TY - JOUR

T1 - Human behavior and sustainability

AU - Fischer, Joern

AU - Dyball, R.

AU - Fazey, Ioan

AU - Gross, C.

AU - Dovers, Stephen

AU - Ehrlich, P. R.

AU - Brulle, R

AU - Christensen, C.

AU - Borden, R

PY - 2012/4

Y1 - 2012/4

N2 - Sustainability demands changes in human behavior. To this end, priority areas include reforming formal institutions, strengthening the institutions of civil society, improving citizen engagement, curbing consumption and population growth, addressing social justice issues, and reflecting on value and belief systems. We review existing knowledge across these areas and conclude that the global sustainability deficit is not primarily the result of a lack of academic knowledge. Rather, unsustainable behaviors result from a vicious cycle, where traditional market and state institutions reinforce disincentives for more sustainable behaviors while, at the same time, the institutions of civil society lack momentum to effectively promote fundamental reforms of those institutions. Achieving more sustainable behaviors requires this cycle to be broken. We call on readers to contribute to social change through involvement in initiatives like the Ecological Society of America's Earth Stewardship Initiative or the nascent Millennium Alliance for Humanity & the Biosphere. © The Ecological Society of America.

AB - Sustainability demands changes in human behavior. To this end, priority areas include reforming formal institutions, strengthening the institutions of civil society, improving citizen engagement, curbing consumption and population growth, addressing social justice issues, and reflecting on value and belief systems. We review existing knowledge across these areas and conclude that the global sustainability deficit is not primarily the result of a lack of academic knowledge. Rather, unsustainable behaviors result from a vicious cycle, where traditional market and state institutions reinforce disincentives for more sustainable behaviors while, at the same time, the institutions of civil society lack momentum to effectively promote fundamental reforms of those institutions. Achieving more sustainable behaviors requires this cycle to be broken. We call on readers to contribute to social change through involvement in initiatives like the Ecological Society of America's Earth Stewardship Initiative or the nascent Millennium Alliance for Humanity & the Biosphere. © The Ecological Society of America.

KW - Sustainability Science

KW - civil society

KW - environmental justice

KW - environmental legislation

KW - human behavior

KW - population growth

KW - Social Change

KW - sustainability

KW - traditional knowledge

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859357593&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1890/110079

DO - 10.1890/110079

M3 - Scientific review articles

VL - 10

SP - 153

EP - 160

JO - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

JF - Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

SN - 1540-9295

IS - 3

ER -