Umweltpsychologie und Nachhaltige Entwicklung
Peter Schmuck, Interdisciplinary Centre of Sustainable Development, University Goettingen
* Was ist Umweltpsychologie?
* Die globale Lage: Hoffnung oder Verzweiflung?
* Psychologische Beiträge für eine Nachhaltige Zukunft
Innovative theoretische Perspektiven:
* Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft und Aktionsforschung
* Göttinger Ansatz der Nachhaltigkeitswissenschaft
* Das Kugelmodell der Persönlichkeit
Ergebnisse der Göttinger Forschungsgruppe
* Psychologische Gewinne für NH Engagierte
* ca. 80 Bioenergiedörfer in Deutschland
Was ist Umweltpsychologie? Und Nachhaltige
Entwicklung (NE)?
* Umweltpsychologie: angewandte Teildisziplin der Psychologie als
Wissenschaft vom Erleben und Verhalten von Menschen
* Gegenstandsbereich:
•Analyse des Einflusses von Menschen auf die Mitwelt (TäterRolle oder Retter-Rolle)
•Analyse des Einflusses der Mitwelt auf Menschen
* Nachhaltige Entwicklung: Eine Entwicklung, die auf faire
Resourcenverteilung, Mitwelterhaltung heute und Erhaltung der
Lebensqualität heute sowie mit Blick auf künftiges Leben anstrebt
Die globale Lage
- Und die Vision der NE
Growing disparities in life chances - Intragenerational justice
Species extinction
- Interspecies justice
Climate change
- Intergenerational justice
Wasting ressources
- Efficiency
Relying on fossile fuels
- Consistency
Growing consumption
- Sufficiency
Verzweiflung
Growing advertizement
oder
Hoffnung?
Rising number of activists
engaging for SD
Export of consumerism
Growing consumption
Growing number of humans
Rising number of people
adopting VS lifestyles
The political agenda of
Rio and Johannesburg
Few progress since Rio
No more happy people
Incredible much happened
in only three decades
Rising number of diseases
We are here today
Global trend of
CO2 and mean
temperature
since 1000 AD
Climate
change
happens!
polar/greenland ice melting; sea level
rising; increase of extreme weather
events AND increasing social injustice
Leading (mis) beliefs
of the 20th century
Sustainability guidelines of the
21st century
Money buys happiness
Respect, fairness and love make happy
Humans as competition driven
Beings
Humans as social beings, social fairness, partici
pation principle
Humans as top of evolution
Humans respecting all forms of life,
Infinite growth of material
production
Efficiency, sufficiency, precautionary principle
steady state economy
Endless material resources
Consistency, cradle to cradle
Financial interest rates
Fair distribution of resources, no interest rates
A new kind of research: “Sustainability science”
Traditional science
Sustainability science
Monodisciplinary
Interdisciplinary
Basic research as ideal
Transdisciplinarity
Analytic, linear
synthetic, parallel
Strict division of research
and application
Action research: Initiating
changes in participative
processes
+ performing research
_________________________
See: www.sustainabilityscience.org, www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/292/5517/641
The Göttingen approach of sustainability science
Scientists´ role A: RESEARCH
_____________________________________________________
Scientists´ role B: Contribution to solve global problems
1 Select a global
critical problem
2 Create an 3 Search for
alternative political and
solution
financial
Support
6 Transfer of the solution
toward the global level
4 Search for
partners in
practice
5 perform a
local
demonstration
model
Our research area: Transformation to
renewable energy, focus on bioenergy
Do we have enough renewables?
YES
Start on the village level:
What is a Bioenergy Village ?
A village that meets
electricity demand and the
heat or cooling requirements
with biomass.
Idea has been worked out
On a future workshop
In 1998
The first bioenergy village in
Germany: Jühnde (since 2005)
Bioenergy Village Jühnde
Göttingen
800 inhabitants
9 farmers
1300 ha farmland
800 ha forest
The bioenergy village JÜHNDE in Germany
CHRONOLOGY
1997: Meeting of 10 concerned scientists
at University Göttingen
1999: One of the project plans: A
bioenergetical village
2000: Interdisciplinary Center for
Sustainability founded
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
* Foster motivation for the
transformation
* Test long term changes in well-being,
control beliefs, self efficacy
•Transfer to other villages in Germany
and worldwide
See:www.bioenergiedorf.info
2000: German Ministry for Agriculture
agreed to support
2001: 18 villages could be motivated to
join
2002: Jühnde was selected as model
village: From 2005 heat and electricity
for the village will be produced from
local biomass
Model of the realised biomass energy facilities at Jühnde
Storage hall
for wood chips
Combined heat
and power
generator (CHP)
Heat plant
and offices
Silage depot
1st fermentation
plant
2nd fermentation
and storage plant
Foto: Weitemeyer
Water pond
Energy facilities at Jühnde in
November 2005
Course of the hot water grid at Jühnde
Central Heating Plant
70 %
Total length of the
pipeline : 5.5 km
About
of Jühnde´s
households voluntarily signed
heat supply contracts
Hot water grid under construction in 2005
Branch line to the house
Heat transfer into the house
Break through
for hot water
grid
heat exchanger
with heat meter
Single fossile boilers
can be removed!!
