Key Features
Key components that learners should focus on to understand sustainability citizenship deeply and apply it effectively. The SYNAPSES training framework (Sotiriou et.al., February 2024 and references cited therein) summarises the Key Features of Sustainability Citizenship. They form the basis for the development of the SYNAPSES Training Framework and the criteria for the selection of SYNAPSES Best Practices.
The sustainability citizen is motivated by other- concerning motivations and not only self-interest. This attribute fits well into the self-enhancement – self-transcendence continuum of Schwartz’s universal model of values, or the egoistic-humanistic-altruism (social altruism).
- In the context of behavioural change toward pro-environmental behaviour: The belief that ethical and moral knowledge is as important as techno-scientific knowledge.
Science and technology provide alternative solutions, but the decision which to choose is a normative one relevant to the specific social context. This attribute fits well with the increasing acknowledgement that ‘technical optimism’, as one of the perceptions that characterise the Dominant Social Paradigm of western societies, presents a barrier to achieving changes in consumption patterns and lifestyles.
- Recognition that citizens have environmental responsibilities which derive from other people’s environmental rights.
From an environmental perspective, every act conducted by the individual, since it entails the use of environmental resources and the production of waste, has public implications. Our personal ecological footprint (EF) contributes to environmental deterioration; thus the responsibility of SC is a matter of justice (and not charity): individuals or organisations that have a large EF have the duty to reduce their impact for the sake of those who occupy little ecological space. This includes the obligation to change institutional structures that underpin and reinforce injustice. Furthermore, these responsibilities transcend national boundaries and extend to distant places and peoples (since our EF goes beyond our country’s boundaries). Thus, SC reflects a global citizenship perspective, both internationally and inter-generationally.
- Recognition that actions in the private sphere (homes) have public environment-related impacts
Our ‘private’ decisions have public environmental implications, SC includes citizenship of the private sphere.
- Recognition that the government policy, as a catalyst for democratic change originating in civil society, can be reflected in expanding opportunities for citizen participation in policy-making and civic involvement.
Supporting grassroots initiatives, providing funding streams, building social capital, and no less importantly – promoting public debate on crucial ethical and normative issues that are at the heart of sustainability issues.