This website serves as an archive of the projects and initiatives implemented under the auspices of the Sustainable Lifestyles and Education Programme of the UN One-Planet Network during the period of 2016 to 2022. The content presented here reflects the activities and outcomes of that specific timeframe.

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STATUS - completed
Food & Farming.
 Brazil . India . South Africa .

Envisioning Future Low-carbon Lifestyles

Providing case studies, visuals and transitioning instruments to manifest sustainable living

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Imagining what a sustainable future looks like can be a powerful motivator for creating these futures. Unfortunately, a lack of experience has rendered our collective vision for such a future rather unimaginative.  

To open our eyes to what’s actually possible, this project demonstrated how the choices we make today help create a more sustainable tomorrow. To do this, researchers conducted a comprehensive literature review, an empirical analysis of current sustainable policies, and a scientific assessment of different sustainable future scenarios.

Based on this work, the project developed 30 case studies, each of which showcases how a government, business, community, or individual is successfully adopting best practices in sustainable lifestyles.  The case studies are backed by informative visuals, a dedicated website, and an in-depth report. Together, these tools ensure that all stakeholders have an evidence-based foundation from which to envision a sustainable future.  

4 common visions 

The review of existing sustainable living futures and discovered that the majority of sustainable futures can be broadly categorized in terms of four tendencies:

1. Smart green techno-living – with an emphasis on technology, efficiency, gadgets
that support daily living, and high consumption lifestyles.

2. Sustainable urban and rural design – literal greening through trees, plants and
living walls; a focus on green buildings, mobility, energy systems, urban farming and
industry clusters; often for the rich and elite, and unclear about daily living.

3. Eco-communities – alternative ways of living including alternative housing such as
co-housing and earth houses; walking with some bikes and transit; gardens; and
social connectivity and sometimes diversity.

4. Living Green Expos and Trade Show – a focus on the gadgets and products of
daily living rather than practices; emphasizes the separate domain of consumer
goods; and focused on individuals rather than collective solutions.

There is value in these tendencies. Each of these approaches have key elements of sustainable futures. Sustainable futures will certainly require the smart technology systems of Smart Cities, the focus on greening and mobility and housing of Smart Urban Planning, the innovative alternative ways of living of eco-communities, and cutting edge sustainable goods and market solutions that are displayed at trade shows. The transformation to sustainable living will need much more than this and sustainable living futures will need to stretch far beyond these current depictions.

Read the final report to learn how the team further investigated these common visions and identified research gaps, limitations and new possibilities. 

 

Implementing team

 

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

The Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) was established in March 1998 under an initiative of the Japanese government and with the support of Kanagawa Prefecture based on the “Charter for the Establishment of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies”. The aim of the Institute is to achieve a new paradigm for civilization and conduct innovative policy development and strategic research for environmental measures, reflecting the results of research into political decisions for realising sustainable development both in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.

IGES has a special research unit that investigates sustainable consumption and production, in both the areas of resource efficiency & the circular economy, and sustainable lifestyles & education.

Resources