Perspectives on Sustainability: Exploring the Views of Tenants in Supported Social Housing

Rosalyn A. V. Robison and Cathrine V. Jansson-Boyd
Additional contact information
Rosalyn A. V. Robison: Global Sustainability Institute, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK
Cathrine V. Jansson-Boyd: Department of Psychology, Anglia Ruskin University, East Road, Cambridge CB1 1PT, UK

Sustainability, 2013, vol. 5, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: Government policy aimed at curbing carbon emissions often focusses on encouraging individual action, however the effectiveness of this approach has been limited. Investigations of why this might be have included segmentation, to identify different groups who undertake more or less action, and analysis of various “barriers” to action. Those on lower incomes who are not home owners have previously been found to be less engaged in seeking out energy efficiency information. Working with low-income tenants living in supported social housing we conducted three group interviews, accompanied by a 7-item scale measuring general attitude towards the environment. The interviews were aimed at opening up discussion about environmental and energy issues, including exploring more deeply what, for these participants, underlies barriers to conservation behaviours. We found participants to be very willing to engage in conversation and knowledgeable about a range of relevant issues. Barriers explored include: lack of confidence in existing levels of knowledge, habit, self-interest and lack of agency, and in all cases several different perspectives were voiced by participants. Implications for policy, interventions and public engagement are given, including ways to increase dialogue and reflection on sustainability issues for all sectors of society.

Keywords: households; energy use; motivations; barriers; social housing; environment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/12/5249/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/5/12/5249/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:5:y:2013:i:12:p:5249-5271:d:31143

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().