Sustainable development and sustainable living, a key pursuit of our times, must be premised on human well-being in order to be truly sustainable. Although many have speculated on the possible interaction between sustainable lifestyle practices and the well-being, or satisfaction, of practitioners, there has been limited empirical study of this connection. The purpose of this study was to explore how people experience satisfaction and frustration in conjunction with the practice of a sustainable lifestyle. Semi-structured interviews were completed with six sustainable lifestyle practitioners associated with Transition Victoria, a community resilience initiative in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Interview transcripts were synthesized into explanatory narratives highlighting experienced outcomes of a sustainable lifestyle practice. A further thematic analysis was completed to identify themes to which participants attributed meaning and potential satisfaction. The results of this analysis were interpreted to draw conclusions about the sorts of satisfying and frustrating experiences that were related to sustainable lifestyle practices for these participants. Results of the study revealed twenty-six salient themes of important, potentially satisfying phenomena anticipated and experienced by participants. These included needs for food, shelter, transportation, money, health, well-being, relationships, connection, communication, support, recognition, legitimacy, effectiveness, autonomy, action, enjoyment, knowledge, interest, nature, meaning, and identity, and also needs to pursue certain values. Various actions, relationships, and contexts constituting sustainable lifestyles had implications for both satisfying and frustrating essential needs for security, belonging, esteem, competence, knowledge, creativity, leisure, and autonomy. In addition, the pursuit of a sustainable lifestyle was related to the need for and satisfaction of meaning. The results of this study suggest that, for this small group of participants, sustainable lifestyles hold multiple opportunities for satisfaction and frustration of various needs. Groups wanting to support sustainable lifestyle practitioners might consider ways to maximize opportunities for satisfaction and meaning, and minimize sources of frustration. It is recommended to conduct further research with a larger sample of participants, to extend these findings to more general conclusions about human experiences with sustainable living. / Graduate

Thesis advisor: Juliet B. Schor / Why do mothers practice a sustainable lifestyle? While existing literature views motherhood as a motivating factor that encourages women to adopt sustainable practices, this article conceptualizes women's desire to live sustainably as an outcome shaped dialectically with the material experience of mothering. Drawing from interviews with eight mothers who self-identified as interested in living sustainably, this study shows that intensive mothering creates time scarcity in mother schedules, discouraging women from acting upon their ecological concerns, and exacerbates their reliance on eco-intensive options. Women adopt sustainable practices to compensate for their current inability to create institutional changes through political channels. By investing in the immaterial qualities of these practices, women pass on cultural resources that enable their children to facilitate institutional changes. Mothers' efforts in cultivating children's eco-friendly dispositions are not only a symbol of "good" mothering but also a marker of the boundary between the household and the market. My findings contextualize the formation of ecologically oriented taste within the experience of mothering and present an alternative approach to understanding why women engage in a sustainable lifestyle. This article also holds insights for explaining the relationship between engagement in a sustainable lifestyle and participation in the formal political process. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology.

Considering current urban challenges within the United States, the stewardship of massive, unsustainable living and consumption, collaborative cohousing communities appear to hold substantial potential as agents of change delivering sustainable-oriented lifestyles. This research examines the internal drives that intervene in adopting environmentally friendly habits and explores how they are facilitated inside this type of residence. In order to observe the benefits and limitations of this type of degrowth-oriented housing, this study covers the transformative learning experiences within cohousing residents through the conduction of semi-structured interviews as the primary method. For this research, two cohousing communities have been selected in the states of Vermont and Iowa.  Throughout the study, different drives associated with the attainment of sustainable environments have been identified. Among them, we find drives connected to the built space and the social organisation of the communities. Emphasis is also given to the internal strategies by which these drives intervene in the materialisation of environmentally friendly lifestyles. The study points out those drives that deem cohousing a beneficial tool to challenge existing economic norms and social paradigms. This study can serve as the basis for further research exploring the possibilities of considering the depicted drives as guiding models for sustainable living among more traditional forms of housing.

