I am a researcher currently working on assessing people's
perceptions of sustainability and sustainable development. Focus
groups are being used to assess attitudes and behaviours toward
the environment and to the concept of sustainability.
So far, even though the actual analysis has not been conducted
yet, I have had some interesting results. The most interesting
result is that most people don't want to be sustainable. By using
the ecological footprint I demonstrated what was actually required
to achieve sustainability. When the participants realised that
fundamental changes in society were required, and particularly in
their own lives the idea of sustainability seemed less attractive.
In conclusion this has highlighted two main issues which I would
like people to discuss:-
1. There is a huge gap between attitude and behaviour.
2. We live in a democracy. If "the people" don't want
sustainbility then we should forget about it. Sustainability seems
to be becoming more and more a theory for academic discussion. It
is losing any grip it had on reality.
John Barrett
Liverpool John Moores University
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