Green dilemmas -- Sustainability -- Policy -- Behaviour change : policy and practice -- The social-psychology of environmental action -- Framing environmental practice -- Sustainable lifestyles -- The value-action gap -- Changing behaviour : a social marketing approach -- Sustainability, citizens and progress
Three waste management behaviors (waste reduction, reuse, and recycling) were examined with the use of a conceptual framework developed by the author. It was posited that environmental values, situational characteristics, and psychological factors all play a significant role in the prediction of waste management behavior, within the context of a core intention-behavior relationship. The framework was tested in a self-report questionnaire of 673 residents of Exeter, UK. It was found that the predictors of reduction, reuse, and recycling behavior differed significantly, with reduction and reuse being predicted by underlying environmental values, knowledge, and concern-based variables. Recycling behavior was, in contrast, characterized as highly normative behavior. The use of the approach taken for investigating other environmental behaviors is examined.
This paper explores some of the limitations of individualistic approaches towards the study and promotion of environmentally sustainable practices within the context of efforts by states to tackle global climate change. Using the example of government attempts to promote sustainable mobility through behavioural shifts amongst citizens in the UK, the paper argues that an overreliance on individualistic approaches poses three major challenges through the ways in which: (1) mobility is intricately entwined with social practices and consumption settings; (2) practices of (un)sustainable mobility are related to the structure and organisation of physical environments; and (3) solutions for sustainable mobility are framed through narrow political lenses that fail to address the potential social transformations needed to tackle climate change. Accordingly, the paper argues that both researchers and policy makers need to revisit the assumptions made concerning the role of individuals and their relationship to underlying sociostructural and political challenges for reducing carbon emissions from transport.
Purpose The purpose of this research was to discover the impacts of taught environmental sustainability-focused geography postgraduate programmes on student attitudes, behaviours and practices in relation to environmental awareness within two research-intensive universities in the UK.
Design/methodology/approach A case study involved online surveys to measure environmental attitudes, behaviours and practices at the start and end of four taught geography postgraduate programmes.
Findings There was widespread attitudinal change and an increasing prioritisation of environmental issues reported among participants after they had completed their programme. However, behavioural change was limited, and there was little evidence of greater awareness being translated into changed practices. The learning benefits included a greater focus on interdisciplinarity, holistic thinking and critical self-reflection.
Practical implications The findings demonstrate that postgraduate taught (PGT) programmes in sustainability improve student awareness and concern about environmental issues but do not necessarily lead to widespread behavioural change. This raises questions for programme convenors about how education for sustainability can be truly transformational and avoid leading students to develop eco-anxieties over the scale of change required.
Originality/value There is a lack of research engaging with students on PGT programmes, especially in understanding their impacts on environmental attitudes, behaviours and practices. The research provides an evidence base for understanding the effects of PGT programmes in challenging student values, attitudes and practices and by implication knowledge transfer post-graduation, with the potential to help protect the environment and identify ways of living better with the ever-changing planet.
"Geographies of Transport and Mobility aims to provide a comprehensive and evidenced account of the intellectual and pragmatic challenges for personal mobility in the 21st century. In doing so, it argues that geographers have a key role to play in shaping academic and policy debates on how personal mobility can become more sustainable. The book is structured in three parts. Part I explores how personal mobility has evolved since the mid-19th century, plotting plot the intricate relationship between new forms of mobile technology, urban planning and design and social practices. Part II examines how researchers study transport and mobility, and outlines the different intellectual trajectories of transport geography and geographies of mobilities. Part III then outlines and discusses the discourse of sustainable mobility that has emerged in recent years the ways in which social, economic and environmental sustainability can be promoted through different strategies, focusing on behavioural change and urban design. Geographies of Transport and Mobility provides a unique perspective on personal mobility by demonstrating how the way we travel has developed through complex economic and social processes. It argues that this historical context is critical for considering how mobility in the 21st century can be more sustainable, not just environmentally, but also economically and socially. As such, it argues for a renewed focus on sustainable place making as a way to radically shift mobility practices. Geographies of Transport and Mobility is designed to appeal to advanced level undergraduate students and researchers in the fields of geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology and transport studies"--Provided by publisher
"Geographies of Transport and Mobility aims to provide a comprehensive and evidenced account of the intellectual and pragmatic challenges for personal mobility in the 21st century. In doing so, it argues that geographers have a key role to play in shaping academic and policy debates on how personal mobility can become more sustainable. The book is structured in three parts. Part I explores how personal mobility has evolved since the mid-19th century, plotting plot the intricate relationship between new forms of mobile technology, urban planning and design and social practices. Part II examines how researchers study transport and mobility, and outlines the different intellectual trajectories of transport geography and geographies of mobilities. Part III then outlines and discusses the discourse of sustainable mobility that has emerged in recent years the ways in which social, economic and environmental sustainability can be promoted through different strategies, focusing on behavioural change and urban design. Geographies of Transport and Mobility provides a unique perspective on personal mobility by demonstrating how the way we travel has developed through complex economic and social processes. It argues that this historical context is critical for considering how mobility in the 21st century can be more sustainable, not just environmentally, but also economically and socially. As such, it argues for a renewed focus on sustainable place making as a way to radically shift mobility practices. Geographies of Transport and Mobility is designed to appeal to advanced level undergraduate students and researchers in the fields of geography, anthropology, psychology, sociology and transport studies"--Provided by publisher
This article is concerned with the development of a conceptual framework of the key antecedents that lead to sustainable environmental behavior amongst employees within a large organizational setting. A range of quantitative and qualitative methods was employed in the study to examine behavior. Using the Cornwall National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom as a case study, the research demonstrated that both organizational and individual/cognitive factors served as key predictors for sustainable waste behavior. However, these factors did not work in isolation but rather, within a dynamic, holistic, intrarelated, and interrelated conceptual framework to ultimately determine individual behavior. The results suggest the need to address both categories of variables when developing policies to achieve greater sustainability in the behavior of employees within large organizations.