There are many opportunities for consumers to design their lives more sustainably. While a rapidly growing body of literature has investigated how consumers can reduce carbon footprints in key con- sumption areas, such as food, housing and mobility, an overall framework that allows structuring those options across all consumption areas is still missing. Hence, this paper presents a novel and systematic framework to identify improvement options that promote climate change mitigation and structure them based on their primary mode of impact on GHG emissions. The framework targets consumer practices and focuses on ambitious, but technically and socioeconomically feasible strategies for consumers to lower their carbon footprint. Four major categories for reducing consumption-based emissions form the basic framework, which are then subdivided into behavioural strategies and sub-strategies. The practical application of the framework is illustrated by using food consumption as an example. Systematically identifying improvement options can advance a holistic understanding of the range of behavioural strategies targeting consumer choices that operate at different stages in the supply chain. It thus provides a starting point for addressing critical questions related to the role of consumers in supporting climate change mitigation. (authors' abstract)

This programme of research was focused on developing a better understanding of pro-environmental behaviours and pro-environmental behaviour change, with consideration of the powerful effect of habits in thinking, affect and behaviour. Habit networks are discussed with reference to HOT topics (Habits, Opportunities and Thoughts), and explored empirically within the context of the FIT Framework (Fletcher & Stead, 2000). This programme of research started with a literature review on established models of pro-environmental behaviour. It found a large degree of similarity in the approaches used to conceptualise pro-environmental behaviour, and suggested the need to explore pro-environmental activity from different perspectives. The FIT Framework was then presented as an alternative approach. FIT variables measure the strength of an individual's cognitive characteristics and their degree of behavioural flexibility using the FIT Profiler (Fletcher, 1999). The empirical studies presented in this programme of research suggest that levels of personal FITness are related to engagement with pro-environmental activity and the extent to which lifestyles are environmentally sustainable. Study 1 (N = 325) explored the relationships between FITness and measures of pro-environmental activity, and Study 2 (N = 134) sought to confirm these relationships in a different sample. Both studies found positive relationships between levels of personal FITness and pro-environmental activity. Based on these results, it was suggested that FIT offers a useful alternative framework to study pro-environmental activity. Studies 3 (N = 75) and 4 (N = 100) considered the performance of pro-environmental behaviours in different sites of practice, as follow-up to the differences that emerged in Studies 1 and 2. They also explored the perceived influence of intrinsic and extrinsic variables on energy saving in home and work settings. The results suggested that the pro-environmental behaviours that are performed at home are often not transferred to the workplace and this might be because extrinsic factors in an organisational setting constrain action. Higher levels of personal FITness helped to align behaviours with intrinsic beliefs; individuals with higher levels of FITness behaved as they felt they ought to, whereas individuals with lower levels of FITness behaved as they were told to. It was suggested, therefore, that higher levels of FITness might support behavioural consistency across contexts. Study 5 (N = 95) explored the extent to which pro-environmental behaviours are characterised by habit and how the strength of habit changes according to level of personal FITness. The results suggested that people act pro-environmentally within distinct behaviour categories and this has little or no bearing on their propensity to behave in an environmentally friendly way in other areas. Habits can have a positive influence on the performance of pro-environmental behaviour but a negative influence on behaviour change. The empirical results suggest that a higher level of FITness might help people to engage more readily with pro-environmental behaviours that are performed less frequently. It was, therefore, suggested that developing levels of personal FITness might help individuals to extend their behavioural repertoire and be sufficiently flexible to include more pro-environmental behaviours, including those that are, at present, characterised less by habit. A second literature review on interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change found that many techniques have been developed from the perspective of bounded rationality and have assumed that the provision of information will initiate behaviour change. These approaches are often ineffective because of the resistive effects of habit. In light of this and the findings of the empirical studies, a FIT-based behaviour change intervention, named here as Do Something Greener, was developed as an alternative approach to address directly the problem of habit. Overall, this programme of research suggests that the influence of habits, opportunities, and thoughts should be considered in the study of pro-environmental activity. Further research exploring the effectiveness of Do Something Greener for pro-environmental behaviour change is necessary and planned as the next step in this programme of research. By exploring pro-environmental behaviour from a different perspective, it is hoped that this programme of research has also challenged some of the habitual tendencies that researchers are themselves starting to develop in relation to the study of pro-environmental behaviour, and that it has added a degree of eclecticism and pragmatism to psychological approaches to pro-environmental behaviour change. It is hoped that this will help to set a more practically oriented agenda for future research.

