Friday 13 April 2012 at 15:15 - 16:45 FAMILIES, RELATIONSHIPS, LIFECOURSE ROGER STEVENS 13 /RISK, GLOBALISATION, CLIMATE CHANGE AND BEYOND
CAN RESEARCH ON FAMILIES AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS HELP PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY? The theme of families, environment and sustainability does not feature strongly enough within efforts of UK environmental research 'to develop knowledge and tools to mitigate, adapt to and benefit from climate change' (LWEC, 2011). Extensive changes will be necessary in everyday life to make society-wide efforts towards decarbonisation and more sustainable life-styles. Family relationships and other intimate personal relationships are key sites for the transmission and shaping of values, laying down dispositions and habits (family and household practices, orientations to the natural world, practices of consumption, inclinations to civic engagement and political activism). Following an event in Edinburgh Environment Families and Relationships bringing together researchers and agents with an interest in assisting shifts towards more sustainable lives, this session blends expertise on personal life and environment issues. The symposium will bring together research teams that are seeking to study how families and relationships are orienting and responding to the sustainability challenges and asks what research is most likely to be helpful? Existing efforts to enact changes towards more sustainable ways of living have thus far been found to have only limited success and are often critiqued
within sociology as over
individualistic. In recognition of this, we pose the questions 'how can families and personal relationships promote sustainability?' and ‘how can research help?’ but without either taking a narrow view of the constitution of families or assuming that their potential to contribute is confined to the domestic or personal sphere.
Jamieson, L., Rawlins, E., Cunningham-Burley, S., Backett-Milburn, K. University of Edinburgh Sustainability in the Imagined Partnering and Parenting Futures of Childless Adults in Their Twenties
This paper reports on knowledge exchange work and findings of a modest research project investigating concerns about climate change, sustainability and the natural environment in discussions with young adults in their twenties about their future. Interviews explored the extent to which concerns emerged spontaneously and asked a range of direct questions about these issues. The project was a preliminary investigation of the extent to which a sense of global threats, recession, climate change and security issues, was informing the discourse of childless young people about their future. The projects was conducted under the umbrella of the Centre for Population Change and there was a particular interest in whether such themes intruded into how childless young adults were thinking about, talking about and preparing for partnering and parenting. In this context, the project was intended to complement larger scale quantitative research. The study is based on interviews with 35 childless young adults in their twenties 17 men, 18 women across a range of socio-economic circumstances and two focus groups. The project did not follow best practice and engage with stakeholders at the very outset but rather entered dialogue with interested environment campaigning organisations and policy makers with relevant responsibilities part way through the project.
Boddy, J., Phoenix, A. Defining Sustainable Family Practices in Everyday Life
Under the National Centre for Research Methods programme a new node ‘Habitual practices in everyday lives: Understanding constructed meanings by mixing methods’ funded from October 2011 under the Direction of Professor Ann Phoenix of the Institute of Education.
This will focus on family practices including a project on.
'Family lives and climate change: Cross-national perspectives on habitual practices' that will involve transnational families in India and the UK and look at family narratives about climate change in relation to everyday practices. This paper will look at the associated methodological issue involved in trying to understand and define sustainable family practices in everyday life and to explore the relationship between collective and individual understandings in meaningful and non-judgemental ways.
Venn, S., Burningham, K., Christie, I., Gatersleben, B., Jackson, T. University of Surrey
'Moments of change': Exploring the Transition to First-time Parenthood or Retirement as a Point at which to Influence the Adoption of Sustainable Practices
The ‘moments of change’ hypothesis suggests that lifecourse transitions, such as having a first child or retiring, can trigger changes in household economy, energy consumption practices, leisure activities and social networks. It has been suggested that these transition points are likely to lead to changes in a variety of aspects of everyday life such as energy use, travel, leisure, and purchase of consumer goods, all of which have environmental implications. In addition, lifecourse transitions may be a point at which individuals consciously reflect on the lifestyle they want, and are able to have.
However, the ‘moments of change’ hypothesis is currently lacking strong empirical evidence 296
University of Sussex
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