Rapporten redovisar resultatet från en nationell verkstad med syftet att identifiera konkreta åtgärder för hur vi i Sverige ska kunna gå från ord till handling för mer hållbara livsstilar med fokus på den ekologiska dimensionen.
Verkstaden anordnades av Naturvårdsverket inom ramen för myndighetens roll att samordna det nationella genomförandet av det tioåriga globala ramverket av program för hållbar konsumtion och produktion, 10YFP.
Verkstaden samlade 140 deltagare från olika delar av samhället. Plenumsessioner med talare blandades med mingelmöjligheter, interaktiva konstinslag och sju parallella workshops. Engagemanget var stort och resultatet redovisas i denna rapport, dels i form av ett referat från hela Verkstaden dels i form av förslag till fortsatt arbete och konkreta åtaganden.
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Summary from the publication
In November 2015 the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency organised a workshop with the aim of identifying concrete measures for the way in which Sweden can translate words into action to achieve a more sustainable lifestyle focusing on the ecological dimension. The Workshop was organised as part of the Agency’s task of coordinating the national implementation of the global 10 Year Framework Programme on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP) and attracted 140 participants from different areas of society. Plenary sessions with speakers were combined with the opportunity to mingle, interactive art activities and seven parallel workshops called “stations”. There was no mistaking the extent of commitment and drive, and the results are presented in this report, partly in the form of a summary provided by the Workshop as a whole and partly in the form of proposals for further work and concrete measures to be undertaken.
Questions about sustainable consumption and lifestyles are especially complicated and sensitive since they challenge the choices we all make in our everyday lives. The interplay between factors that control our behaviour as consumers and the ways in which companies adapt their business offers, marketing and business plans were discussed from many different perspectives.
In order to bring about long-term changes towards more sustainable lifestyles, many players believe it is now high time to “move up a gear” and make a serious effort to address the aspects of most relevance to them specifically, while the same time initiating further collaboration with other players. This does not stop many players from calling for powerful and long-term political signals: the clearer the goals to work towards are, the more efficient the collaboration will be. Several participants called for clearer directives from the municipalities and government agencies as well as a revised tax system so that the changes initiated will be able to have a wide impact on all areas of society. Those who are at the forefront today often feel frustration over the lack of long-term policy which would create favourable prerequisites for sustainable development.
On the whole, there was a clear shift of interest among the participants from an individual perspective to a system perspective. This is encouraging not only for political decision-makers at national level but also for regional politicians. There are several good ideas and proposals to be found in this report – which are intended not least to facilitate further collaboration between different sectors, e.g. public institutions, private businesses and non-profit organisations.
Politicians and other decision-makers can gather a large amount of knowledge from research on the behaviour, norms and values of consumers. One way of examining and understanding a person’s choices and decisions is given the term “nudging”, i.e. when the individual is enticed or nudged to choose one thing over another. The research institute Behaviour Insights Team (BIT) in the UK has done many studies on how our behaviour can be changed through “nudging”, and Toby Park from BIT gave a much appreciated lecture on this topic.
Nurturing the life-cycle perspective and placing more stringent demands on sustainable production and design was another concrete area to be highlighted, as was the importance of combining digital development with sustainability issues in wise and innovative ways, and ensuring that sustainable development is integrated properly throughout the Swedish education system.
The fact that sustainable lifestyles are a complex and multifaceted area was reflected in all the discussions, stations and presentations. This was why many participants also emphasised the importance of representatives for the many different players and sectors meeting up to be able to tackle the challenges more efficiently. The Workshop’s young reporters, who were given a glimpse of all the parallel stations, came to an important conclusion in this regard: the groups in which many different players were represented seemed to be quicker at coming up with more good ideas, and there was more creativity and energy in the room.
With this in mind, it was not surprising that many pointed to the wide spectrum of participants as being a positive factor in itself. Many participants got the chance to meet people and get to know organisations that they had never come across before – “even though I have been working with these issues for so long”, as someone exclaimed during a break. Special mention must be made here of the young participants whose presence added new perspectives and different ways of thinking. Andrea Hvistendahl’s art installation entitled “Down to Earth Up to People” was also a way for the participants to share their own experiences and ideas and see how small components can become a larger whole that both inspires and moves others.
During the Workshop several concrete undertakings were also presented which promote the implementation of 10YFP. These are described in more detail in the report and involve:
- A stable structure in the work done by the municipalities to promote sustainable lifestyles – the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.
- The significance of education for sustainable lifestyles – Uppsala University, SWEDESD, the Swedish International Centre of Education for Sustainable Development.
- Sweden as a host for the international exchange of information on sustainable lifestyles and education – the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).
- Utilizing the potential of sustainable lifestyles – KTH, CESC (Centre for Sustainable Communications) and IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute.
- Public health – A collaboration between county administrative boards, and RUS and the County Administrative Board of Dalarna.
- A national meeting on sustainable lifestyles in Gothenburg November 8–9 2016 – City of Gothenburg.