Approaches for evaluating sustainable consumption initiatives · e.g. Surveys, diaries. Evaluation...
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Approaches for evaluating sustainable consumption initiatives (Hubacek, Korytarova, Haas, Hertwich, Ornetzeder, Weisz) December 2003
Transcript of Approaches for evaluating sustainable consumption initiatives · e.g. Surveys, diaries. Evaluation...
Approaches for evaluating sustainable consumption
initiatives(Hubacek, Korytarova, Haas, Hertwich,
Ornetzeder, Weisz)December 2003
Evaluations of SusConInitiatives: An overview
1. Literature Review: evaluations of…Environmental effects
• Acceptance and motivation• Well being• Socio-economic context of consumption
2. Application: Car-free settlement Vienna-Floridsdorf
Different approaches and methods
Evaluation of the socio-economic context
How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.
Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA
Sustainable Consumption Initiatives
Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments
Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.
Evaluation of the socio-economic context
How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.
Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA
Sustainable Consumption Initiatives
Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments
Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.
Evaluation of environmental effects: Questions
How can consumption patterns be determined and their environmental impacts be quantified? What activities, goods and services cause the largest impacts and have the highest impact intensities? How do different households vary in their environmental impacts?
Evaluation of environmental effects: Methods
Material Flow Analysis (MFA)Input-output analysisLife cycle analysisHybrid models
Evaluation of environmental effects: Examples
Housing projects in Germanycombine MFA, LCA and IOCO2, SO2 and material requirementsSocio-economic effects of regional production
Evaluation of environmental effects: Examples
Goedkoop and Madsen (2002)
Evaluation of environmental effects: findings
Combinations of methodsAllows an evaluation of public policiesCompany decision supportAnd gives customers important information to assess and change purchase decisions
Evaluation of the socio-economic context
How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.
Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA
Sustainable Consumption Initiatives
Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments
Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.
2. Evaluation of acceptance (& motivation): Questions
What motivates people to shift to alternative baskets of goods?What sorts of information do consumers need in order to change their consumption patterns?Will these changes be of long-term character Are the examples acceptable and indeed popular, so that others might adopt them? What determines the acceptability of specific consumption patterns/lifestyles?
2. Evaluation of acceptance: Methods
Standardised questionnairesSemi-structured interviewsIn-depth interviews Focus groupsQualitative approaches
Insights from Studies on acceptance
Perspective Project: Towards energy-efficient lifestylesDutch households: decreased direct and indirect energy consumption by 40%in spite of increased income levelBy using energy diaries and feedback from advisor
Insights from Studies on acceptance cont…
Follow - up studies show that• without information and advice consumers
are not able to maintain adopted life styles• If there was no loss of comfort• Alternatives have to fit current trends• Positive: Financial incentives; awareness of
quality; health• Negative: nuisance; extra costs; availability
Evaluation of the socio-economic context
How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.
Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA
Sustainable Consumption Initiatives
Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments
Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.
Evaluation of well-being & consumption: Questions
How do bundle of attributes of certain goods influence the ‘happiness’ of the consumers? Does the consumer really need these products? What aspects of happiness are fulfilled through consumption?Which factors influence perceptions of
products?
Methods & studies on well-beingPsychology and Economics:
• Subjective well-being
• Studies on national/cultural differences and other factors
• Problem: context specific
• Objective well-being (e.g. Kahneman, 1999)
• Leyden approach – income (van Praag & Frijters, 1999)
• Time use and well-being (Hofstetter et al., yesterday)
Well-being: some findings
In search for a common frameworkSubjective well-being (SWB) differs across nationsIncome satisfaction is a relative concept‘Hedonic treadmill’Compensatory income
Evaluation of the socio-economic context
How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.
Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA
Sustainable Consumption Initiatives
Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments
Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.
Evaluation of Socio-Economic Context: Questions
How important are opportunities, infrastructure, and availability of services?How important are habits and habit formation?How do these factors influence consumption patters? How important are demographic and occupational factors?
4. Evaluation of socio-economic context: Methods
Standardised questionnairesSemi-structured interviewsMulti-agent modellingEconometric modelling
Studies on socio-economic context
the QWERTY keyboard (David, 1985)• Lock-in effects• Availability• Higher search costs
Haas (2003) : social metabolism of a village over 170 years (from agricultural to industrial society)• Co-evolution of production and consumption
with new technologies and institutions
Socio-economic context: some findings
Institutions set boundaries for individual choicesDiffusion of technology studiesNew modelling approaches
Different approaches and methods
Evaluation of the socio-economic context
How do changes in institutions, etc. influence consumption patterns?e.g. agent-based modelling, systems approaches.
Evaluation of Environmental EffectsWhat are the environmental effects of different lifestyles?e.g. IO analysis, LCA, MFA
Sustainable Consumption Initiatives
Evaluation of well-beingHow is consumption related to well-being? e.g. surveys, panels, experiments
Evaluation of acceptanceWhich factors influence consumers’ acceptance of alternative consumption patterns?e.g. Surveys, diaries.
Case Study
Car-Free City: Vienna-Floridsdorf
Discussion
Example for other initiatives?Encouragement for changing consumption patterns?Implications for policy makers and city planners?
THANK YOU
