Tackling the Knowledge-Action Gap in Sustainable Consumption: Insights from a Participatory School Programme

Abstract

In the international policy discourse on sustainable consumption and production, education is acknowledged to be a powerful tool in changing unsustainable patterns of consumption. Current educational policies and programmes have responded to the consumption challenge mainly by including and addressing consumption issues in formal tuition in different subjects. This article criticises such a perspective for neglecting informal and non-cognitive consumer learning processes that take place outside the classroom. As a more comprehensive approach to consumer learning in school settings, a whole-school approach is outlined. The article reports on some insights of an empirical study that examined the relevance of active participation in, and exposure to, activities promoting sustainable consumption at schools.

Keywords: Consumer learning, education for sustainable consumption, whole-school approach, participation