Sustainability in Everyday Life. Kortrijk, Belgium 30.3.2011.

1. 30.3.2011
Dr. Arto O. Salonen
arto.salonen (at) metropolia.fi

2. Population grows and mass consumption is a
trend everywhere.
Global markets and politics allow
a) exceeding the capacity of the planet Earth,
and
b) human inequality in local and global level.

3.  Sustainable development focuses on the future
generations.
 It is a holistic prosess covering ecological,
economical and social points of view.
 It is a systemic phenomenon with local and
global aspects, based on human responsibility.
 The goal of the sustainable development is the
flourishing of diverse life, now and forever.

4. All people as individual subjects and as a part
of different communities in society.

5. Human rights
Robust Viable
economy ecosystems

6. Basic needs are food, clothes, shelter and
energy (Beringer 2010; Maslow 1954; Prins
et al. 2010)
 What else do we need to flourish?

7. “Quality of life includes factors that make life worth living, including those that
are not traded in markets and not captured by monetary measures.”
(Stiglitz, Sen & Fitoussi 2009, 63)
The most regularly mentioned intrinsically-valued dimensions of individual
human flourishing are (Alkire 2009, 12):
1. HEALTH & SECURITY (health, survival, security, rest, reproductive health)
2. UNDERSTANDING (knowledge, understanding, information & communication)
3. ACHIEVEMENT (meaningful work and play – outside and at home; creativity)
4. PARTICIPATION (democratic practice, voice, empowerment, self-determination)
5. RELATIONSHIPS (absence of shame/humiliation, love, relatedness, affiliation)
6. SATISFACTION (self integration, emotional well-being, happiness, inner peace)
7. HARMONY (culture and spirituality, art, environment)

8. Social
sustainability
Economic Ecological
sustainability sustainability

9. INDUSTRIAL TRADITIONAL
Sustainability
AGE SOCIETIES
Maximize Income SOCIAL WELL-BEING Build Relationships
Global Production FOOD Local Production
Huge Amount of
MATERIALS Recycling
Waste
Standardization VARIETY Diversity
Renewable Energy
Fossil Fuels ENERGY
Sources
Salonen 2010, 132; Senge et al. 2008, 36

10. Planetary ethics cover humans, animals, plants and
ecosystems.
I Organic Human reality
My family
My friends and relatives
People in my country
People in Western World
All people
People and animals Human reality and
People, animals and non-human reality
plants
Ecosystems Organic and
Planet Earth abiotic
Salonen 2010, 54

11. A. Ecological sustainability
 Recycling
 Taking care of hazardous waste
 Composting
 Favoring walking, cycling and public transport
 Saving energy
 Using renewable energy sources
 Water saving
 Housing temperature max. 21C
 Vegetarian diet
 Organic food
 Local food
 Replacing goods and equipment only when broken

12. B. Economic sustainability
 Product longevity and durability
 Eco-labeled products
 Quantity and quality of packaging
 Product recyclability
 Favoring of forefront companies
 Vibrant local business
 Vibrant small business
 Quality of the materials in commodities
 Product repair eligibility
 Quantity and quality of product manufacturing waste
 Energy efficiency in product manufacture and use
 Use of services instead of owning goods

14. Attitudes towards sustainable development were
comparable identical between different groups.
However: The value placed on ecological, economic
and social sustainability increased with age (Pilai´s
Trace V=0,295, F(28, 552)=1,570, p<0,05, η²=0,074).
More details: Salonen, A. 2010. Sustainable development and its promotion in a welfare society in a global age.
University of Helsinki. Available at https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/20067/kestavak.pdf?sequence=2

15. Attitudes were more positive than behaviour.
Attitude-behaviour gap was verified by all the
36 variables.

16. Behaviour differences
 Sex. Women's everyday life promoted
sustainability more than men´s (Pilai´s Trace
V=0,139, F(7, 145)=3,33, p=0,003, η²= 0,139).
 Activity in NGOs. Activity in non governmental
organizations was associated with the acceptance
of sustainable development as a whole and
especially with global responsibility (Pilai´s Trace
V=0,133, F(7, 145)=3,188, p=0,004, η²=0,133).
 Urban living. People living in Helsinki had more
sustainable ways of living than those living in the
surrounding municipalities because of greater
recycling and the low importance given to
ownership (Pilai´s Trace V=0,103, F(7, 145)=2,389,
p=0,024, η²=0,103).

17. Similar attitudes translate into different
behaviour
->correlation between the attitudes and
behaviour is weak
->indicates complexities of the behaviour
change in the context of sustainable
development

18.  High costs 25 %
 Lack of knowledge 17 %
 Busyness 13 %
High costs is a contextual factor . The
responsibility of policy makers is paramount
-> The cheapest product should be the
best for human being, nature and
economy (Hawken 2010, 512).

19. The importance of communality was high and
it was considered an aspect of health
 Community was the most important factor of
sustainability
 Community and health loaded to the same
factor in factor analysis
-> Very happy people have good social
relationships (Seligman 2002).

20.  The most important obstacle was business
(79 % of ratings).
”I feel there is no time for communality
nowadays” (146).
 Thinking like an economist undermines
community (Marglin 2008)
-> competition decreases co-operation

21. Responsible
Life cycle Advanced Health and Strong local Post-
global Recycling
approach consuming community business materialism
citizenship
Sustainable energy solutions

22. You are rich if you know how much is enough.
- Lao Tzu 1989

23. Dr. Arto O. Salonen
arto.salonen (at) metropolia.fi