Complex problems need complex solutions!
We need an interdisciplinary approach!
Universities Goettingen and Kassel in Germany
Involved Disciplines:
Agronomy & Crop Science
Soil Sciences
Geosciences
Economy
Sociology
Psychology
Political Sciences
The inter- and transdisciplinary context
The project partners from outside the university
- People in the bioenergetical village
- The project sponsor (German Ministry for Agriculture)
- An ingenieur team planning the technical parts
- An counselling expert group from different groups of society
Social implementation in the village through motivation and participation of individuals and groups
Information evenings, workshops, discussions with experts
resulted in a strong commitment of the villagers in the project
Important success factor: to visit comparable plants - see,
touch, hear, smell, and discuss!
Organisation of the planning process
Eight groups work in special fields
Planning the
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
operating company
biogas plant
energy crop cultivation
biomass conservation
housing technique
central heating plant
heat grid
public relations
They are moderated by the university team.
Members of the central planning group
Municipal council
e.g. Mayor
District council
Speakers of the
specific
planning groups
Representatives
of clubs, societies,
and associations
University team
Church council
Junior representatives
Senior representatives
And the climate protection effect?
Reduction of CO2 output by 3,300 tons/a
= 60 % CO2 reduction per capita and year in Juehnde
Juehnde reached now the CO2-Reduction goals of
the European Union for 2050
Transfer:
Many visitors
come to
Jühnde
Transfer results: Four further bioenergy villages were
established between 2006 and 2009
Wollbrandshausen
Krebeck
Jühnde
Barlissen
Reiffenhausen
Financially supported by the
District Government of Goettingen
Transfer results:
Many villages in Germany are
on the way to bioenergy villages
Bioenergy villages in Germany
march 6 2012
circles: finished 66
triangles: in planning
Process 28
(number is changing almost every
week)
www.wege-zum-bioenergiedorf.de
Bioenergy regions
in Germany
Federal State Lower Saxony:
Ministry of Science and Culture
grants the development of three
„integrated renewable
energy districts“
2009 – 2012
2012 - 2014
Renewable energy regions
in Germany 2012
Dark blue: 100%-RE-Region
Light blue: Starter 100% RE regions
Yellow: Klimaschutzinitiative
Orange: European Energy
Award
Red: Klimabündnis
Green: 25 Bioenergy-regions, number
will be doubled in 2012!!!
The project´s psychological part: Two main goals
* Foster motivation for the transformation
Method
- interviews in comparable best practice projects
- applying the success factors in the own project
Hypothesis: the majority of the village will cooperate
* Test of long term changes in psychological variables
- sense of community,
- environmentally friendly behavior,
- self efficacy
- well-being
Method:
- longitudinal study with control group based on a questionnaire
- interviews with the most engaged people of the village
Hypothesis: the people will profit psychologically from the change
Results regarding main goal one
* Foster motivation for the transformation
- Success factors in similar projects: personal contacts,
visiting model-assets, media campaigns, festivities...
- Applying these principles led to a consensus among the
majority of the villages´ inhabitants to perform the
change: 71 % of the heating energy and 100% of the
electricity will be produced by using local biomass
A new personality model: The “Globe model”
Esalen,
2002
The globe model of personality
Concern may be focussed on one of three circles,
The outer ones including the inner ones
BIOSPHERE
HUMANS
EGO
Four segments
EMOTIONAL
B
E
H
A
V
I
O
R
A
L
C
O
G
N
I
T
I
V
E
SPIRITUAL
From the disk to the globe:
Including time perspective
Concern for the future
Interest for the past
Main prediction derived from the globe model
If the evolution provides the outlined potential
for personality unfolding
And if the direction of evolution is a constructive one
aiming at growing complexity/negentropy
Then
Human individuals unfolding these potentials should be
rewarded with the most valueable currency evolution
has to offer: Individual well-being
Results regarding main goal two:
The interview results
N=11 most active inhabitants in Jühnde
Interviewed twice: in 2002 and in 2007
Sense of community : 10 report in both interviews that their contact network
has improved as a consequence of the project
Self efficacy: 8 report in the second interview, that groups of people can change
things, based on the experience of guiding guests in Jühnde
Well-being: All are content that their engagement was successful. 10 reported
that they enjoyed the project work. 5 additionally reported that the project gave
them additional sense in their life.
