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Sustainable Consumption Transitions Series Issue 2 Sustainable Consumption Transitions Series Issue 2 SCORAI Europe Workshop Proceedings Bridging Across Communities and Cultures Towards Sustainable Consumption SCORAI Europe Workshop June 4, 2013, Istanbul, Turkey Workshop organizing team: Julia Backhaus, ICIS, Maastricht University, The Netherlands Frances Fahy, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland Sylvia Lorek, Sustainable Europe Research Institute, Germany Marlyne Sahakian, IPTEH, The University of Lausanne, Switzerland Please cite as: Backhaus J. & Lorek S. (Eds.) (2013). Bridging Across Communities and Cultures Towards Sustainable Consumption. SCORAI Europe Workshop Proceedings, June 4, 2013, Istanbul, Turkey. Sustainable Consumption Transitions Series, Issue 2. Design by Julia Backhaus, Aachen Pictures by Lewis Akenji (http://akenji.org/) Table of contents INTRODUCTION Introduction to the workshop ..................................................................................................................................... 4 Chopsticks, fingers, forks and knives: Individual cultures in the context of global consumption .. 6 L. Akenji SESSION I: STRUCTURES IN COMMUNITIES Food Consumption Habits and Urban Allotment Gardens: Case Study of Riga, Latvia ......................... 8 K. Abolina, J. Duboks, Z. Tukuma & A. Zilans Curbing the Consumption of Distance? .................................................................................................................. 18 B. Heisserer & H. Rau Monitoring and evaluating for sustainable communities: making meaning from diversity? ........ 19 K. Hobson, J. Hamilton & R. Mayne Discussant Contribution .............................................................................................................................................. 20 A. Davies Discussion Report ........................................................................................................................................................... 21 SESSION II: VALUES & VISIONS Are Green Consumers Happier Consumers? ....................................................................................................... 24 M. Csutora & Á. Zsóka Creating Space: from learning to shiftshaping .................................................................................................... 35 A. Davies Design in the era of Liberal Sustainability paradox .......................................................................................... 44 A. Freimane Voluntary consumption reduction - experience from three consecutive residential programmes in Hungary .............................................................................................................................................. 53 E. Vadovics & B. Boza-Kiss Discussant Contribution ............................................................................................................................................... 73 K. Abolina Discussion Report ........................................................................................................................................................... 75 SESSION III: AGENTS & ACTORS Creating low carbon neighbourhoods: discourses and academic roles ................................................... 77 A. Genus Energy Efficient Housing in the ASEAN ................................................................................................................. 87 F. Guo, L. Akenji Making practice theory practicable: towards more sustainable forms of consumption ................ 102 M. Sahakian & H. Wilhite Discussant Contribution ............................................................................................................................................ 103 K. Hobson Discussion Report ........................................................................................................................................................ 105 ANNEX About SCORAI Europe ................................................................................................................................................ 107 SCORAI Europe: Future Outlook ........................................................................................................................... 108 Workshop Programme ............................................................................................................................................. 111 Workshop Participants ............................................................................................................................................. 113 Picture of the workshop participants ................................................................................................................. 114 3 Introduction to the workshop The problem We are witnessing across countries and communities the ongoing evolution of several unsustainable consumption trends. A majority of people aspire to continuous accumulation of wealth and possessions without considering the social or environmental impacts of their daily activities, yet an increasing minority is attempting to limit the negative impacts of their consumption practices in favour of more “sustainable” lifestyles. Frequently, people who decrease their earnings and the material dimensions of their lives experience improvements in overall quality of life. While all actions taken by households to reduce environmental impacts may not always be effective (such as the perceived benefits of recycling or buying more so-called “green” products), concerted attempts to identify alternatives to the mainstream fascination with consumer culture are becoming increasingly pervasive. Examples of these tendencies to seek out and foster more sustainable lifestyles are being advanced in academic debates and being pursued in communities, policy arenas, and the private sector. If our global society is seeking a more equitable sharing of global resources, the challenge may be less about better environmental management and more about finding ways to bridge between the scientific and practical knowledge that already exists about sustainable lifestyles, what experiences are already taking place in practice, and mainstream consumption practices. A key concern of this workshop is to understand how existing trends can be explained and illustrated both theoretically and empirically, as well as how experiences and insights from one context can be brought to others, thereby spreading more sustainable ways of living across communities and cultures. The challenges this presents One main challenge for understanding how more sustainable forms of consumption come about is theoretical and relates to the way that existing changes in consumer behaviours and practices can be explained. Until recently, the vision of the individual consumer driven by rational decision-making processes has dominated the policy arena, drawing from natural sciences, cognitive science, psychology, and mainstream economic approaches to understanding human nature. Today, more emphasis is being placed on shifting the focus away from so-called individual consumer choices towards new research approaches, including social practice theory, institutional and ecological economics, and the study of innovation in sociotechnical systems. How to shift cultural sensibilities to favour intrinsic values is also being debated (e.g., sense of community, affiliation and self-development) to identify pragmatic ways to move away from materialistic values that are predominant in modern global consumer society. The second challenge is in uncovering what nudges or levers could help duplicate existing efforts that have proven successful in reducing consumption patterns. In the policy arena, carrot-and- stick-thinking remains dominant. Based on rational choice models, it is assumed that information combined with monetary incentives or disincentives suffice to support more sustainable consumption. Policy makers face the challenge of balancing consumption reduction with concerns about harming key industries or compromising gross domestic product. It may therefore come as no surprise that little progress has been made thus far on the policy front: the growth credo is still intact, now fashionably gowned in “green”. Yet certain initiatives launched and supported by the public sector, NGOs, and private interests have also been effective in facilitating incipient sustainability transitions, whether through reconfiguring infrastructure and city services, or introducing new technologies and engaging with community advocacy groups. There are, however, lessons that remain to be learned about how successes in one city or region 4 | SCORAI Europe Workshop Proceedings Bridging Across Communities & Cultures Towards Sustainable Consumption Introduction might be translated to other geographic contexts. Insights can also be gleaned beyond Europe, looking eastward and southward to so-called developing countries and emerging economies. The goal and main theme of the workshop This workshop aimed to explore how we can better comprehend existing changes towards more sustainable forms of consumption, as well as how such efforts could be replicated across different communities and cultures. We took a broad reading of “communities and cultures” to include varying geographic and social contexts, but also different types of interest groups, from the business community to civil society, from households to the public sector. We are additionally confident that useful insights can be gleaned from different consumer
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