Issues - Sustainable Lifestyles & Education for Sustainable Consumption

Agenda 21

In 1992, Agenda 21 called for ‘new concepts of wealth and prosperity which allow higher standards of living through changed lifestyles and are less dependent on the Earth's finite resources’(1).

Agenda 21 paved the way for the emerging understanding that the sustainability challenge cannot be solved only by improving efficiency, but should also include behavioural changes that entail empowerment of individuals and a concerted action of all societal actors, including

  1. governments,
  2. businesses,
  3. NGO,
  4. media and,
  5. education

which already effectively shape lifestyles. It requires changes at cultural, social, environmental and economic levels by using strategies that raise awareness and develop new values and visions for sustainable societies.

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The purpose of this background paper is to present some of the existing knowledge on lifestyles and strategies for promoting sustainable consumption and lifestyles, including education, to identify challenges in the current efforts and to highlight future opportunities.

(1) UNCED (1992). Agenda 21. The Earth Summit: the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro.