Future proofing nature – a how to guide
Denise Conroy, University of Auckland
Christina Lee, University of Auckland
Pressure on the environment and human life is being caused by an over-consumption of the world’s natural resources. In order to slow down or stop the escalation of problems imposed on the environment, consumers need to be encouraged to consume responsibly, whether these consumers are private individuals or businesses. While there is some understanding among businesses and individuals of the need to behave sustainably in order to protect their futures, a lack of long term commitment and involvement to such values persists throughout society. One of the reasons mooted to explain this situation involves the society’s dominant social paradigm (Kilbourne, Beckman and Thelen, 2002). They argue that, in order to instil long term behavioural change, it is necessary to change the society’s dominant social paradigm (DSP). The DSP is society’s values, beliefs, institutions and habits that collectively provide the structure by which it organises the way people perceive their surrounding environment (Kilbourne, McDonagh and Prothero, 1997). Over generations, the DSP has shaped our society to become what it is today – the pursuit of one’s quality of life through excessive consumption of material goods, pursuit of profit and belief in market forces, with little consideration given to the environmental and social costs incurred (Mont, 2004). Thus, it is because of this DSP that society finds it difficult to live sustainably, long term. Mainieri, Barnett, Valdero, Unipan and Oskamp (1997) commented that while attitude change has proven successful through education and public awareness, changing one’s attitude does not translate to behavioural change in environmental research.
In this paper we explore the how the DSP influences sustainable behaviour i.e. what are the enhancers of sustainable behaviour, and what are the barriers that prevent sustainable behaviour. Taking a Case Study approach, we interviewed paid employees and volunteers at a leading Eco-Information and Education centre in Auckland, New Zealand. The centre, whilst owned by the local council, operates as a business unit. It caters for local visitors and international tourists in addition to school groups. In this study we explore the role of the DSP on sustainable behaviour from the perspective of Management, employees and volunteers. In particular, we explore individual and organisational values, levels of organisational identification, and how these maps upon the DSP of society. This study reveals important implications which we discuss before suggesting that there needs to be synchronicity between the individual’s values, the organisation’s values and the DSP before sustainable behaviour can be experienced.