altruistic, and egoistic) impact their response to messages that highlight different nature values. Environmental messaging that resonates with the personal values of rock climbers can influence their response positively. Thus, crafting messages that are aligned with the target audience's environmental dispositions is essential for effective environmental communication. While the findings did not yield definitive results, the study indicates that messages emphasizing the instrinsic value of nature coupled with prevention-oriented foucus may be more effective for rock climbers. Moreover, altruistic and biospheric values significantly moderated climbers' response to environmental messages framed with nature values. Regulatory focus was not found to significantly influence rock climbers' environmental behavior. The study also shows that demographic characteristics such as age and gender can influence the environmental behavior of rock climbers. The study's insights provide a baseline for future research in persuasive messaging for adventure tourists. The research opens up new directions in tourism studies and identifies environmental values most relevant to the rock climbing community, providing guidance to climbing area managers and other stakeholders invested in safeguarding natural habitats. By shedding light on possible environmental communication strategies for the promotion of pro-environmental behavior among rock climbers, this research offers an important contribution to the protection of vulnerable ecosystems and the preservation of natural habitats.

Consumption of everyday products is an unintentional behavior most individuals act out without thinking of it. These products can end up as litter discarded in nature. Littering is an important field to study in order to achieve a sustainable future. Littering has large consequences on the environment, animals, and humans as it contributes to pollution, biodiversity loss and unsafe environments. Municipalities in Sweden have large expenses from cleaning up wrongfully placed litter. It is illegal to litter in Sweden and despite this, many municipalities struggle with high amounts of litter. Strängnäs municipality, Sweden, have acknowledged this problem and are looking for new strategies to change the current behaviors of their residents. Residents in Strängnäs answered a questionnaire regarding their current littering behaviors, their attitudes towards the field and how communication can influence their behaviors to understand which influences are important regarding littering. The aim of this study was to understand what behaviors individuals currently have, what influences these behaviors and how Strängnäs municipality can work more with communication towards the residents. The background and theoretical approach provided and understanding of previous studies on littering, but also the importance of social norms and social environment. The theories used in this study was Social Practice Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory. The results from this study were that social norms influence the respondents’ behaviors; however, their current social environment did not tend to have the same influence as their upbringing. Younger residents also tended to litter more than older. The key results were that the individuals who participated in the study were very unhappy with the current situation and the work that Strängnäs municipality currently are doing regarding littering. The respondents thought the city center to be very littered and unsafe, and there was a norm not to tell others not to litter if seen. However, many of the participants did not know what strategies the municipality already used which implies that the communication from the municipality could be improved. This study highlights the importance of communication and information and how these affect individuals littering behaviors through social norms.

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

Gamification är ett nytt innovativt sätt att uppmuntra till hållbart beteende genom att ta tillvara gamifications förmåga att påverka individers motivation och engagemang. Därför är det intressant att undersöka möjligheterna gamification har att användas av turistdestinationer som ett verktyg för att motivera besökare till ett mer hållbart beteende. Studien är inriktad främst på miljömässig hållbarhet, studien har en hermeneutisk utgångspunkt och datainsamling har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med turistdestinationer. Studien syftar till att öka kunskapsområdet inom ämnet gamification som ett verktyg för hållbar turism. Studiens teoretiska ramverk är turistdestinationer och digital utveckling, gamification och turistupplevelser, eco-gamification, turisters miljövänliga beteende och hållbar turism.Studien behandlar sambandet mellan gamification, miljömässig hållbar utveckling, turistdestinationer och turistbeteende. Studien är uppdelad i tre faser; fas 1 är en förstudie i form av en kvantitativ enkätundersökning, fas 