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Facilitating low-carbon living? A comparison of intervention measures in different community-based initiatives
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 12:40 authored by Martina Schaefer, Sabine Hielscher, Willi Haas, Daniel Hausknost, Michaela Leitner, Iris Kunze, Sylvia MandlThe challenge of facilitating a shift towards sustainable housing, food and mobility has been taken up by diverse community-based initiatives ranging from ‘top-down’ approaches in low-carbon municipalities to ‘bottom-up’ approaches in intentional communities. This paper compares intervention measures of these two types, focusing on their potential of re-configuring daily housing, food and mobility practices. Taking up critics on dominant intervention framings of diffusing low-carbon technical innovations and changing individual behaviour, we draw on social practice theory for the empirical analysis of four case studies. Framing interventions in relation to re-configuring daily practices, the paper reveals differences and weaknesses of current low-carbon measures of community-based initiatives in Germany and Austria. Low-carbon municipalities mainly focus on introducing technologies and offering additional infrastructure and information to promote low-carbon practices. They avoid interfering into residents’ daily lives and do not restrict carbon-intensive practices. In contrast, intentional communities base their interventions on the collective creation of shared visions, decisions and rules and thus provide social and material structures, which foster everyday low-carbon practices and discourage carbon-intensive ones. The paper discusses the relevance of organisational and governance structures for implementing different types of low-carbon measures and points to opportunities for broadening current policy strategies.
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Publication status
- Published
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- Published version
Journal
SustainabilityISSN
2071-1050Publisher
MDPIExternal DOI
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4Volume
10Page range
1047Department affiliated with
- SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2018-03-28First Open Access (FOA) Date
2018-04-12First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-03-28Usage metrics
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