Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

With societies all over the world being faced with severe global environmental crises, profound changes in societal systems are required. Many actors in the field of sustainability transitions attribute an essential role to intentional communities. This study explores how community advocates engaged in intentional communities conceptualize and envision pathways for societal change towards sustainability. Social representations of change held by community advocates from different European countries are investigated. The findings identify two representations of change: One focused on exploring sustainable practices and one centred on facilitating inner change. Community advocates supporting the representation of exploring sustainable practices appear to hold contradicting views, which might result in a lack of action and avoidance of the issue. In comparison, community advocates emphasizing the need for inner change seem to have rather consistent views, which might make it easier for them to engage in community action in practice. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of the role of intentional communities as drivers of societal change towards sustainability, and offers valuable insights for transition work.