PhD Course Sustainable Behavior: Theory to Application

Course description

Extensive research demonstrates that more knowledge or information about environmental problems and possible actions to ameliorate them does not reliably lead people to adopt sustainable behaviors. This challenge, widely known as the “knowledge-action gap,” is an issue of ongoing concern for researchers and practitioners alike. While mechanisms of transformative change are well researched and applied to consumption-oriented business marketing, the same mechanisms are as effective – yet less often used –  for fostering environmental behaviors.

The course overviews leading theories for understanding environmental behavior change, including the theory of planned behavior, value-believe-norm, diffusion of innovations, social influence, environmental identity, and the new ecological paradigm. It also reviews measurement scales for environmental identity and behavioral impacts. Theoretical elements are then further explored via hands-on practice with the Community-Based Social Marketing framework, using an outdoor campus space as a living laboratory. The course will consider how environmental behavior change theory and application can inform research practice, as well as how researchers translate their insights into real-world impacts.

The course is well-suited for PhD students with broad interests in participatory action research, community/stakeholder co-creation, democratic sustainability, and socio-environmental change processes.

Structure

1. Theory analysis: We will work in pairs or small groups to review a major theory or environmental identity measurement scale, noting the key variables and main points.
2. Peer teaching and Experimentation: Following review, students will work with colleagues to develop an innovative way to both teach their assigned theory or scale and run a peer experiment with it.
3. Class discussion: As a class, we will discuss and rank major variables, similarities and differences, as well as the theories or scales we feel are most useful in predicting environmental behavior.
4. Theory to application: We will then apply environmental theory to an outdoor campus space using the Community-Based Social Marketing framework, which will include:
   1. Conducting a sustainability strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis
   2. Selecting an issue and determining its potential impact and audience
   3. Conducting a barrier-benefit analysis
   4. Selecting tools to increase the likelihood of success
   5. Measuring and reporting impact
5. Dissertation topic integration: The course will culminate with applying course content to each student’s individual dissertation topic. This will include presentations regarding the topic and how elements of behavior change theory and Community-Based Social Marketing might contribute to either project design or the translation of project findings into broader impacts.

The university campus provides a fascinating living laboratory regarding environmental theory and application as campus environments are complex, generally slow to change, and are entrenched in tradition. The lawn, with its roots in prestige and French aristocracy, has a presence on most university campuses. Developing ideas to frame a proposal transitioning a campus space into an ecological design will involve applying key aspects of environmental theory and community engagement and serve as a backdrop for students to think through applying the same process to their individual dissertation research.

Aim

The course is aimed at PhD students at all points in their research, from those contemplating methods during early planning phases to those reflecting on methodological choices during dissertation writing.

Students will gain:

• Baseline knowledge of major theories and scales explaining and predicting environmental behavior.
• The ability to apply theory to practice.
• Skills in applying community engagement techniques to foster environmental behavior.
• Ideas on how to apply their dissertation research at the community level to enact positive change.

Literature

Required:

• McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2011). Fostering Sustainable Behavior: An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing. Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers
• A Review and Framework for Thinking about the Drivers of Prosocial Consumer Behavior https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/706782
• The Science of What Makes People Care, ssir.org/articles/entry/the_science_of_what_makes_people_care
• The Science of Persuasion (video), www.youtube.com/watch
• Bator R.J., Cialdini R.B. (2000). The application of persuasion theory to the development of effective pro-environmental public service announcements. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 527–541.
• Social Influence: Compliance and Conformity, www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Cialdini/publication/8902776_Social_Influence_Compliance_and_Conformity/links/0912f508b198371841000000/Social-Influence-Compliance-and-Conformity.pdf

Readings for group presentations (will need to read assigned selection)

• The Theory of Planned Behavior, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/074959789190020T
• Crafting Normative Messages to Protect the Environment, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237301811_Crafting_Normative_Messages_to_Protect_the_Environment
• A Value-Belief-Norm Theory of Support for Social Movements: The Case of Environmentalism, humanecologyreview.org/pastissues/her62/62sternetal.pdf
• Twenty years after Hines, Hungerford, and Tomera: A new meta-analysis of psycho-social determinants of pro-environmental behaviour, www.researchgate.net/publication/222519254_Twenty_years_after_Hines_Hungerford_and_Tomera_A_new_meta-analysis_of_psycho-social_determinants_of_pro-environmental_behaviour
• Peer Effects in the Diffusion of Solar Photovoltaic Panels, pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mksc.1120.0727
• Innovators, followers and laggards in home solar PV: Factors driving diffusion in Finland, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629623002438
• Environmental Identity: A Conceptual and an Operational Definition, psycnet.apa.org/record/2004-14744-003 or www.academia.edu/647305/Environmental_identity_A_conceptual_and_an_operational_definition
• Cross-cultural validation of a revised environmental identity scale, www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2387
• Influence of the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) and environmental concerns on pro-environmental behavioral intention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959652622042019
• The new ecological paradigm revisited: anchoring the NEP scale in environmental ethics., www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13504620701430448.

Reading and assignments

1. Approximately 250 pages of reading (slight variation based on assigned group text)
2. A 1-2 page reflection on required readings submitted via Brightspace prior to the start of the course
3. A 10-minute presentation on the final day of the course, with slides or outline of presentation uploaded to Brightspace

Practical information

• Target group: Any level of PhD. Both internal (AU), national, and international candidates.
• Form: The summer school consists of guest lectures by international visiting faculty, group work, student presentations, as well as a hands-on project.
• Language: English
• Organiser: Heather Swanson, AU, Anthropology; ikshswanson@cas.au.dk
• Lecturer: Roslynn Brain McCann, Utah State University; roslynn.mccann@usu.edu

Visiting Speakers:

• Isabel Froes, Copenhagen Business College Permahaven. www.cbs.dk/en/research/departments/department-management-society-and-communication/isabel-froes
• Lenore Messick – Aarhus University Garden

• Lasse Dümke - Aarhus University Garden

   

• Venue: TBA

Course dates:

• 15 June 2026 12:00 - 17:00
• 16 June 2026 09:00 - 16:00
• 17 June 2026 09:00 - 16:00
• 18 June 2026 09:00 - 15:00