Presentation
In order to mobilize the "lifestyles" approach to fully grasp the challenges of the ecological transition and identify the conditions for change, the renewed maxim "Where there's a way, there's a will" reveals our underlying assumption: it is through everyday practice and actions, the environments in which we evolve and the concrete means at our disposal that our preferences and lifestyles are established and modified. By proposing this original approach, this Issue Brief aims to provide food for thought for those seeking to implement the ecological transition in different sectors.
Key Messages
- Mobilizing the concept of "lifestyles" is essential if we are to build a fair and effective ecological transition. But putting it into practice remains a challenge.
- Our approach consists in: considering the diversity of social groups in each sector under consideration; and describing the necessary changes in the environments that structure their practices, through the description of trajectories that seek to adopt the point of view of each group.
- This 'bottom-up' approach makes it possible (1) to reinforce the credibility of the lifestyle transition by describing a diversity of trajectories beyond a fictitious average individual, (2) to show the interactions between concerns, values and norms, constraints and available offers, and (3) to discuss the conditions in terms of public and private actions on the environments (physical, economic, socio-cultural, cognitive). In short: identifying the social conditions for achieving the ecological transition.
- This approach encourages the readjustment of responsibilities: mostly on the shoulders of the consumer and the citizen, they must also and above all rest on the public and private stakeholders who have the power to shape the offers and standards that structure our lifestyles.
- It also resolves the paradox emerging from the discrepancy between the strong environmental concerns reflected in opinion polls and the low level of real action: it is the lack of intervention in the environment that explains this, rather than any supposed consumers’ irrationality.
- Finally, proposing this framework means thinking about the transition well beyond the minority groups already involved, and seeking to involve the whole of society, taking into account existing inequalities.
