Partnership for Education and research about Responsible
Living Division of Economic Education and Sustainable Consumption
Beyond Consumption Pathways to Responsible Living
2nd PERL International Conference
Technische Universität Berlin 19-20 March 2012
Conference Proceedings Vera Fricke, Ulf Schrader, Victoria W. Thoresen (eds.)
For more see www.perlprojects.org Following the six international conferences by the
Editorial Comments These are the proceedings of the second international PERL Conference, held in March 2012 in Berlin, Germany, under the title “Beyond Consumption – Pathways to Responsible Living”. The proceedings include some of the key note speeches and all working papers that were submitted prior to the conference. Please note that the presentations included here have not been thoroughly reviewed and revised by the editors in terms of structural clarity and language proficiency.
The editors would like to express their appreciation to everyone involved in the preparation and implementation process of the second international PERL confer- ence. A special thank you goes to all reviewers for their great effort in reading and commenting on the submitted abstracts. Each submitted abstract was reviewed by two experts. Please find below the reviewers listed in alphabetical order.
Belz, Frank-Martin – Technische Universität München, Germany Codita, Roxana – Technische Universität München, Germany Dahl, Arthur – International Environment Forum, Switzerland Doyle, Declan – Institute of Technology Carlow, Ireland Eigenstetter, Monika – Universität Jena, Germany Fischer, Daniel – Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Germany Harrach, Christoph – Technische Universität Berlin / Karma Konsum, Germany Klein, Jørgen – Hedmark University College, Norway McGregor, Sue – Mount Saint Vincent University, Canada Muster, Viola – Technische Universität Berlin, Germany O’Donoghue, Miriam – CDVEC Curriculum Development Unit, Ireland Penning, Isabelle – Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Petruschke, Thomas – Volkswagen AG, Germany Schäfer, Martina – Technische Universität, Germany Schmidt, Imke - Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, Germany Schmidt-Köhnlein, Kristina – Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Schreurs, Jeanine – Maastricht University, Netherlands Steffens, Heiko – Technische Universität Berlin, Germany Stø, Eivind – SIFO National Institute for Consumer Research, Norway Thøgersen, John – Aarhus University, Denmark Turkki, Kaija – University of Helsinki, Finland Vergragt, Philip J. – Clark University, Worcester / Tellus Institute, Boston, USA Wolf, Stefan – Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
A special thank you goes to Laura Holzäpfel and Julia Propp, both Technische Universität Berlin, who supported the PERL conference team within the reviewing process and with the compilation of the conference proceedings.
Berlin/Hamar, May 2012 Vera Fricke, Ulf Schrader, Victoria W. Thoresen
Vera Fricke, Ulf Schrader, Victoria W. Thoresen (Eds.)
Beyond Consumption Pathways to Responsible Living
2nd International PERL Conference Berlin, Germany, March 19-20, 2012 Conference Proceedings
Editors
Vera Fricke1, Ulf Schrader2, Victoria W. Thoresen3
1, 2 Technische Universität Berlin Division of Economic Education and Sustainable Consumption Franklinstraße 28/29 10587 Berlin, Germany Contact: [email protected]
3 Hedmark University College, Hamar, Norway
The Partnership for Education and Research about Responsible Living (PERL) pro- ject has been carried out with the support of the European Community in the framework of the Erasmus Programme. The content of this project does not neces- sarily reflect the position of the European Community, nor does it involve any re- sponsibility on the part of the European Community.
Further information on PERL can be found here: http://www.perlprojects.org
One must not copy the report or photographs in contradiction with the Copyright Act or in contradiction with the agreement entered into with KOPINOR, organiza- tions for licenses to copyright.
All rights reserved. ISBN-number 978-82-7671-867-6
Content i
Content
I. INTRODUCTION ...... 1!
Beyond Consumption ...... 2! Ulf Schrader, Vera Fricke!
Welcome speech of the vicepresident of Technische Universität Berlin ...... 6! Gabriele Wendorf!
Approaches to foster responsible living ...... 8! Jochen Flasbarth!
Concern, compassion and commitment Keys to responsible living ...... 17! Victoria W. Thoresen!
II. FOUNDATIONS & CONCEPTS OF RESPONSIBLE LIVING ...... 22!
(Re)Designing governance for social change ...... 23! François Jégou, Sabine François, Sandrine Fournis, Catherine Rousseau!
Alternatives to the consumer society ...... 45! Arthur Lyon Dahl!
Big points of sustainable consumption and lifestyle orientation: How do they fit together? ...... 54! Michael Bilharz, Lisa Cerny!
Key competencies for sustainable consumption ...... 65! Matthias Barth, Daniel Fischer!
The effect of culture on sustainable behaviour in a design context ...... 80! Jak Spencer, Debra Lilley!
The role of ICT and social media in the process of transition to responsible and sustainable living ...... 98! Irina Liokumovica!
ii Content
III. EXAMPLES & PRACTICAL APPROACHES FOR RESPONSIBLE LIVING ...... 108!
The European Union LIFE Program: 20 years contribution to sustainable consumption ...... 109! Eveline Durieux!
Building inter-community development projects from school based initiatives ...... 128! Ruairi Doyle, Declan'Doyle!
Study circles as tools for learning democracy, active citizenship and critical thinking ...... 145! Sturla Bjerkaker!
Consuming behaviour towards the "green" products during the economic crisis ...... 155! Helen Theodoropoulou, Maria Zavali!
Empowering teenager consumers through active research to adopt a more responsible way of consumption ...... 167! Anja Christanell, Michaela Leitner!
Challenges in sustainable clothing consumption ...... 177! Kirsi Niinimäki!
Corporate social responsibility in the Czech Republic ...... 189! Petr Bris, H. Brisova!
User-integrated innovation: Sustainable LivingLabs Research and development of sustainable products and services through user-driven innovation ...... 203! Christa Liedtke, Carolin Baedeker, Justus von Geibler, Marco Hasselkuß!
Planning for sustainability – the case of Brøset ...... 219! Stig Larssæther!
IV. LEARNING & EDUCATION FOR RESPONSIBLE LIVING ...... 238!
Moving beyond unlearning unsustainable consumption ...... 239! Daniel Fischer!
Content iii
Efficiency indicators in education for responsible consumption: Which should we choose? ...... 253! Vincent Sennes, Sandrine Gombert-Courvoisier, Francis Ribeyre!
Working and learning in the world of cradle-to-cradle (C2C) ...... 269! Peter van der Baan!
Evaluating learning performance in education for sustainable development (ESD) ...... 281! Paul Ofei-Manu!
Augmenting responsible living curricula with a transdisciplinary orientation ...... 301! Sue L. T. McGregor!
Can students learn energy saving from energy efficient school buildings? .. 312! Annette Roser, Edelgard Gruber!
Evaluating the outcomes of the seminars on active methods in education for sustainable development and responsible living ...... 322! Gregor Torkar, Miriam O’Donoghue, Sjöfn Guðmundsdóttir!
Business school students and sustainability: Attitudes and behaviours of students signed up to a sustainability specialty as compared to their peers ...... 336! Jessica Aschemann-Witzel, Alice Grønhøj, Arne Christensen!
Coherence for responsible living ...... 347! Konstantin von Normann!
Animal welfare education contributes to responsible living ...... 358! Roy Kareem!
Water responsible life and education ...... 371! Nieves Alvarez Martin!
I. INTRODUCTION
2
Beyond Consumption
Ulf Schrader, Vera Fricke
Technische Universität Berlin — Germany
On the last evening of the First International PERL Conference about “Enabling Responsible Living” in Istanbul 2011, we had a creative session about the best title for the upcoming PERL conference in Berlin 2012. Inspired by two successful con- ference days and the open minded atmosphere of the farewell session, we came up with the title “Beyond Consumption. Pathways to Responsible Living”. Some thought it might be too provocative for a network, originally founded as the Con- sumer Citizenship Network (CCN). If consumption is in the core of our thinking how can we propose to go beyond without losing identity? Nevertheless, after an in- tensive discussion we decided that we had found the adequate title. There are at least three good reasons. Firstly, for a longer time already we had the plan to invite Tim Jackson as a key- note speaker. His inspiring and bestselling book “Prosperity without Growth” (Jackson 2009) is not only about GDP growth and its problematic relationship with ecological degradation and personal wellbeing but also much about consumption as both the driver and the result of economic growth. “Prosperity without consump- tion” would have been even closer to Jackson’s book title – however it describes a rather unrealistic vision for the modern world. Basically every human activity now- adays is combined with the use of marketed goods or service, i.e. with consump- tion: we sleep in beds we bought, we wear clothes we have shopped etc. – and even if we follow the new do-it-yourself trend, we usually buy at least some parts for do- ing handicraft. Going “Beyond Consumption” doesn’t mean to live without con- sumption. It stands for responsible living with a decreasing importance of commer- cialized consumption. And it was ambitious enough to successfully attract Tim Jackson as a keynote speaker for the 2012 conference (see Figure 1). Secondly, the title reflects the development of the network and the switch from CCN to PERL. In contrast to “Consumer Citizenship Network”, the name “Partner- ship for Education and Research about Responsible Living” does not refer to con- sumption any more. Originally, this switch in names was primarily due to the EU decision, not to support the same thematic network more than two times. However, meanwhile the change in names from CCN to PERL also reflects a paradigmatic shift within the network and the decision to go beyond consumption towards a broader view on responsible living. The scope of the network is not limited to the buying, using and disposing of – more or less sustainable – marketable products and the education about it.