Data showing psychological benefits for people
engaging in new lifestyles
(1) Preferring non sustainable lifegoals (i.e. toward excessive
material consumption) correlates negatively with
indicators of well-being and health
(2) Peferring of “sustainable” lifegoals may serve well-being and
health
(1) Preferring non sustainable lifegoals (i.e. toward
excessive material consumption) correlates
negatively with indicators of well-being and health
Kasser & Ryan, 1993, 1996: Preference of extrinsic goals (money, fame, image)
correlates negatively with well-being indicators
Schmuck, Kasser, Ryan, 2000; Schmuck & Sheldon, 2001; Grouzet,
Kasser, Schmuck et al., 2005: Multicultural studies, same data pattern
Cohen & Cohen, 1996, 2001: Longitudinal study with representative US sample:
teenagers with predominant materialistic, extrinsic goals more frequently fall ill
With psychic diseases (according to DSM IV)
Salmela-Aro & Nurmi 2001: Psychopathological teenagers show more frequently
self-centered goals as compared with their peers
Solberg, Diener & Robinson 2004: „Why are materialists less satisfied?“
=> Open end spirale, conflict with other goals, lower relationship quality
Example study: Schmuck 2001
Preference on self-centered life goals:
lower self reported well-being
Life goal preference:
Well-being:
Importance score of
Self centered goals
(money, fame)
MINUS
Self-transcending goals
(community, affiliation)
compound score of
vitality, self actualization,
overall happyness,
anxiety (neg.), Physical
symptoms (neg.)
Correlation:
Study 1: - .26 *
Study 2: - .40 *
Study 3: - .20 *
Study 4: - .29 *
(2) Peferring of “sustainable” lifegoals may serve
well-being and health
Lapierre et al. 2001: Old people engaging for social issues are healthier
Fehn 2005: People living a voluntary simplicity lifestyle report higher
well-being than „average“ people
Sohr 2001; Eigner 2001: Volunteers for ecological issues report higher well-being
as compared to non engaging people (exception: „hyperactivists“ with burnout
syndrome)
Boehnke & Fuß 1998: Teenagers engaging for social issues report higher
well-being as compared to their peers
Eigner, Schmuck & Lackschewitz 2004: The active people in Juehnde
(bioenergetic village) report profits by that process for their well-being
Outlook: Open questions – the challenge for us
* Future tasks:
- Theoretical work on psychology of sustainable development
- Integrating relevant subdisciplines within psychology
- Networking activities between psychologists and other
scientists, crystallizing around specific projects
- Cooperation with practicians (local Agenda 21)
- Bundling local activities by initiating international research
projects
* Create a research framework
* Find the most urgent open questions
Outline of a research framework
Goals of sustainable development
Consistency Efficiency
Sufficiency
Theoretical
work
1
2
3
Basic research
4
5
6
Best-practice
research
7
8
9
Action research
10
11
12
Evaluation
research
13
14
15
The most urgent open questions in my view
How to overcome the “here and now bias” (Charles Vlek)?
What is the secret of people who did overcome it, who feel not
as separated individuals but as parts of a larger evolutionary cycles,
who are not commited to the “mad rush for material gains”
But take into consideration other living beings on this world, living
now as well as in the fare future
And doing this, obviously feel better, more integrated in the
network of life.
How can we contribute to disseminate this mode of life?
Thanks for the attention.
More Information:
www.peterschmuck.de
I can send you chapters from:
Schmuck, P. & Schultz, W. (Eds.), (2002). Psychology of
sustainable development. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Schmuck, P. & Sheldon, K. (Eds.) (2001). Life goals and well-being.
Towards a positive psychology of human striving.
Seattle: Hogrefe & Huber.
And other publications, please contact me and indicate which you need
Lets try to find out it together, lets climb that hill
It is worth the effort
Saxonian mountains near Dresden