Giuseppe Carrus

People-environment relations, sustainability and wellbeing: A psychological perspective

In this keynote lecture we will discuss the importance of the everyday life contexts to understand people-environment relations in present day human societies. To achieve a significant shift towards a more sustainable relation between humans and their daily life environments, the need of a radical lifestyle change is increasingly recognized, at the scientific, political and public opinion level. The transition to a low-carbon, inclusive and open society has already started, under the push of different driving forces. Among these, we can mention different intergovernmental initiatives, such as the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development or the European Union Green deal by the European Commission. Also, other bottom-up and spontaneous popular events raised to the attention of the public opinion in the recent years, under the push of world’s younger generations, well represented by the figure of the Swedish young activist Greta Thunberg. To sustain this transition, and to manage the related cultural, economic and political process, people-environment studies and psychological sciences have a fundamental role. The contribution of the different scientific disciplines, with a diversity of approaches, theories, and methods is necessary to understand these challenges. Many global phenomena like climate change, urbanization, or environmental risk have attracted the attention of behavioral researchers, and psychological science can be used understand individual adjustments to the changing environment and to promote a more a sustainability agenda in present-day human societies.