Active sustainability actors - A life course approach

Given our study, we identified two paths for agency formation: active sustainability agency develops either through upbringing and education or through awakening moments. Some actors had grown into sustainability agency via their upbringing, education or professional careers. For some active actors, sustainability agency had been activated by awakening moments that had subsequently shaped their life courses.

Some of these moments bore a positive connotation. In contrast, some moments included elements of crisis that had radically altered the trajectory of the actor’s life course. An actor’s life path, the dichotomy between individual and collective expectations, the actor’s mind‐set, and his/her holistic lifestyle seems to explain a sustainability actor’s sustainability engagement.

Authors: Koistinen, K., Teerikangas, S., Mikkilä, M., Linnanen, L.

Published: Sustainable Development