Report

Visions for change: recommendations for effective policies on sustainable lifestyles

30 May 2011

This publication provides recommendations to develop efficient sustainable lifestyles policies and initiatives based on the Global Survey on Sustainable Lifestyles (GSSL). It is aimed at policy-makers and all relevant stakeholders on how best to help support the shift to sustainable lifestyles, for instance through effective communication and awareness-raising campaigns. The survey, which involved 8,000 young urban adults from 20 different countries, points to three key dimensions of empowerment and creativity: new visions of progress, behavioural alternatives, as well as trust and participation. The report highlights the need for working together to better comprehend, educate and empower young adults globally, to enable them to create their own positive visions of sustainable lifestyles, and therefore become actors of change. The GSSL was jointly developed by UNEP and the Task Force on Sustainable Lifestyles, which was led by Sweden from 2005-2009, in the framework of the Marrakech Process on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP).