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esulting in urban sprawl (Sanchez, Duhl 1999). This contributes to lower levels of physical activity, with a direct knock-on effect upon our physical and mental health and well-being. Different types of transportation have different impacts on different socio-economic groups. Poorer families, for example, tend to have lower mobility and a lower environmental impacts as a result of their lower use of private cars. Those living in urban areas – and particularly their children – are more exposed to adverse environmental conditions caused by road transport, such as traffic injuries and outdoor air pollution. They are also more vulnerable to the adverse effects of traffic because they bear greater burdens of pre-existing illness or other forms of vulnerability, like poverty, unemployment and unhealthy lifestyles (UK SDC 2010). Trends towards more sustainable health and society Recent decades have seen an increasing incidence of, and mortality caused by, non-communicable diseases. The acknowledgment of the importance of diet and physical activity in combating such diseases has generated many health promotion initiatives and government policy to support more healthy and sustainable lifestyles. Per capita environmental impacts are considerably higher for high income groups than lower income groups. Health promotion has moved beyond individual behaviour and now addresses underlying determinants. Common goals and co-benefits have been identified between health promotion and sustainable development that require further exploration. Health promotion enables people to increase control over their own health and today has moved beyond a focus on individual behaviour towards a range of social and environmental interventions that address the determinants that underpin our lifestyles. Challenges to sustainable health and society Challenges for more healthy and sustainable eating habits Industrial agriculture uses intensive production methods that require large quantities of non-renewable fossil fuel, fossil fuel-based fertilisers and pesticides. This has a direct impact on the environment and increases health risks through GHG emissions in addition to indirect impacts of food production, distribution, consumption and recycling. Marketing campaigns for highly processed food products, together with their increased availability and low price encourage people to choose unhealthy and unsustainable products. Other challenges to a more healthy diet relate to awareness and knowledge, personal habits and attitudes, and cultural, geographic and social norms and values. In most countries, low income households spend a higher proportion of their income on food than their more affluent counterparts. Poor households are impacted most by food price fluctuations. A UK study found that 5% of people on low incomes report skipping meals for a whole day (FSA 2007). A tight budget is a barrier to changing or experimenting with a healthier diet (UK SDC 2010). One key challenge, therefore, is to ensure that healthy and sustainable food is accessible to all socio-economic groups. There is also a need to consider global <strong>trends</strong> and developments, such as the growing demand for meat and dairy products in some countries. Moreover, there is a need to identify the health and sustainability benefits and disadvantages of local versus global food production and supply systems. Challenges to a healthier and more sustainable society: • Unsustainable industrial agriculture • Marketing campaigns, increasing availability and low prices for highly processed, unhealthy food • Poorly insulated, energy inefficient homes and related health problems • Effects of the economic crisis on public budgets for health promotion and infrastructure investments • Current “silo approaches” to policy making Challenges and opportunities for sustainable lifestyles 71
Poor neighbourhoods require special attention and assistance to provide healthy and sustainable living conditions. Challenges to more healthy and sustainable living conditions Research has shown that the health impact of housing differs across different age and socio-economic groups. The availability and accessibility of construction materials, including furnishings and electrical appliances, building maintenance (for example energy saving measures), and cleaning and household products are important determinants for health, well-being and equity (EEA, 2010d). The global economic crisis and increasing fuel prices, coupled with the high cost of insulation materials and renovation, exacerbate problems for people living in poorly insulated and energy-inefficient homes which serves to intensify fuel poverty and related poor health (UK SDC 2010). Changes towards a healthier and more sustainable society require concrete action and investment in poor neighbourhoods with special attention to the needs of children and the elderly. Present limitations or “lock-ins” in society’s systems and mechanisms are interfering with necessary changes. In addition, the current economic crisis is placing intense pressure on local administrations and public budgets which further complicates investments and infrastructure changes. Opportunities for a healthier and more sustainable society: • Better information, through labelling, and information campaigns for a healthy diet • Local production and consumption of healthy, seasonal food • Financial support for building renovations, in particular targeting older or disadvantaged people • Urban planning from an integrated health perspective • Better availability and safety of walking and cycling paths Challenges to healthier and more sustainable modes of travel Urban sprawl and the resulting limitations to accessibility and neighbourhood safety are negatively influencing the travel choices of people (IPH 2011). As most policy areas work in isolation, one of the most important challenges is to develop an integrated, cross-sectoral approach that addresses complex factors like infrastructure, cultural and personal preferences, information communication, addressability and accessibility for all socio -economic groups. Opportunities: emerging and promising practices Opportunities for more healthy and sustainable eating habits Policy action to address food prices and availability can be combined with cultural and societal changes to stimulate healthier and sustainable food consumption