Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Building Sustainable Societies: Exploring Sustainability Policy And Practice In The Age Of High Consumption, Cindy Isenhour

Cindy Isenhour

This dissertation is an attempt to examine how humans in wealthy, post-industrial urban contexts understand sustainability and respond to their concerns given their sphere of influence. I focus specifically on sustainable consumption policy and practice in Sweden, where concerns for sustainability and consumer-based responses are strong. This case raises interesting questions about the relative strength of sustainability movements in different cultural and geo-political contexts as well as the specific factors that have motivated the movement toward sustainable living in Sweden.

The data presented here supports the need for multigenic theories of sustainable consumerism. Rather than relying on dominant theories of …

Wicked Tools: The Value Of Scientific Models For Solving Maine’S Wicked Problems, Tim Waring

Timothy M Waring

“Wicked problems” are urgent, high-stake socioeconomic-environmental challenges that often involve ideological conflict and have no “best solutions.” Using examples from Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative projects, Tim Waring describes how scientific models can be used to address these kinds of problems. When well-constructed and tested models are used to address policy-relevant issues, include input from stakeholders, and integrate social, economic and environmental dynamics, they can become “wicked tools” to address some of society’s biggest challenges.

The “Green Eating” Project: A Pilot Intervention To Promote Sustainable And Healthy Eating In College Students, Kelleigh E. Eastman

Geoffrey Greene

The “Green Eating” Project: A Pilot Intervention to Promote Sustainable and Healthy Eating in College Students Kelleigh Eastman Sponsor: Geoffrey Greene, Nutrition and Dietetics A topic of interest that is growing in the general population is the idea of being sustainable, or “green”, and there is a rising awareness in sustainable practices involving food and the environment. Some of the “green” eating behaviors identified through my research included eating a plant-based (i.e. vegetarian or semi-vegetarian) diet, eating locally grown foods, eating organically grown foods, and eating foods that are labeled fair-trade. Frequently, these “green” eating behaviors are healthful eating behaviors …