On the 1st of December 2022, GreenDependent Institute organized a Stakeholder Thinking Lab within the EU 1.5 Lifestyles project. The one-day workshop was preceded by a dinner where the participants had the chance to get to know each other.
In order to have the most diverse audience, the Institute invited participants for the Thinking Lab taking into account their background related to the different lifestyle areas as well as the sector they are coming from. Therefore, we had policy makers, journalists, academics, and people from the business and civil spheres being experts in nutrition, mobility, housing and leisure – as the four main fields of sustainable lifestyle.
The workshop was divided into four parts: as an introduction, Edina Vadovics, the lead expert of GreenDependent Institute presented shortly about 1.5-degree lifestyles, the results of the project and future plans, and Ráchel Surányi talked about the highlights of the Citizen Thinking Lab.
This was followed by a warm-up exercise, namely the Climate Puzzle. The participants – in groups of three – tried to figure out how to reduce a(n existing) Hungarian person’s carbon footprint from about 6 to 0.7 t CO2e/yr until 2050. This was possible with the help of low-carbon lifestyle options researched by the EU 1.5° Lifestyles project team. The cards – each with a different option – have different sizes: the player can choose the ones that are relevant to his/her lifestyle. If one undertakes a certain option, one can put it on the table. The goal is to put as many cards down as to cover the empty space between the current and target footprints. The difficulty of the game is that the players have to decide about real options as if it was about their lives. The options include “I will switch to a vegan diet”, “I will fly less”, “I will lower the room temperature of my home” or “I will carpool”.
In the afternoon session the participants were organized into small groups based on lifestyle areas and discussed – with a help of a moderator - a possible future and what measurements are needed to achieve that vision. This backcasting exercise started in 2050 and went backwards till 2022.
“We need trendy solutions”
The last session was plenary, where each group presented their vision and the way leading to it. After that we talked about synergies and discrepancies which occurred across the groups: whether there were recommendations which supported or hindered each other. We concluded with a plenary discussion and celebrated by eating 1.5-degree cakes.
However, the project does not end here! Apart from the ongoing campaign about the 1.5-degree lifestyle options, the research team is working on processing the results. Furthermore, there will be more citizen and stakeholder labs where potential rebound effects of 1.5-degree lifestyle choices, the effects on 1.5-degree lifestyles on health and the welfare state will be investigated. The project team will also organise policy solution workshops both at the national level in 5 case countries and the EU level.
We made a short video about the day, please, enjoy it.
Ráchel Surányi / GreenDependent
Photos: Lívia Vígh