patterns (Promising practice 21). Food labelling could provide adequate and complete information from a health and sustainability perspective. It is important that these labels are easy to read and understand for people with different levels of health literacy and knowledge. EU legislation plays an important role in food product labelling, which is critical to enable consumers to make informed choices. EU legislation in this area aims Promising practices Promising practice 21: Healthy lifestyles website In France, the government and the Institut National de prevention et d’education pour la santé (INPES) have developed a website to provide information on how to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Information is designed to reach a number of target groups (e.g. infants, children, adolescents, pregnant women and elderly people) in a friendly, easy to understand way. www.mangerbouger.fr Promising practice 22: School Fruit Scheme The School Fruit Scheme is an EU-wide programme to encourage good eating habits in young people. As well as providing fruit and vegetables, the scheme requires participating Member States to set up other measures including educational initiatives (such as farm visits, gardening sessions, etc.). 72 SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: TODAY’S FACTS & TOMORROW’S TRENDS
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SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: TODAY’S F
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SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: TODAY’S F
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CONTENTS ABOUT SPREAD Sustainable L
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Abbreviations CABS Climate-adaptive
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Executive Summary Our purpose As a
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Trends towards sustainability: prom
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To enable large-scale transitions t
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munity and businesses. However, it
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Introduction - our lifestyles are a
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Unsustainable lifestyles and consum
Page 22 and 23: environmental degradation is reachi
Page 24 and 25: What are sustainable lifestyles? It
Page 26 and 27: of waste and pollutants over the li
Page 28: Travelling sustainably Making the m
Page 31 and 32: Accumulation of “stuff” and mar
Page 33 and 34: set to continue with growing number
Page 35 and 36: development would, therefore, be me
Page 37 and 38: Celebrities and trend-setters from
Page 39 and 40: processes and products in particula
Page 41 and 42: Living: The ownership of living spa
Page 43 and 44: Europe’s ecological consumption f
Page 45 and 46: ever greater number of consumers ar
Page 47 and 48: (Promising practice 2). To give pro
Page 49 and 50: The voluntary simplicity movement -
Page 51 and 52: “Space can really facilitate coll
Page 53 and 54: Trends towards more sustainable liv
Page 55 and 56: When it comes to the installations
Page 57 and 58: An important challenge is taking re
Page 59 and 60: Information has, however, been most
Page 61 and 62: cial networks, cohesion and democra
Page 63 and 64: More efficient transport of people
Page 65 and 66: Table 5 Growth in traffic observed
Page 67 and 68: These challenges cannot be overcome
Page 69 and 70: More thought and discussion is need
Page 71: “It is very important to start to
Page 75 and 76: lates social contact and social int
Page 77 and 78: Emerging themes for sustainable lif
Page 80 and 81: SPREADing sustainable lifestyles In
Page 82 and 83: “Efficiency needs and technologic
Page 84 and 85: Tailoring sustainable lifestyle sol
Page 86 and 87: Design and visualisation tools to d
Page 88 and 89: Table 6 Policy interventions that g
Page 90 and 91: “The main challenge in creating m
Page 92 and 93: Table 7 The 10 principles of sustai
Page 94 and 95: A number of research fields that ca
Page 96 and 97: A framework for change This chapter
Page 98 and 99: One of the most difficult elements
Page 100 and 101: Managing multi-actor and multi-leve
Page 102 and 103: Policy initiatives for large-scale
Page 104 and 105: Agenda 21 also put responsibility o
Page 106 and 107: “The unsustainable consumption pa
Page 108 and 109: National policies The two supra-nat
Page 110 and 111: Table 8 Policy instruments for sust
Page 112 and 113: Roadmap and research initiatives fo
Page 115 and 116: The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient
Page 117 and 118: Research The challenges of operatio
Page 119 and 120: • CHANGING BEHAVIOUR studied oppo
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Looking ahead: How the SPREAD proje
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“The SPREAD project’s multi-sta
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Botsman, R. and R. Rogers (2010). W
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EEA (2010d). The European environme
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Grassroots Innovations (2010). Rese
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Meadows, D. (1996). Envisioning a S
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Sachs, W. (1992). For Love of the A
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WEF (2009). Driving Sustainable Con
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Country Type / name of initiative D
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Country Type / name of initiative M
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Country FI Type / name of initiativ
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Country Type / name of initiative D
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Country Type / name of initiative E
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Country Type / name of initiative I
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Appendix B List of actors and initi
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Country DE DE DE DE DE DE DE DE DE
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Country DE DE DK ES ES ES ES ES ES
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Country NL Organisation RMC NL Stic
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Contact Energy research Centre of t
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