"Sustainability is a journey, not a destination" is an adage which certainly holds true for those seeking to live a sustainable lifestyle. Perhaps the essential factor inducing and guiding this movement towards a sustainable consciousness is learning. This study explores a select group of individuals’ continuing journey towards a more sustainable way of life, focusing specifically on clothing sustainability. Mezirow’s transformative learning theory provides the theoretical foundation for this exploration, offering an explanation of the learning process underlying these journeys. According to Mezirow’s critics, however, his theory does not adequately delve into the relationship between transformative learning and social action, such as that taken to promote and support sustainability. This research sought not only to understand the learning process in the context of sustainability and the thoughts and actions of those committed to clothing sustainability, but also to bridge the gap between transformations and social action. Thirty-two individuals participated in Phase One of this two-part study, engaging in an interview and a survey. Seventeen of these individuals, those demonstrating either a steady commitment to a sustainable way of life or a strong desire to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, participated in Phase Two, which included a life-grid interview. A small subset of this group also took part in a journaling exercise. Drawing on these data sources, this thesis provides insight into transformative learning, namely the key introductory points for sustainability during the lifespan, the types of experiences triggering learning for sustainability, the essential role of instrumental learning in transformative learning and social action, and the complexity of the frame of reference. It also provides a greater understanding of social action, identifying the variables of social action, the different layers of barriers participants encountered in putting their learning into action, and the vital importance of a strong support network to both learning and action. Finally, this thesis proposes a model for depicting the relationship between transformative learning and social action.

We are facing the problems of climate change, the unfair share and over use of Earth’s resources. Global North overuses, Sweden has an ecological footprint of four planets. The challenge is to change our lifestyles. This thesis is trying out a method to diffuse ideas of sustainable development (SD) and for citizen participation. I created a future vision of a sustainable neighborhood inspired by Jane Jacobs and the concept of densification. This I presented to three homogenous focus groups: the next-door neighborhood, home owners and people in rentals. Free discussion then followed, and then a questionnaire. The findings where that the participants, fifteen of sixteen, thought the method gave them new ideas, allowed them to share their knowledge, and that it was a good method for participation. I thought that it was a ‘fun’ method. Focus groups research works more the way people normally interact, as did the literature show. I could see the learning process, that Patsy Healey describes, the creation of cultures, and also how the issue of SD was explored. It was time consuming to recruit participants. The tendency was that volunteers liked to talk, had an interest in planning, although not all in favor of SD. Many resembled me, in age and cultural background. The method could be useful to deepen dialog with citizens, especially in an early stage of planning. The vision should be ‘daring’ to spur good discussions, that may land in a compromise on SD. / Vi står inför klimatförändringar, den ojämna fördelningen och överanvändningen av jordens resurser. Nord överanvänder, Sverige har ett ekologiskt fotavtryck på fyra planeter. Utmaningen är att ändra vår livsstil. Denna uppsats prövar en metod för att sprida idéer om hållbar utveckling och för medborgardeltagande. Jag skapade en vision för ett hållbart grannskap inspirerad av Jane Jacobs och begreppet förtätning. Denna presenterade jag för tre homogena fokusgrupper: de i närmsta grannskapet, de som ägde sitt boende och de som hyrde. Sedan följde fri diskussion och sedan en enkät. Resultatet blev att deltagarna, femton av sexton, tyckte att metoden gav dem nya idéer, tillät dem att dela sina kunskaper och att det var en bra metod för deltagande. Jag tyckte att det var en ’rolig’ metod. Forskning med fokusgruppers fungerar mer som man vanligen umgås, vilket även litteraturen visade. Jag kunde se lärandeprocessen, som Patsy Healey beskriver, skapandet av kulturer och också hur begreppet hållbar utveckling undersöktes. Det var tidskrävande att rekrytera deltagare. Tendensen var att de frivilliga gillade att prata, var intresserade av planering, men inte alla positiva till hållbar utveckling. Många påminde om mig, i ålder och kulturell bakgrund. Metoden kan vara användbar till att fördjupa dialogen med medborgare, speciellt i ett tidigt stadie av planering. Visionen ska vara ’vågad’ för att sätta igång bra diskussioner och landa i en kompromiss i hållbar utveckling.

