scp-centre.org 1 scp-centre.org Final Version: July 7, 2010 AUTHORS/ RESEARCH TEAM Thomas Petruschke Elli Kotakorpi Neil Coles PROJECT MANAGEMENT Elli Kotakorpi Thomas Petruschke LAYOUT Ina Schneider SUPERVISION Michael Kuhndt UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) Hagenauer Straße 30 42107 Wuppertal | Germany Phone | +49.202.45 95 8.10 Fax | +49.202.45 95 8.31 www.scp-centre.org [email protected] FUNDED BY The Norwegian Ministry of the Environment ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would like to thank Adriana Zacarias Farah (United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP) and Fabienne Pierre (UNEP) for their valuable inputs to the study. 2 scp-centre.org Content 1 Introducing Basic Concepts Related to Sustainable Consumption........................ 5 2 A Framework for Selecting the Case Studies.......................................................... 10 2.1 Using the 4 E’s for Supporting Sustainable Lifestyles............................................... 10 2.2 Case study selection................................................................................................. 12 3 The case studies ........................................................................................................ 13 3.1 Cases Studies of Initiatives that Encourage Sustainable Consumption.................... 13 3.1.1 EcoEnergy Retrofit programme in Canada......................................................................... 13 3.1.2 The “One tonne less” campaign – Denmark....................................................................... 15 3.1.3 The Environment Train in Algeria ....................................................................................... 17 3.1.4 UN Intercultural Sister classrooms ..................................................................................... 19 3.1.5 UNEP/UNESCO YouthXchange platform........................................................................... 21 3.1.6 One Did It............................................................................................................................ 23 3.1.7 The Story of Stuff documentary.......................................................................................... 25 3.2 Case Studies on Engaging Consumers in Sustainable Consumption ..................... 27 3.2.1 Transition Towns ................................................................................................................ 27 3.2.2 Energy neighbourhoods in Europe ..................................................................................... 29 3.2.3 One Planet Sutton .............................................................................................................. 31 3.2.4 Communities Supporting Sustainable Agriculture in China – The Agri-Fond Association.. 33 3.2.5 TeamS - Sustainable Lifestyle Award................................................................................. 35 3.2.6 The 10:10 Campaign .......................................................................................................... 37 3.3 Case Studies that Exemplify Sustainable Consumption ........................................... 39 3.3.1 Vegetarian Alternative ........................................................................................................ 39 3.3.2 Echt Elly reality show – The Netherlands ........................................................................... 41 3.3.3 Cool Biz campaign in Japan ............................................................................................... 43 3.3.4 Green Public Procurement Activities by Swedish Environmental Management Council... 45 3.4 Case studies that Enable Sustainable Consumption ................................................ 47 3.4.1 The “Velib” Bike Sharing Programme – Paris..................................................................... 47 3.4.2 Top ten in Switzerland ........................................................................................................ 49 3.4.3 Sustainable Mobility in the City of Freiburg in Germany..................................................... 51 3.4.4 Sustainable Weeks in Austria ............................................................................................. 53 3.4.5 Making Public Transport Attractive ..................................................................................... 55 3.4.6 Smart Start Up .................................................................................................................... 56 3 scp-centre.org 4 Conclusions................................................................................................................ 58 4.1 The Top Ten Recommendations for High Impact Sustainable Consumption Policies58 4.1.1 From product and service information to emotional storytelling ......................................... 58 4.1.2 From one off actions to brand building for lasting relationships.......................................... 59 4.1.3 From targeting individuals to facilitating collective action ................................................... 59 4.1.4 From sporadic changes to truly sustainable lifestyles in high impact areas ....................... 61 4.1.5 From static to evolutionary information instruments ........................................................... 61 4.1.6 From predicting doom to creating positive visions.............................................................. 62 4.1.7 From stand alone facts to comparative and contextual information ................................... 62 4.1.8 From asking for change to providing concrete alternatives ................................................ 62 4.1.9 From awareness raising to learning by doing ..................................................................... 63 4.1.10 From giving orders to leading by example......................................................................... 63 4.2 The Role of Systemic Transition Management ......................................................... 66 4.3 The Importance of Impact Evaluation ....................................................................... 66 4.4 The Road Ahead....................................................................................................... 67 5 Annex 1 - Case categorization .................................................................................. 72 6 Annex 2 - Additional cases ....................................................................................... 75 7 Screened studies ....................................................................................................... 78 4 scp-centre.org 1 Introducing Basic Concepts Related to Sustainable Consumption Changing consumption patterns towards environmental and social sustainability is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. Despite increasing efficiency in production processes and energy needs of products, consumption patterns continue to put high pressures on the environment. These pressures are already exceeding the planet’s carrying capacity and are likely to increase dramatically by the growing consumption trends in emerging economies. However, some innovative approaches have already been taken that hold the promise of really impacting lifestyles. In addition to developing new effective approaches, these existing good practices need to be mainstreamed, replicated and scaled up. This paper is a review of projects and initiatives aimed at encouraging sustainable consumption pat- terns and changing our lifestyles. We present more than 20 case studies from around the world and show how positive impact has been created. The first chapter sets the scene for changing consump- tion patterns and highlights key concepts related to encouraging sustainable lifestyles. Chapter 2 ex- plains how the cases were selected and describes the approaches that can be taken to achieve behav- ioural change. Chapter 3 contains a selection of cases highlighting these key approaches and chapter 4 draws up conclusions from the case study analysis, to give recommendations on the best procedures to be followed in sustainable consumption initiatives. This paper has been produced by UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) for the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment. When using the term “consumers” within the frame of the study, mainly private households are meant. However in the few cases dealing with public procurement the term refers as well to institutional con- sumers. In addtion the paper follows a definition of Sustainable Consumption the UN CSD established in 1995: "The use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as the emissions of waste and pollutants over the life-cycle so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations." 5 scp-centre.org The Four E’s The actions government can take to change con- sumption patterns towards sustainability can be grouped as the “Four E’s” encourage, engage, ex- emplify and enable. Encourage means measures that set incentives for behavioural change e.g. through price signals and information dissemination. Engaging means involving people in the formation of sustainable lifestyles as active agents, not just tar- gets of campaigns. Exemplify refers to practically demonstrating the importance, possibilities and op- portunities for sustainable consumption and giving