There are a number of aspects of the sustainable consumption agenda that interest me and a number of different things I'd like to take away from the course:
- I want to understand what intiatives have been undertaken to try and encourage sustainable consumption, and get an insight into what has worked well, what has worked less well and why this is the case
- I'd love to know what new approaches are being considered by policy-makers to a) try and reduce consumption in the developed world and b) try and encourage the developing world to take a more sustainable approach
- I'm also studying Environmental Economics and want to understand whether or how the approach taken in sustainable consumption initiatives fits with/complements more traditional economic approaches such as taxing and permits
- Prior to starting the MSc I worked in strategy and marketing for a number of years and want to start to understand how concepts on sustainable consumption can be built into business and marketing strategies
- I'm interested in consumerism and it's growth - I still find it hard to accept that shopping is seen as a leisure activity!
- At a personal level I expect it will make me question my own consumption patterns. The carbon footprint exercise has confirmed that I need to replace th oil-fired boiler and Aga. Plans are already in place to do the latter in '09 and I'm currently investigating ground source heat pumps for the latter
That's all for now - off looking at wood-burning stoves tomorrow. Have a great weekend and see you next week
Kev
P.S. If you haven't done so already, worth looking at the IPPR website which has a number of interesting reports and articles, many free