2 är en kvalitativ förstudie för fördjupad förförståelse och den tredje fasen innefattar datainsamling genom kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer. Teman som framkom från den tematiska analysen av empirin är som följande: (1) gamification kan skapa nya innovativa turistupplevelser; (2) potentialen för gamification att användas som ett verktyg för miljömässig hållbar turism; (3) hur destinationer kan påverka turisters miljömedvetna beteende; (4) gamification medför negativa effekter och utmaningar i utvecklingen av turistupplevelser.Studiens resultat visar att samtliga destinationerna ser gamification som ett intressant verktyg för miljömässig hållbar turism, ett par av de intervjuade destinationerna använder, eller har använt, gamification som ett sätt att öka turisters miljömedvetna beteende. Tävlingar, lära sig något nytt och utvecklas anser destinationerna är de viktigaste drivkrafterna för att delta i en gamifierad aktivitet, men både inre och yttre motivation är viktigt att ha i beaktande. / Gamification is a new innovative way to encourage sustainable behavior by using gamification's ability to influence individuals motivation and commitment. Therefore, it is interesting to investigate the possibilities gamification has for being used by tourist destinations as a tool to motivate visitors to a more sustainable behavior. The study is focused primarily on environmental sustainability, the study has a hermeneutic research model and data collection has taken place through semi-structured interviews with tourist destinations. The study aims to increase the knowledge area within the subject of gamification as a tool for sustainable tourism. The study's theoretical framework is tourist destinations and digital development, gamification and tourist experiences, eco-gamification, tourists environmentally friendly behavior and sustainable tourism. The study deals with the connection between gamification, environmentally sustainable development, tourist destinations and tourist behaviour. The study is divided into three phases; phase 1 is a pre-study in the form of a quantitative survey, phase 2 is a qualitative pre-study for in-depth pre-understanding and the third phase includes data collection through qualitative semi-structured interviews. The themes that emerged from the thematic analysis of the empirical work are: (1) gamification can create new innovative tourist experiences; (2) the potential for gamification to be used as a tool for environmentally sustainable tourism; (3) how destinations can influence the environmentally conscious behavior of tourists; (4) negative effects and challenges of gamification in the development of tourist experiences. The results of the study show that all the destinations see gamification as an interesting tool for environmentally sustainable tourism. A couple of the interviewed destinations use, or have used, gamification as a way to increase the environmentally conscious behavior of tourists. Competitions, learning something new and progress are considered by the destinations to be the most important motivators for participating in a gamified activity. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are important to take into account in the development of gamification. / <p>2024-05-29</p>

Participatory monitoring of ecological and socioeconomic effects of harvesting and trading natural resources is advocated as a promoter of natural resource conservation and local communitiy empowerment. Nevertheless, the strategys success depends upon peoples willingness and availability to participate. Yet little is known about the factors that drive local communities to volunteer in participatory monitoring, particularly in relation to small-scale communities living in remote locations. This thesis investigated whether a number of candidate factors were able to predict peoples participation in monitoring. To do so, we conducted a study in a forest community of the Brazilian Amazon that harvested and traded Carapa guianensis (andiroba), a non-timber forest product (NTFP). Two methods of data gathering were employed: (i) an interview-based survey of 166 adults ( 18 y.o.; 51 households) to estimate peoples self-stated intention to participate and the drivers of their participation, and (ii) experimentally-implemented monitoring tasks of the effects of harvesting and trading C. guianensis to measure peoples actual participation. Results are presented in three chapters. In Chapter 1, we evaluated whether economic benefits received from the NTFP trade or, alternatively peoples cooperativeness, were more important in predicting peoples participation. Results indicated that both variables raised peoples intention and actual levels of participation in monitoring, but cooperativeness was a stronger and better predictor across monitoring tasks. In Chapter 2, we investigated the psychology of engaging in monitoring, departing from the theoretical framework of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) for