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Werg, J., D. Scheffler & M. HilscherYouth and consumption: Development of activating strategies for sustainable consumption with the help of the Design Thinking Approach

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Authors:
Jana Werg, Dirk Scheffler & Manuel Hilscher

Release date:
March 2021

Publication:
Federal Environmental Agency (UBA), texts | 42/2021

The project was to identify activating strategies for sustainable consumption among youths – and, in doing so, to keep as close to their present interests and everyday activities. In collaboration with influencers and based on a literature- and media analysis as well as guided interviews with youths, the LassMaMachen-Challenge (roughly LetsDoThis-Challenge; lassmamachen.de) was developed. It was the aim of the contest to support youths already interested in sustainability to spread their ideas in order to motivate other youths for sustainability. Apart from that, the website on the contest was to spread information on the subjects of sustainable consumption and relevant everyday actions. The selection of actions for the website was led by an indicator-based assessment of (potentially) sustainable everyday actions of youths (indicators regarding efficiency, consistency, sufficiency, transformation potential). Those indicators were also the basis for the criteria for choosing the winners of the challenge. For the winners, an empowerment workshop was carried out, providing the winners with further knowledge on how to develop and spread their ideas online and offline. For selected ideas, so called onepagers and websites were developed for further promoting the ideas. Also, the website lassmamachen.de provides knowledge on financial support, sources of factual knowledge on sustainability issues, possibilities of youth participation / networking and tutorials about how to promote one’s idea via social media – in short, information that can support youths in the promotion of sustainable consumption ideas. Furthermore, a deepened understanding of the effect of the project activities on the (potential) target group was developed on the basis of interviews and recommendations for future projects were derived.

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