Footpaths: studying a small-group intervention

Jill FisherInstitute of Energy and Sustainable Development

De Montfort University

• Do participants in Footpaths adopt more sustainable lifestyles?

• Why?

Method

• First round of groups

– 5 groups– 27 people

• Second round

– 4 groups– 30 people

• Questionnaire• Carbon FootprintPre-group

Post-group

During groups

One year anniversary of group start

Observation

• Questionnaire• Carbon Footprint• Home energy use• Transport energy use• Interview

• Questionaire• Carbon Footprint• Home energy use• Transport energy use

Does behaviour change?

• Carbon footprint

• Frequency of pro-environmental behaviours

UK Average - 6.7 tonnes

4.1 - Neighbourhood4.0 - Quaker4.2 - Church4.4 - LGBT 3.9 - Ad hoc

Partial Carbon Footprint

Post group reduction

10% - Neighbourhood10% - Quaker 9% - Church 4% - LGBT10% - Ad hoc

Frequency of pro-environmental behaviours

Actions being taken as a result of participating in Footpaths

150 actions in total

• Average of 6 per participant

• 89% are changes in behaviour

• 9% are changes to insulation

• 2% other minor or major

purchases

5 most popular

• Turning heating down

• Reduce car travel

• More local food/in season

food

• Monitoring of home energy

use

• Less meat and dairy

Future actions planned as a result of participating in Footpaths

84 actions in total

• Average of 3.5 per participant

• 54% are changes in behaviour

• 24% are changes in insulation

• 23% other minor or major

purchases

5 most popular

• Grow more food

• Install PV

• Insulate house walls

• Other insulation

• Water Butts

Why?

Who are the participants

• Demographics• Age

• Gender

• Income

• Education

• Car ownership

• Measures of greeness• New Ecological Paradigm

• DEFRA segments

• Initial carbon footprints

What participants say

During the course of the interviews participants expressed a prior concern with sustainable living:

“I’d been interested in the whole kind of sustainable living thing for quite a long time.”

“Right, well I’ve been in interested in environmental things for a long time. I’ve been a member of FoE since 1973.”

“I’ve always been interested in things green, I’ve never been particularly focused on the carbon footprint reduction side of things so I thought that was interesting.”

What may have facilitated behaviour change

• Changes in measures

– Pre-group to post-group changes in

• Understanding

• Attention and awareness

• Self-efficacy

• Competence (perceived ease)

What participants say

It helped them to look at what they were actually doing:

“I mean the original carbon footprint quite amazed me because I didn’t think originally we were that far away from the average and yet I wouldn’t say that our lifestyle as I saw it was that consumerist”

“Some of the exercises were definitely quite telling, you know, what I thought I did and what I actually did were not necessarily tallying”

“Probably the sharp bringing up with a few things and it’s made me far more aware,… whereas I would have thought about surface level things, it has made me aware of underlying stuff”

What participants say

It encouraged them to pay attention to the issue:

“Again it just brings it to the forefront of your mind so you are thinking about it because I think that’s the problem”

“I don’t feel it was a huge learning curve for me, the actual information, I think it just brought it more to the fore”

“ For a long time it’s been in the background of my head and just talking about it brings it to the forefront maybe”

What participants say

It helped them to make changes:

“It was a chance to think about the different subjects really, to break down the whole issue into different subjects.”

“I’ve got a more positive feeling about my own ability to do something about my carbon footprint.”

“I think it pushed it up the priority agenda for me. I am quite busy so it would be something I’m thinking I really want to do that, I really want to do that, but actually not creating the space and time to do it whereas attending this has actually made me think you are calling it a priority so why aren’t you doing something about it”

“It gave me thinking space and ideas about how to live a greener life”

• Do participants in Footpaths adopt more sustainable lifestyles?

• Do they make changes in their lives

• Why?

• Who are the participants• What changes in participants• What do participants identify as important to them in

changing their behaviour

Thank you

Any questions?

J.fisher@dmu.ac.uk

This research is supported by De Montfort University. I am grateful to the Footpaths Project and the group participants for their co-operation. I would also like to thank

my supervisors Katherine N Irvine, Richard Bull and Andrew Reeves

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