Handbook on Pro-Environmental Behaviour Change | Edited Collection

Edited collection by Birgitta Gatersleben and Niamh Murtagh; with chapters by Amy Isham, Tim Jackson, Kate Burningham and Sue Venn
Edward Elgar, 2023

Summary

People in modern, high-income societies have been and are continuing to consume too many natural resources. The devastating consequences for global warming and biodiversity are well-evidenced (eg IPBES, 2019; IPCC, 2021). According to a 2017 United Nations report, the material footprint of humans globally increased by a factor of 1.42 between 2000 and 2010 (from 48.5 billion metric tons to 69.3 billion metric tons). At the same time, the footprint of someone living in Europe was around eight times higher than that of someone living in sub-Saharan Africa. Reducing the consumption of resources among those living in high-income countries should be a key priority.

Edited by CUSP researchers Birgitta Gatersleben and Niamh Murtagh, this new Handbook provides a state-of-the-art overview of research on changing behaviour to become less environmentally harmful. Exploring how well-designed, contextually appropriate behaviour change interventions can work, it charts a path that challenges traditional assumptions to maximise environmental impact.

In their chapter, against the backdrop of consumer capitalism as the dominant economic framework in high-income societies, CUSP researchers Amy Isham, Helga Dittmar and Tim Jackson explore the role of materialistic values as guiding principles for action; and how values theory may inform the design of interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change.

CUSP researchers Kate Burningham and Sue Venn contribute a chapter considering sustainable consumption in its social and economic, cultural and infrastructural dimensions, with a particular focus on how major life-course transitions—such as retirement or having a first baby—may be opportunities of behaviour change interventions.

Further Reading