The personal assessments of the current and expected future state of the environment by 3232 community respondents in 18 nations were investigated at the local, national, and global spatial levels. These assessments were compared to a ranking of each country’s environmental quality by an expert panel. Temporal pessimism (“things will get worse”) was found in the assessments at all three spatial levels. Spatial optimism bias (“things are better here than there”) was found in the assessments of current environmental conditions in 15 of 18 countries, but not in the assessments of the future. All countries except one exhibited temporal pessimism, but significant differences between them were common. Evaluations of current environmental conditions also differed by country. Citizens’ assessments of current conditions, and the degree of comparative optimism, were strongly correlated with the expert panel’s assessments of national environmental quality. Aside from the value of understanding global trends in environmental assessments, the results have important implications for environmental policy and risk management strategies

Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour at work can result in a significant reduction in environmental problems. Research revealed that general environmental considerations such as biospheric values and environmental self-identity are important antecedents of private pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, the question remains whether such general environmental considerations also predict pro-environmental behaviour at work. We propose a parsimonious theoretical model (the VIP-model) in which biospheric values affect personal norms to behave pro-environmentally at work and pro-environmental actions via the environmental self-identity. A study involving a diverse sample of employees from different European organizations supported the VIP-model, showing that biospheric values and environmental self-identity influence personal norms, and that stronger personal norms encouraged various self-reported pro-environmental behaviours at work to some extent. The VIP-model yields promising, cost-efficient strategies to encourage pro-environmental behaviour at work

Understanding the diversifying role of civil society in Europe’s\ud sustainability pathway is a valid proposition both scientifically\ud and socially. Civil society organisations already play a\ud significant role in the reality of cities, what remains to be\ud explored is the question: what is the role of civil society in the\ud future sustainability of European cities? We first examine the\ud novelty of new forms of civil society organization based on a\ud thorough review of recent case studies of civil society initiatives\ud for sustainable transitions across a diversity of European\ud projects and an extensive literature review. We conceptualize a\ud series of roles that civil society plays and the tensions they\ud entail. We argue that, civil society initiatives can pioneer new\ud social relations and practices therefore be an integral part of\ud urban transformations and can fill the void left by a retreating\ud welfare state, thereby safeguarding and servicing social needs\ud but also backing up such a rolling back of the welfare state. It\ud can act as a hidden innovator—contributing to sustainability\ud but remaining disconnected from the wider society. Assuming\ud each of these roles can have unintended effects, such as being\ud proliferated by political agendas, which endanger its role and\ud social mission, and can be peeled off to serve political agendas\ud resulting in its disempowerment and over-exposure. We\ud conclude with a series of implications for future research on the\ud roles of civil society in urban sustainability transition

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and analyse a teaching strategy designed to increase the awareness of trainee teachers and educate them with regard to sustainable consumption. Design/methodology/approach – Ninety-four subjects (trainee teachers) were assessed on their knowledge of the environmental impacts of consumerism, their attitudes to sustainable consumption and their behavioural intentions before (pre-test) and after (post-test) the teaching intervention took place. Findings – Statistical analysis of the results obtained revealed that subjects increased their knowledge of the social and environmental impacts of consumerism, became more aware of the need to take action in this regard, and developed behaviours oriented towards a sustainable model of consumption. Research limitations/implications – The proper application of an educational strategy of this nature requires more time than that actually assigned to the teaching intervention itself. This obstacle was overcome by using the time envisaged by the European Space for Higher Education, but the outcome could not be monitored. Practical implications – A reduction of individual and collective consumption in universities. Originality/value – The study demonstrates the possibilities of an educational strategy that when applied to trainee teachers in higher education promotes sustainable consumption.

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