The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs
The lifestyle and consumption habits of individuals are crucial in the question of ecological sustainability. Current consumption patterns need to be changed, requiring societies to shift cultural norms and create new consumer habits which are within planetary boundaries. In the practices of teachin...
Main Authors: | , , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-06-01
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Series: | Cleaner and Responsible Consumption |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666784324000226 |
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author | Gabriella Kiss Orsolya Lazányi Tünde Taxner Tamás Veress Ágnes Neulinger |
author_facet | Gabriella Kiss Orsolya Lazányi Tünde Taxner Tamás Veress Ágnes Neulinger |
author_sort | Gabriella Kiss |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The lifestyle and consumption habits of individuals are crucial in the question of ecological sustainability. Current consumption patterns need to be changed, requiring societies to shift cultural norms and create new consumer habits which are within planetary boundaries. In the practices of teaching sustainable consumption in higher education participatory and action-oriented research and teaching methods can facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable lifestyle for students. In this paper, we present a method operating at the boundary of education and research, the so-called ecoclubs, based on the characteristics of cooperative inquiry and transformative learning. Ecoclubs enable systematic and democratic knowledge creation to achieve concrete social change. In this paper, we explore how the method can promote transformation in the knowledge, attitude and everyday practices of the participating students regarding a sustainable lifestyle. To analyse the transformative potential of ecoclubs we used qualitative content analysis on 38 semi-structured interviews and reflection diaries of co-researchers of ecoclubs. The results show that according to the members of the ecoclubs, the most important characteristics of this non-formal education are the community, autonomy of decision-making, knowledge sharing and experience-based format. From the students' point of view, these characteristics can contribute to their higher level of engagement with sustainability and additional changes in their lifestyle. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:09:59Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-bf873ca741a5478da46d6f03f060b4cc |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2666-7843 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:09:59Z |
publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | Article |
series | Cleaner and Responsible Consumption |
spelling | doaj.art-bf873ca741a5478da46d6f03f060b4cc2024-04-05T04:41:46ZengElsevierCleaner and Responsible Consumption2666-78432024-06-0113100189The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubsGabriella Kiss0Orsolya Lazányi1Tünde Taxner2Tamás Veress3Ágnes Neulinger4Corvinus University of Budapest, Department of Decision Sciences, 1093, Budapest, Fővám Tér 8., Hungary; Corresponding author.Environmental Social Science Research Group, ESSRG, Impact Hub Budapest, 1053 Budapest, Ferenciek Tere 2, HungaryCorvinus University of Budapest, Department of Communication and Media Science, 1093 Budapest, Fővám Tér 8., HungaryCorvinus University of Budapest, Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies, Business Ethics Center 1093 Budapest, Fővám Tér 8., HungaryEnvironmental Social Science Research Group, ESSRG, Impact Hub Budapest, 1053 Budapest, Ferenciek Tere 2, HungaryThe lifestyle and consumption habits of individuals are crucial in the question of ecological sustainability. Current consumption patterns need to be changed, requiring societies to shift cultural norms and create new consumer habits which are within planetary boundaries. In the practices of teaching sustainable consumption in higher education participatory and action-oriented research and teaching methods can facilitate the transition towards a more sustainable lifestyle for students. In this paper, we present a method operating at the boundary of education and research, the so-called ecoclubs, based on the characteristics of cooperative inquiry and transformative learning. Ecoclubs enable systematic and democratic knowledge creation to achieve concrete social change. In this paper, we explore how the method can promote transformation in the knowledge, attitude and everyday practices of the participating students regarding a sustainable lifestyle. To analyse the transformative potential of ecoclubs we used qualitative content analysis on 38 semi-structured interviews and reflection diaries of co-researchers of ecoclubs. The results show that according to the members of the ecoclubs, the most important characteristics of this non-formal education are the community, autonomy of decision-making, knowledge sharing and experience-based format. From the students' point of view, these characteristics can contribute to their higher level of engagement with sustainability and additional changes in their lifestyle.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666784324000226Education for sustainable developmentTransformative learningSustainable consumptionCooperative inquiry |
spellingShingle | Gabriella Kiss Orsolya Lazányi Tünde Taxner Tamás Veress Ágnes Neulinger The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs Cleaner and Responsible Consumption Education for sustainable development Transformative learning Sustainable consumption Cooperative inquiry |
title | The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs |
title_full | The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs |
title_fullStr | The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs |
title_full_unstemmed | The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs |
title_short | The transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs |
title_sort | transformation of sustainable lifestyle practices in ecoclubs |
topic | Education for sustainable development Transformative learning Sustainable consumption Cooperative inquiry |
url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666784324000226 |
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