Culture of Sustainability and Engagement in Sustainability
There is a growing recognition that a successful transition toward sustainability cannot rely on technological innovation alone but also requires the engagement of people in a new culture of sustainability. The predominant approaches to promoting conservation and environmental sustainability have been based on psychological behaviour change models that have some important limitations. Our team is developing and testing a different approach building upon theories and principles of community psychology and literature on civic, workplace and youth engagement.
The proposed engagement strategies take a more comprehensive approach than traditional behaviour change models. Traditional behaviour change models tend to be overly individualistic, are targeted towards a single behaviour, often manipulative to the target group, and effects are often short-lived. An engagement approach applies system thinking and focuses on developing a culture of sustainability (COS). A positive COS is characterized by shared values, norms, language, and practices focused on making individual and societal choices that foster social, economic and environmental sustainability. COS can be explored and fostered within organizations, buildings or communities.
Besides developing and testing the engagement strategy, our team is also developing scales to reliably assess engagement in and culture of environmental sustainability.
Projects
- Investigators: Manuel Riemer, Simon Coulombe, Joel Marcus, Paul Parker, Bianca Dreyer, Stephanie Whitney, Allan Taylor
The built environment has been identified as an important means for addressing the negative effects of climate change. Buildings are estimated to account for 40% of global energy use and 33% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A promising approach is the development of high-performance green office buildings (HPGBs), that is, office buildings designed with the goal of a net-zero or net-positive impact on the environment (e.g. more energy produced than used; zero non-recyclable waste), and which aim to support human wellbeing and productivity. Despite the promise of HPGBs, their actual performance often does not match design expectations. This performance gap has to do with how the buildings are operated, used, and experienced by those managing and inhabiting them.
Understanding these human factors within HPGBs is critical to achieve their intended contribution to lowering Canada’s environmental footprint and achieve the potential of these building to contribute to the wellbeing of their occupants. Our team and partners seize a unique opportunity to study these human factors in the context of evolv1, Canada’s first net-positive commercial office building. evolv1 is a 110,000 sq. ft. building in Waterloo, Ontario, that models leading-edge practice for the integration of regenerative building system design with the human/social dynamics of building occupants.
Our comprehensive three-year longitudinal mixed-method case study focuses on four key objectives:
- Explore how a COS develops over time and can be fostered.
- Understand how the use of and experience in the evolv1 changes over time and how this relates to wellbeing and organizational success.
- Develop and evaluate a state-of-the art building management and feedback system.
- Assess the impact and value of evolv1 on and for the local community.
- Investigators: Bianca Dreyer, Joel Marcus, Manuel Riemer and Simon Coulombe
The team is currently developing reliable and valid measures for assessing a culture of sustainability in specific organizational contexts (e.g. a business, institution or office building).
- Principal Investigator: Devon Fernandes
As many organizations are engaged in a war for talent, job seekers are often able to be more selective in their career prospects. As a result, job seekers may be able to look for employment opportunities that better align with their values. For instance, job seekers may be more attracted to organizations that are environmentally conscious. In this mixed-method study we explore to what degree young job seekers are attracted to working in a green-certified building.
- Principal Investigator: Stephanie Whitney
In partnership with the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) of Canada, this research investigates the motivations and barriers for engagement in sustainable energy management practices within commercial office buildings. Improving the sustainability of the commercial real estate sector, particularly existing stock, is seen as a significant step towards reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, even the most efficient, green-certified buildings consistently fail to deliver the emissions and energy-use reductions they promise. This is because buildings are complex systems, and solutions often do not fully account for the dynamic interactions between the physical building features, technology, and human behaviour (including culture).
In order to understand the breadth of motivations and barriers within the commercial real estate sector, interviews are being conducted with approximately 50 private- and public-sector property owners, managers, operators and their tenants. Interview participants have been purposively selected in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Alberta, covering a range of property classes, and gradation of assets under management.
