Policy Choices and Individuals' Attitudes from the perspective of Imaginary Future Generations-A Discussion Experiment with City Officials on Carbon Neutrality

55 Pages Posted: 31 Jan 2025

See all articles by Keishiro Hara

Keishiro Hara

Osaka University

Yutaka Iwasaki

Osaka University

Fukari Fuchigami

Osaka University - Graduate School of Engineering

Date Written: December 10, 2024

Abstract

In order to design policies towards carbon neutrality in 2050, which is a long-term and intergenerational issue, it is essential to incorporate the viewpoint of future generations. In this study, we demonstrate the effects of adopting "Imaginary Future Generations (IFGs)," which has been proven to be effective in generating futurability of individuals, on policy choices and individual attitudes towards environmentally friendly behavior. We conducted a series of discussion experiments on the theme of carbon neutrality with the participation of city officials in Suita City, Osaka, Japan. Based on discussion results, as well as those of a questionnaire survey administrated to participants, we analyzed the effects of adopting IFGs. We found that as a result of adopting IFGs, (1) participants may describe the future in specific terms with a sense of urgency and, as a local region, consider cooperation over a wider area to be important in achieving sustainability; (2) changes occur in policymaking details and policy selection; and (3) policy discussions as IFGs can potentially influence changes in individual behavior modification, possibly creating motivation for installing photovoltaics and purchasing environmentally friendly cars. We conclude that the practices to discuss future issues and policy measures from the perspective of IFGs may not only lead to changes in decision-making of policy choices, but also provide incentives to change the perception and attitude of policymakers. We argue that a policy discussion from the perspective of futurability by adopting IFGs would provide insights into new incentives to change personal attitudes towards sustainability.

Keywords: Imaginary future generations, Discussion experiments, Policy choices, Individual attitudes, Pro-environmental behavior, Futurability

Suggested Citation

Hara, Keishiro and Iwasaki, Yutaka and Fuchigami, Yukari, Policy Choices and Individuals' Attitudes from the perspective of Imaginary Future Generations-A Discussion Experiment with City Officials on Carbon Neutrality (December 10, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5053297 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5053297

Keishiro Hara (Contact Author)

Osaka University ( email )

2-1, Yamada-oka
Suita, Osaka 565-0871
Japan

HOME PAGE: http://www.cfi.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/hara/en/index.html

Yutaka Iwasaki

Osaka University

1-1 Yamadaoka
Suita
Osaka, 565-0871
Japan

Yukari Fuchigami

Osaka University - Graduate School of Engineering ( email )

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