Environmental behaviours within ecological and social limits: integrating well-being with behavioural research for sustainability

Summary

There is a pressing need to reduce inequalities and bring everyone above a foundational level of well-being whilst simultaneously staying within planetary boundaries. Yet, there is a limited understanding of how moving into and maintaining such 'safe and just' spaces affect environmental behaviours. To fill this gap, we argue for integrating human well-being and behaviour research. In particular, to 1) implement social thresholds when investigating environmental behaviours; 2) investigate the impact of social inequalities on environmental behaviours directly and 3) incorporate well-being domains with controlled behavioural experiments. Such understandings will be crucial for anticipating the implications of realising safe and just spaces for people and the planet.

Information

Theme affiliation: Anthropocene dynamics
Link to centre authors: Schill, Caroline
Publication info: Chaigneau, T. and Schill, C. 2022. Environmental behaviours within ecological and social limits: integrating well-being with behavioural research for sustainability. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2022.101201

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