Browsing by Subject "ympäristökäyttäytyminen"

Changing human behaviour has an important role in solving the planet’s environmental crisis. Neither technological innovations nor political incentives have any effect if people don’t start using them or just direct the saved resources into another environmentally harmful activity. In addition, cities account for most of the energy related carbon dioxide emissions already today and the populations in cities continue growing. Hence, we have to find ways of enhancing environmentally responsible human behaviour comprehensively. Place identity has been noticed to have a positive effect on environmental behavior. However, there is no research on the place identity of sustainable neighbourhoods. This master’s thesis’ aim is to find out what is the place identity and environmentally responsible behaviour like in a sustainable neighbourhood of Eko-Viikki. And to reflect the relationship of place identity and environmentally responsible behaviour in in the context of sustainable neighbourhoods. The framework for the place identity part of the thesis is a structural equation model where place identity is formed through commitment to place and five dimensions that impact commitment to place: attachment, continuity with personal past, perception of familiarity, cohesion and social acceptance. The model indicates that place identity affects people’s environmentally responsible behavior both independently and through attitudes. Environmentally responsible behaviour is examined through three human activities that have the biggest impact on the environment: housing, transportation and eating. The data of the thesis is nine semistructured theme interviews and one email interview. The data was analysed by qualitative content analysis using the dimensions of place identity and the three activities with the biggest impact on the environment. The results suggest that attachment, continuity with personal past, perception of familiarity and cohesion define the place identity of the interviewees the most. The interviewees are clearly attached to their neighbourhood and would like to live there as long as possible. Neighbourhood’s closeness to nature and neighbour relations are valued the most. Additionally, the interviewees have known the neighbourhood already before choosing to move there and many have dreamt of living there one day. The neighbourhood has its part in the past, present and future of the interviewees. Furthermore, four types of environmental behaviour were identified: The Realist, the Diligent, the Overestimator and the Underestimator. The Realist doesn’t perceive their behaviour as environmentally responsible and their described behaviour matches the perception. The Diligent perceives their behaviour as environmentally responsible and their described behaviour also matches the perception. The Overestimator perceives their behaviour as environmentally responsible but the described behaviour doesn’t match the perception. The Underestimator doesn’t perceive their behaviour as environmentally responsible enough but the described behaviour also doesn’t match the perception. Half of the interviewees think that the neighbourhood has had a positive effect on their environmental behavior at least to some extent but have no examples to show. The other half doesn’t think the neighbourhood has had any effects. Most of the interviewees that think the neighbourhood has had a positive effect on their behaviour are either Realists or Overestimators whereas most of the interviewees that don’t think the neighbourhood has had an effect are Diligents and Underestimators. In the future, more research is needed to examine the relationship of the place identity in sustainable neighbourhoods and environmental behaviour. Future research should focus on finding out if living in a sustainable neighbourhood has an effect on the residents’ environmental behaviour and if the effect is caused by their place identity. In addition, comparative research between sustainable neighbourhoods and so called ordinary neighbourhoods is needed to find out if there is a difference in how the place identity of a sustainable neighbourhood affects the behaviour compared to the place identity of a so called ordinary neighbourhood.