3 Ulf Schrader, Vera Fricke
Figure 1: Keynote Speakers 2012 (excerpt from the conference program)
Beyond Consumption 4
Responsible Living is much more and includes for instance activism for a legal and socio-cultural framework which supports sustainable consumption or activities like gardening, cooking, walking, talking, and playing which do not focus on the con- sumption of marketed good. As we have written already: PERL is not looking for responsible living without consumption since we are for example hardly walking naked or with 100% self-made clothes. We are looking for responsible living with a less commercialized style of consumption which is not threatening the ecological and social environment – and the personal well-being. We are not talking about subsistence for everyone – but we know that buying organic beef from the other side of the globe or buying jeans with organic cotton for 20 EUR in a discount re- tailer is not enough to guarantee sustainability. There is no excessive consumption with a credible sustainability label. Thus, responsible living needs to reflect needs and wants as well as taking the topic of sufficiency into account – while most pub- lications on sustainable consumption and sustainable marketing still focus on “no regret” eco-efficiency solutions. The understanding of the consumer citizen by Vic- toria Thoresen and others already included these progressive ideas (e.g. Thoresen 2005) but the switch from CCN to PERL makes them even clearer. Thirdly, we as local hosts of this conference have a special compassion for the ti- tle “beyond consumption” and the shift from consumption to responsible living – since it reflects the development of our own work. We started to deal with sustaina- bility issues in relation to marketing and consumption. Our research was focused on solutions for companies and we were teaching future managers. Now, we are pri- marily involved in research for consumer policy actors and in teacher training. We believe in what Erik Assadourian, one of PERL’s keynote speakers in 2011, wrote about schools that “they represent a huge missed opportunity to combat consumer- ism and to educate students about its effects on people and the environment” (Assa- dourian 2010a: 15) and that education is “a powerful tool in bringing about sustain- able human societies“(Assadourian 2010b: 55). We perceived the 2012 PERL conference in Berlin – with more than 50 speakers and about 200 participants from 40 countries around the world – as one of the many small but important mosaic stones to achieve such a sustainable human society. These proceedings document the papers which were written for this conference. With the exception of the welcome addresses and keynote speeches the selection of the papers followed an extensive review of more than 100 abstracts which were submitted on the basis of a call for proposals. The papers here, which have not gone through an additional editorial revision, are ordered according to the tracks and questions we have proposed in the call for proposals:
Track 1: Foundations & Concepts of Responsible Living
• What makes consumerism attractive and harmful for societies and consumers themselves? What makes consuming less and/or differently attractive and challenging?
5 Ulf Schrader, Vera Fricke
• What are specific challenges and opportunities to facilitate this shift in con- sumption cultures (e.g. in housing, food, mobility, clothing)? • What can history and cultural heritage teach us about life quality and sustain- ability?
Track 2: Examples & Practical Approaches for Responsible Living
• What changes in social structures and processes (e.g. in businesses, govern- ment and NGOs) are visible or needed to enable different consumption? • What roles do or can information technology and social media play in this transformation? • What can be the contribution of Rio+20 to enable this shift?
Track 3: Learning & Education for Responsible Living
• How can education deal with the controversial aspects of moving beyond consumption? • What skills do teachers need to empower tomorrow’s consumers to look be- yond consumption? • How to evaluate the success of education for responsible living? We wish all interested educators, researchers, students, consumer activists, politi- cians, managers etc. an inspiring reading – especially those who were not able to at- tend the conference. PERL is an ongoing experience and we hope to see you all at the next international PERL conference.
References
Assadourian, E., 2010a. The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cultures. In: Worldwatch Institute (Ed.), State of the World Report. New York: Norton; London: Earthscan, pp. 3-20. Assadourian, E., 2010b. Education’s New Assignment: Sustainability. In: Worldwatch Institute (Ed.), State of the World Report. New York: Norton; London: Earthscan, pp. 55-56. Jackson, T., 2009. Prosperity without growth. Economics for a finite planet. London: Earthscan. Thoresen, V.W. (Ed.), 2005. Consumer citizenship education – Guidelines, Vol. 1 Higher Educa- tion; Hamar, Norway: CCN.