understanding whether the variables in the model were appropriate to predict the willingness to volunteer in monitoring tasks. We found that the TPB model, in general, was able to predict peoples intention to volunteer in monitoring tasks. Specifically, one of the attitude indicators (attitude pleasure) explained the intention to engage in all monitoring tasks assessed. Subjective norms were also important to predict the intention to collect data on natural resource populations and to interview community inhabitants, whereas perceived behavioral control predicted the intention to collect data on natural resources and to deal with data management and storage. Finally, in Chapter 3 we hypothesized that the awareness of ecological and socioeconomic impacts of NTFP harvest and trade should explain peoples participation in monitoring. Results indicated that both factors were important, particularly regarding to peoples actual participation, although factors such as gender, age and schooling were occasionally stronger predictors. Nevertheless, there is evidence that combining monitoring of ecological and socioeconomic factors will boost the practices success. The study conclusions contribute to lessons aimed at stimulating participation in monitoring. Among those, we highlight the importance of strategies to increase levels of cooperativeness among people, spreading information about the possible negative effects of natural resource harvest and trade, and granting financial compensations equivalent to the opportunity costs of participation. / O monitoramento participativo dos efeitos ecológicos e socioeconômicos da coleta e do comércio de recursos naturais é uma estratégia considerada promotora tanto da conservação ambiental, quanto do empoderamento das comunidades locais. O sucesso da estratégia, todavia, depende, sobretudo, da disponibilidade e disposição dos indivíduos em participarem. Apesar disso, sabe-se pouco sobre os fatores que determinam a participação voluntária no monitoramento, especialmente em comunidades de pequena escala habitantes de áreas remotas. Sendo assim, esta tese teve por objetivo investigar o efeito de determinantes da participação no monitoramento. Para tal, foi estudada uma comunidade da Amazônia brasileira que coleta e comercializa Carapa guianensis (andiroba), um produto florestal não madeireiro (PFNM). Dois métodos de coleta de dados foram utilizados: (i) survey por meio de entrevistas a 166 adultos ( 18 anos; 51 unidades domésticas) para estimar a intenção de participar e os determinantes da participação, e (ii) implementação de monitoramento experimental dos efeitos da coleta e do comércio de C. guianensis para quantificar a participação real no monitoramento. Os resultados são apresentados em três capítulos. No Capítulo 1, avaliamos se os benefícios econômicos obtidos com o comércio de PFNM ou, alternativamente, o comportamento cooperativo são determinantes mais importantes da participação. Os resultados indicaram que as duas variáveis aumentam a intenção e a participação real no monitoramento. Porém, o comportamento cooperativo foi um indicador mais forte da participação entre as diferentes atividades de monitoramento avaliadas. No Capítulo 2, investigamos os fatores psicológicos que afetam a participação, utilizando como base a Teoria do comportamento planejado (TCP) e avaliando o efeito das variáveis deste modelo sobre a probabilidade da participação voluntária no monitoramento. Os resultados indicaram que, em geral, o modelo da TCP é adequado para prever a intenção de participar em diferentes etapas do monitoramento avaliadas. Em particular, um dos indicadores de atitude (prazer) é capaz de explicar a participação nas quatro etapas de monitoramento. Normas subjetivas também foram importantes preditores da intenção de participar da coleta de dados da população de andiroba e entrevistar outros moradores da comunidade. Já o controle comportamental percebido previu a intenção de participar da coleta de dados sobre a população do recurso natural e a entrada e armazenamento de dados. No Capítulo 3, partimos da hipótese de que a percepção dos impactos ecológicos e socioeconômicos da coleta e do comércio de PFNM pode explicar a participação no monitoramento. Os resultados indicaram que a percepção dos dois tipos de impactos é importante, sobretudo para a participação real. Porém, outros fatores como gênero, idade e escolaridade são determinantes mais fortes da participação em algumas atividades. Ademais, encontramos evidências de que aliar o monitoramento de impactos ecológicos e socioeconômicos aumenta o sucesso da prática. As conclusões do estudo contribuem com lições práticas para aumentar a participação no monitoramento. Destacamos, dentre elas, a importância de estratégias para aumentar a cooperação entre os comunitários, a disseminação de informações sobre os possíveis impactos negativos da coleta e do comércio de recursos naturais, e o fornecimento de compensações financeiras equivalentes ao custo de oportunidade de participação