John Rolls, University of South Australia

Session Duration: 45min

The majority of what has been learned about pro-environmental behaviour change has resulted from the experience of behaviour change programs directed at the community, in our roles as consumers and users of technology. The cultural and structural context, in which such behaviours are set, is however determined by the decisions of those in power, whose behaviour is largely unexamined.

This session will discuss recent social science literature that bears on our decision-making capacity in our roles as consumers, voters, and as political actors including as political leaders. Participants will discuss how institutions need to develop a far greater capacity for environmental psychology generally, that we need to develop much more understanding/knowledge of how environmental attitudes relate to worldview and environmental behaviour, and that we need to make far greater use of recent social science insights in the design of behaviour change programs.