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Welcome speech of the vicepresident of Technische Universität Berlin
Gabriele Wendorf
Technische Universität Berlin — Germany
Dear Madam Minister Aigner, dear ladies and gentlemen,
As the vice president for teachers training, advanced academic professional train- ing, young academics and corporate identity I welcome you cordially at the Tech- nische Universität Berlin for the second PERL-Conference.
Madam Minister Aigner, we are honored to have you with us today.
I am very delighted that I have the opportunity to inaugurate a conference with such a highly current subject twice in my term of office. In 2009 the 6th CCN- conference was held here as well. It is unfortunate and virtually incomprehensible that at Rio`s 20th anniversary sustainable development is still not a mainstream trend. Though, on the other hand this will encourage us to continue bringing forward this important topic. Confer- ences like this play an important role in increasing its esteem and spread it into the public. This conference focuses on the proactive role of the consumer citizens within the transition toward a globally more sustainable development. The significance of this role has long been underestimated. Thus there is still a demand for empowering consumer citizens in making responsible choices. With its focus on education for sustainable development the PERL-network bridges this central gap. The program of today and tomorrow addresses central aspects as for example the relation be- tween consumption and sustainability. It seems alternatives to consumer societies are needed. Future sustainable societies require specific skills in the political, eco- nomic and educational system. Consumer competencies have to be developed and enhanced with regard to making sustainable choices. This will help to develop and support sustainable lifestyles. We also have to rethink and redesign our governance structures for social change. For universities this means to address societal needs in research and education and to open up to the public. Participation also needs to be implemented more strongly into the educational system. Teaching methods and tools for learning active citizenship and critical consumerism have to be developed.
7 Gabriele Wendorf
And on a personal level, each of us needs to develop a healthy work-life-balance to support a sustainable way of living. Transdisciplinary approaches are needed to address all of these challenges. Teachers have a significant role in this process toward a sustainable society. They will help to enable the coming generations to continue this transformation. The Institute of vocational education and work studies at the Technische Univer- sität conducts a teachers training that suits these aims well. It focuses on the inter- mediation of daily living skills and has a strong practical orientation. It also seeks to support the non-academic domains of society since teachers trained at the Tech- nische Universität will teach at comprehensive schools and at the german Hauptschule which represents the basic educational level in the german educational system. At this point I would like to thank Prof. Ulf Schrader, the executive director of the institute and his colleagues for hosting and organizing this conference. He also holds the chair of Economic Education and Sustainable Consumption. The renam- ing of this chair is a definite indication that the Technische Universität is on its way toward sustainability. A second step supports this: Eleven months ago the academic senate of the Technische Universität has agreed on a mission statement that speci- fies sustainable development as one of the central aims. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank Prof. Victoria Thoresen for found- ing and inspiring the CCN- and the PERL-network. Also I would like to thank the representatives of the European Union and the national governments for the finan- cial support of the network and Prof. Tim Jackson who will speak later. Dear ladies and gentlemen, I hope you will enjoy the conference, and your stay in Berlin. And I hope you will return to your workplaces and homes with creative fruitful impulses that will add on to your successful work. Thank you very much.
8
Approaches to foster responsible living
Jochen Flasbarth
President of the Federal Environment Agency – Germany
1. Introduction
More than 30 years ago the philosopher Hans Jonas published his famous „Prinzip Verantwortung“ (The Imperative of Responsibility) in which he discussed social and ethical problems created by technology. He formulated a new – some call it “Ecological” - Principle of morality, saying: "Act so that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life". For Jonas it was obvious, that with the evermore far reaching impacts of modern technologies and civilization a new ethical foundation of responsibility is required. A responsibility that e.g. takes care of future generations and that is aware of the impossibility of a precise prognosis and assessment of the complex impacts of modern technologies. I think many of the reflections of Jonas are still very valid and the urgency to be aware of one’s own responsibility and to act accordingly is bigger than ever. I‘m, therefore, very grateful for having the opportunity to discuss with you “approaches to foster responsible living”. Beside Jonas’ ethical imperative of responsibility our own empirical studies on public awareness and environmental behavior (Studien zum Umweltbewusstsein in Deutschland) show clearly that the question of responsible living in modern, plural- ized societies is – in practical terms – not easy to answer. There is empirical evidence that the question of responsible living is associated with many social dilemmata. To become effective, environmental policy and envi- ronmental communication should consider these dilemmata and should help to cre- ate enabling frameworks to overcome existing gaps of responsibility. Here, respon- sibility is not only a “individualistic concept”, it is also a concept associated with the question in what way society at large can mobilize and institutionalize “respon- sibility”. Regard to responsible living environmental policy should be seen as multi- dimensional challenge: • Knowledge transfer for sustainable lifestyles • Mobilizing civil engagement • Creating cultures of sustainability
9 Jochen Flasbart
Talking on responsible living is not only talking about the responsibilities of others – the consumers, the producers, the business stakeholders, the scientists and so on, but also about the responsibility of the Federal Environment Agency itself. So I’ll also want to illustrate by some examples how the Federal Environment Agency tries to take care of its responsibilities as an institution and employer.
2. Prerequisites for responsible living
Before we discuss approaches to foster responsible living in more detail we should have a look at some prerequisites for responsible living. To be able to live responsi- ble requires amongst other • Awareness: In my point of view, awareness is one of the most important prereq- uisites for responsible living. In order to be ready to take responsibility we must be aware that it matters what we do, that we influence and create the world and that our lives and actions do have an impact. • Awareness goes hand in hand with another prerequisite: Knowledge and under- standing. In order to live a responsible life, we must be able e.g to make in- formed choices (with sustainable products and services being available), to know the impacts of our actions, to have an understanding about interrelationships and cross-impacts of the state, drivers, pressures, impacts and responses of the envi- ronment and our societies. By the way, with respect to information of the public about environmental facts, we have on our website a very popular and pretty well frequented research portal, called „Daten zur Umwelt“ (Environmental Data). The interested public will find answers to all the critical environmental questions such as ‘How clean is the air we breathe?’; ‘How polluted are Germany’s rivers and lakes?’; ‘Does transport still have the same environmental impact that it did 10 years ago?’ Background infor- mation about relevant laws and environmental policy goals are just a click away. An abundance of diagrams and tables illustrate the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions in Germany or the negative effects of traffic noise on people. The general public can access sound information about environmental protection in Germany and find links to additional sources of information. The ‘Environmental Data’ website also draws attention to legal developments in the field of environmental law, especially as concerns climate protection. It also features the federal government’s environmental policy goals. Many keywords ref- erence relevant literature and links. To build up this knowledge of cross-impacts and interrelationships, we need sys- temic thinking. By a systemic view, we see the world as a complex, non-linear sys- tem, in which small changes may cause dramatic reactions and impacts and which is characterized by amplifying and mitigating feedback loops and rebound effects. To take e. g. rebounds effects into consideration is important when we want to un-
Approaches to foster responsible living 10 derstand, why despite the fact that products and production processes get more and more efficient the overall consumption of energy and natural resources is still in- creasing. Another important aspect is subsidiarity. If we delegate too much decision power to far distant authorities, we risk to loose the feeling of our own responsibility. Therefore matters should be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority with central authority having a subsidiary function, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed effectively at a more immediate or lo- cal level. To be able to handle matters oneself requires the competency and capacity to participate and to take care of issues too. Therefore we need amongst other an edu- cation system that motivates, enables and empowers people to engage for a sustain- able society. And we need strong civil society organizations which anchor sustaina- bility issues in the society and which strengthen the awareness and the engagement of the citizens. The Federal Environment Ministry and Environment Agency are therefore supporting with funds corresponding projects of civil society organiza- tions , working in the field of sustainability. And we need a society which is characterized by a culture of encouragement and acknowledgment, by a culture of empathy and cooperation, by a readiness to take risks and to accept failures when exploring sustainable ways of living.
3. Approaches to foster responsible living
The concept of responsible living respects the planetary boundaries of the ecologic system and the needs of prensent and future generations. It encompasses all sectors and levels of the ecological, economical and social sphere. It includes amongst others a resource efficient and climate protecting economy, a sustainable agriculture and fishery, a “greening” of the financial sector, the preser- vation of soils, forests and biodiversity, a life-long education and further education for Sustainable Development and Good Governance. The Federal Environment Agency is working on the whole range of these and many other issues, but due to limited time I can give you only a few examples how we try to foster responsible (sustainable) living, addressing as well the individual as institutions, enterprises and the political, economic and cultural framework. I’ll fo- cus in the next minutes therefore on approaches to foster green markets and the transition to a green economy which is also one of the both main issues of the com- ing Rio +20 earth summit.
11 Jochen Flasbart