Sustainable Behaviour at Work and in Private Life

The project operates on the premise that experiences and practices on the occupational level affect the private level. It contributes to empower employees in companies to implement sustainable lifestyles. The key innovation of the project lies in a double bridging: On one hand environment (protection) and health (promotion) are linked to work/private life balance and CSR; and on the other hand the company point of view (management, health and safety representatives) and everyday life point of view (employees in their private lives) are linked as well. Global and social changes, in particular more flexibility and deregulation of the work world, place increasing demands on the management and organisation of everyday life, and often result in non- sustainable modes of life. At the same time there is evidence for a (again) growing importance of the attitude "to protect the environment", people are sensitized to healthy nutrition and take an interest in health topics and sustainability issues. Consumption and lifestyle research focuses mainly on the activities of actors in their private lives, and only considers occasionally work experience as a "driving factor" for more sustainable ways of living. Companies contribute with their CSR activities to environmental protection, health promotion and equal opportunities of their employees. But they usually only focus on the occupational level of their employees. On this basis the project goal is to investigate the interaction between occupational and private everyday life with the aim of identifying potentials for strengthening sustainable/preventive living. Nutrition, exercise and mobility are fields of high priority, as they have a high impact on the environment and are closely linked to well-being, health and quality of life for people in their everyday lives. At the same time there are company measures and activities to tie up to. The project team chooses a problem- and actors-oriented research design, applying different, predominately sociological, methods while taking into account different disciplinary perspectives and practical fields as well as gender aspects. The project`s aim is to make use of synergies arising from the interaction of areas of activity (health promotion, environmental protection and equal opportunity), contexts of action (work and life) and levels of action (individuals, companies and society) to provide an integrated concept, "Sustainable Behaviour at Work and in Private Life". Project output is a toolkit for companies, showing them ways how to link already existing company activities and how to supplement and to implement management methods in an integrated manner, so that they facilitate sustainable practices and conduct at work and in the private lives of individuals. Practical use of the toolkit will be supported by knowledge transfers. The project provides usable knowledge for research into, and the practice of, sustainability management in companies, for education for sustainable development (module with trainees), and for research on sustainable consumption and lifestyles.

The project operates on the premise that experiences and practices on the occupational level affect the private level. It contributes to empower employees in companies to implement sustainable lifestyles. The key innovation of the project lies in a double bridging: On one hand environment (protection) and health (promotion) are linked to work/private life balance and CSR; and on the other hand the company point of view (management, health and safety representatives) and everyday life point of view (employees in their private lives) are linked as well. Global and social changes, in particular more flexibility and deregulation of the work world, place increasing demands on the management and organisation of everyday life, and often result in non- sustainable modes of life. At the same time there is evidence for a (again) growing importance of the attitude "to protect the environment", people are sensitized to healthy nutrition and take an interest in health topics and sustainability issues. Consumption and lifestyle research focuses mainly on the activities of actors in their private lives, and only considers occasionally work experience as a "driving factor" for more sustainable ways of living. Companies contribute with their CSR activities to environmental protection, health promotion and equal opportunities of their employees. But they usually only focus on the occupational level of their employees. On this basis the project goal is to investigate the interaction between occupational and private everyday life with the aim of identifying potentials for strengthening sustainable/preventive living. Nutrition, exercise and mobility are fields of high priority, as they have a high impact on the environment and are closely linked to well-being, health and quality of life for people in their everyday lives. At the same time there are company measures and activities to tie up to. The project team chooses a problem- and actors-oriented research design, applying different, predominately sociological, methods while taking into account different disciplinary perspectives and practical fields as well as gender aspects. The project`s aim is to make use of synergies arising from the interaction of areas of activity (health promotion, environmental protection and equal opportunity), contexts of action (work and life) and levels of action (individuals, companies and society) to provide an integrated concept, "Sustainable Behaviour at Work and in Private Life". Project output is a toolkit for companies, showing them ways how to link already existing company activities and how to supplement and to implement management methods in an integrated manner, so that they facilitate sustainable practices and conduct at work and in the private lives of individuals. Practical use of the toolkit will be supported by knowledge transfers. The project provides usable knowledge for research into, and the practice of, sustainability management in companies, for education for sustainable development (module with trainees), and for research on sustainable consumption and lifestyles.