Transforming Consumer Behavior: Introducing Self-Inquiry-Based and Self-Experience-Based Learning for Building Personal Competencies for Sustainable Consumption

Pascal Frank and Laura Sophie Stanszus
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Pascal Frank: Institute for Environmental and Sustainability Communication, Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335 Lüneburg, Germany
Laura Sophie Stanszus: Institute of Economic Education and Sustainable Consumption (IBBA), Technische Universität Berlin, Marchstr. 23, 10587 Berlin, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: Despite growing educational efforts in various areas of society and albeit expanding knowledge on the background and consequences of consumption, little has changed about individual consumer behavior and its detrimental impact. Against this backdrop, some scholars called for a stronger focus on personal competencies, especially affective–motivational ones to foster more sustainable consumption. Such competencies, however, are rarely addressed within the context of education for sustainable consumption. Responding to this gap, we suggest two new learning formats that allow students to systematically acquire affective–motivational competencies: self-inquiry-based learning (SIBL) and self-experience-based learning (SEBL). We developed these approaches at Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany, since 2016, and applied them within the framework of two seminars called Personal Approaches to Sustainable Consumption. Conducting scholarship of teaching and learning, we investigated the potential of SIBL and SEBL for cultivating personal competencies for sustainable development in general and sustainable consumption in particular. Our results indicate that SIBL and SEBL are promising approaches for this purpose.

Keywords: personal competencies; sustainable consumption; education for sustainable development; scholarship of teaching and learning; self-inquiry-based learning; self-experience-based learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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