Transitioning to a sustainable society entails changes in both sustainable production and consumption patterns and levels. It can only be achieved when a broad spectrum of actors, such as businesses, consumers, policymakers, NGOs, and the public sector, take on responsibility for the transition. The theme of sustainable consumption governance aims to support the actions of the stakeholders by creating and advancing new knowledge, tools and approaches for sustainable consumption governance that can help catalyse the shift to low-carbon, resource-efficient & sufficient economies. We engage with citizen-consumers in workshops, focus groups and Delphi studies to better understand the antecedents, drivers and barriers to the shift to more sustainable, 1,5° lifestyles. We also collaborate with businesses and seek to develop tools that could assist in provisioning goods and services that enable and facilitate sustainable lifestyles. We also involve policymakers in developing policy recommendations to facilitate the transition towards strong sustainable consumption (net reductions in resource use and emission levels).

Ongoing research projects on this theme

The IIIEE is currently working with consumption & lifestyle behaviours in a number of projects.