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>

Syftet med uppsatsen var att ta reda på vilka lärdomar Linköpings kommun och boende i området Hållbara kvarteren i Lambohov, Linköping hade kring projektet som innefattat kommunala beteendeinsatser i form av nudging och aktiviteter. Vi har även ämnat ta reda på hur boende ställer sig till beteendeförändringar. För att besvara våra frågeställningar har nio enskilda intervjuer genomförts, med slumpmässigt utvalda boende i Hållbara kvarteren och en projektledare vid Linköpings kommun. Flera boende har intervjuats oberoende på delaktighet i projektet för att få en bild av projektets effekter genom ett opåverkat urval av boende. Resultatet visade att många av de intervjuade boende inte hade uppfattat syftet med projektet eller varit aktiva i det. Resultatet visade även att majoriteten av intervjupersonerna hade en positiv syn på projekt som ämnar främja en mer hållbar livsstil även om det finns olika engagemang kring hållbarhetsfrågor hos de boende. Det finns skilda åsikter kring vilka tillvägagångssätt som de boende föredrar för att förändra sitt beteende i en mer klimatsmart riktning. Alla boende är dock överens om att smidighet är en nödvändig aspekt för att vilja ta del av en beteendeinsats. / The purpose of this paper was to investigate the experiences among the municipality of Linköping and the residents in the district of “the Sustainable quarters” of Lambohov, Linköping, regarding the project that included municipal behavioural interventions in terms of nudges and activities. We also aimed to investigate how the residents adjust to behavioural changes. Nine individual interviews have been conducted to answer our questions. The interviews have been done with randomly chosen residents of “the Sustainable quarters” as well as with a project leader at the municipality of Linköping. The residents have been interviewed regardless of the extent they have been participating, this was done to create a picture of the effects that the project has led to, by having an unaffected selection of residents. The result showed that many of the interviewees had not perceived the aim of the project or participated in it. The result also showed that most interviewees had a positive attitude towards projects that aims on promoting sustainable lifestyles, even though the extent of engagement differs regarding questions on sustainability. There are different opinions among the residents on what approach that is preferable for them to change their behaviour towards a more climate smart way of living. However, all the interviewees agree on it having to be easy to adjust to, to be interested in taking part of such a change.

The impact of unsustainable human actions has grown to become the most significant underlying factor of current environmental problems, which stresses the need for a large-scale transformative change in our modern ways of living. Sustainable development has emerged to become the primary framework to reduce climate impact, and sustainable neighbourhoods have become a highly sought out and desirable policy goal. However, there exists a concern that contemporary spatial planning policies and strategies appear to be inadequate to achieve the transformative lifestyle change needed due to their primary adoption of an ecological modernisation agenda. With this notion and by examining the ongoing urban development project Täby Park in Täby municipality is the aim of this thesis to investigate to what extent and how a more environmentally sustainable way of living can be met through (supporting) contemporary spatial planning and design policies, strategies, and its physical manifestation in the built environment. For this has a theoretical framework rooted in social and behavioural science been adopted to understand the relationship between sustainable lifestyles and influencing factors. The empirical material is based on conducted interviews with residents, public and private actors, a questionnaire, and a site visit.  The findings of this study show that the development of Täby Park is primarily rooted in an approach of behavioural-economics, which in large has translated to an ecological modernisation agenda. Overall, it can be concluded that a more environmentally sustainable way of living can to a certain extent be met through the applied policies and strategies in Täby Park. Although the residents perceive that factors rooted in rational reasoning hold the most significant impact on their adoption of more environmentally sustainable actions in their everyday life, do the findings illustrate that the residents generally deviate from rational reasoning of decision-making. This illustrates that the desired sustainability vision cannot be modelled after generic assumptions of behavioural-economics.