Human behavior and sustainability

Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

Authors

  • Joern Fischer
  • R. Dyball
  • Ioan Fazey
  • C. Gross
  • Stephen Dovers
  • P. R. Ehrlich
  • R Brulle
  • C. Christensen
  • R Borden
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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalFrontiers in Ecology and the Environment
Volume10
Issue number3
Pages (from-to)153-160
Number of pages8
ISSN1540-9295
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 04.2012

    Research areas

  • Sustainability Science - civil society, environmental justice, environmental legislation, human behavior, population growth, Social Change, sustainability, traditional knowledge

DOI