- Principal Investigator: Petra Schweizer-Ries, Bochum University of Applied Science
This project studied the planned development of Bochum University of Applied Science into a leader of sustainability within the European context. We were specifically interested in observing the process of communication and collaboration of the transdisciplinary team and the multiple stakeholders at this university. The role of the CEJRG members in this project was that of a “critical friend” who observe and support the process from the outside.
- Principal Investigators: Cindy Ward and Manuel Riemer
This project was conducted in partnership with PulseEnergy, the largest North American provider for online energy information software. The goal is to develop a better understanding of what motivates small to medium business owners to reduce their energy use and how an effective marketing strategy could be developed.
The study included interviews and surveys with business owners. Funding is provided by MITACS, Pulse Energy, and P&G Centre for Business and Sustainability. Data collection is completed and we are currently writing up the results. Findings suggests that it needs to “make good business sense” to owners to save energy. Most often, this suggestion means that there needs to be clear cost savings to justify the investments.
- Principal Investigators: Tania Del Matto, Jennifer Lynes and Manuel Riemer
Despite claims by both retailers and consumers that there is an interest in “buying green,” there is a disconnect between retailers and consumers regarding the offering of sustainable products in stores. Consumers assert they have trouble finding sustainable products because of confusion at the point of purchase (i.e. lack of information and awareness of product availability) and, in some cases, difficulty locating retailers who sell these products.
In this study, led by MySustainableCanada, Tania Del Matto from My Sustainable Canada, Jennifer Lynes from the University of Waterloo, and Manuel Riemer were trying to determine how marketing mix strategies are used by retailers to influence consumer purchases towards energy and water efficient products over conventional products and what potential barriers and incentives exist for consumers at the point of purchase when attempting to purchase these products.
This multi-method study collected data in two ways: an information review of secondary data sources and covert observation (e.g. mystery shopping) of the shopping experience at retail stores in Ontario. A total of 240 mystery shopping instances in 38 retail stores in two regions were conducted.
Publications
- Matthews L, Lynes J, Riemer M., Del Matto T, Cloet N. (2017). Do we have a car for you? Encouraging the update of electric vehicles at point of sale. Energy Policy, 100, 79-88.
- Riemer, M. & Schweizer-Ries, P. (2012). Psychology and sustainability science: Complexity, normativity, and transdisciplinarity in meeting sustainability challenges Umweltpsychologie, 16(1),143-165.
- Carrico, A.R. & Riemer, M. (2011). Motivating energy conservation in the workplace: An evaluation of the use of group-level feedback and peer education. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 31(1), 1-13. (2/2).
Presentations and Talks
- Munger, F., Riemer, M., & Reich, S. (2011). At the tipping point: Community psychology’s role in moving toward a more sustainable and just world. 13th Biennial Conference of the Society for Community Research and Action (Division 27 of the American Psychological Association), Chicago, Illinois, June 16-19.
- Munger, F. & Riemer, M. (2010). Just and sustainable communities: Community Psychology, environmental justice, and urban planning. Paper presented at the 3rd International Conference of Community Psychology, Puebla, Mexico, June 3-5, 2010.
- Carrico, A. & Riemer, M. (2009). Motivating pro-environmental behavior in and organizational setting: The use of feedback and peer education to reduce energy use. Paper presented at the Behavior Energy & Climate Change conference, Washington, DC. Nov 15-18, 2009
- Riemer, M. (2009). Creating environmental change from the bottom-up. Poster presented at the 12th Biennial Conference for the Society for Community Research and Action, Montclair, NJ.
- Riemer, M. & Reich, S. (2009). Research in the cross-section of community psychology and global climate change: A call for action. Roundtable discussion at the 12th Biennial Conference for the Society for Community Research and Action, Montclair, NJ.
- Carrico, A. & Riemer, M. (2008). Towards an evidence-based approach to environmental behavior change programs: A case study of Vanderbilt’s “ThinkOne” energy conservation campaign. Paper presented at the Behavior Energy & Climate Change conference, Sacramento, CA.