Supporting Sustainable Behaviour and Consumption

To support the transition towards a more sustainable economy, policy-makers, businesses and public stakeholders need to understand the attitudes and behaviours of Swiss consumers.

Consumption significantly affects the environmental footprint of a country. Therefore, a better understanding of Swiss consumers’ attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable products and services is crucial for policy makers, businesses and public stakeholders in their efforts to support the transition towards a more sustainable economy. 

With the co-creation lab “Sustainable Behaviour and Consumption”, we bring together researchers from different NRP 73 projects and stakeholders from retail, NGOs and federal administration to enhance the mutual understanding of Swiss consumers´ attitudes towards sustainable consumption behaviour as well as psychological and demographic factors related to it.

We will conduct regular surveys among Swiss residents to collect relevant data and information. Together with representatives from various stakeholders, we are co-designing the “Swiss Sustainable Consumer Observatory (SSCO)”. The SSCO allows us to identify key factors creating barriers for sustainable consumption, such as income constraints, (non-) environmental identities, missing role models or a lack of regulation. 

What differentiates SSCO from existing initiatives is its co-design approach, bringing together the expertise of scientists and practitioners. Hence, it will provide high quality and actionable knowledge and foster ongoing dialogues and collaborations beyond the NRP 73 timeframe. 

Yann Blumer from ZHAW, Sandor Czellar from the University of Lausanne and Renate Schubert at ETH Zurich are leading this co-creation lab.