Environmental PsychologyStrategies for Promoting Pro-Environmental Behaviour Among University StudentsUniversity College Utrecht02-12-2015Word count: 4020Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field focused on the interrelationships among human experiences and actions with various aspects of our socio-physical surroundings.Examining topics of sustainability through a psychological lens can provide us with innovative solutions to long standing problems. Development that is sustainable must “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland, 1987). This definition is broad enough that various disciplines and organizations can implement a variety of interventions and goals. Environmental psychology is among these disciplines. It is a broad field that encompasses a wide range of environments. ‘Pro-environmental behavior’ is considered to be ‘behavior that consciously seeks to minimize the negative impact of one’s actions on the natural and built world’ (Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002, p. 240). It is comprised of an awareness of the fragility of the environment and a conscious desire to act in an environmentally friendly way. Environmental psychology applies this definition to several contexts and explores the question, why do people act environmentally and what factorsimpede them from doing so? Among the various environments, environmental psychology investigates, the student campus is a focal point. Although widely researched, the implementation of sustainable practices on college campuses is significantly absent and inconsistent. While more and more initiatives for sustainable projects are being introduced, students attitudes and behaviors are not well understood. Throughout history, college campuses have been a breeding ground for change and innovation. Students consistently are thinking critically and fueling their ideas with the education they receive. They are surrounded by peers that are heavily influencing each other everyday in their actions and beliefs. This creates ample opportunity to mobilize change and transformation. Findings show that students acknowledge a need for awareness of sustainabilityand support this notion (Sadusky, 2014). They acknowledge a lack of action and awareness of environmental problems as a growing concern in our world today. So why is it that the intentionsof pro environmental behavior are not carried out? Although still growing as a discipline, this approach helps investigate the enablers and barriers that may aid or impede sustainability on school campuses. In this exploration, psychology may serve as an aid. Various frameworks have been researched seeking a solution to these questions. Among these frameworks, green construction coupled with attitudes and identity are investigated. As well as intrinsic motivation and awareness audit programs. Furthermore, an abundance of research focusses on the cost-benefit analysis that students, or people in general,make before they show any form of pro-environmental behaviour. By using incentives to either make certain behaviour more or less attractive, for instance the use of private transport, universities can reduce the ecological footprint their students have. In order for this to be a success, pro-environmental behaviour has to be made more practical. It is vital to consider and analyze several facets of behavior and consider both external and internal factors. Both these characteristics can differently influence human behavior and by extension influence our attitudesabout sustainability. Throughout this paper we explore these potential driving and hindering forces to try to answer the following question: What strategies can universities use to support and incentivize the pro-environmental behaviour of their students?It is clear that humankind is not showing enough pro-environmental behaviour. When people can either take the staircase or the elevator they will often choose the latter option because of the egoistic advantages that this provides them. No energy is depleted dragging oneself upstairs and one will not feel the ‘intense pain’ that follows after using your body for a couple of seconds. Following Stern (2000), we define pro-environmental behaviors as “thosebehaviors that change the availability of materials or energy from the environment or alters the structure and dynamics of ecosystems or the biosphere positively.” Explained in a more comprehensive manner one could describe pro-environmental behaviour as a way to decrease the ecological footprint that one has on the environment. It is not possible for every individual to directly measure how big this footprint is thus we hypothesize in this essay that one will diminishits negative impact on our planet if the individual energy and water use of that person will decrease. On top of that, the amount of waste a person produces and the ways of getting rid of this waste are of great importance as well. It is incredibly difficult to pinpoint what causes pro-environmental behaviour, or behaviourin general. Most scholars assume that egoistic, altruistic, and biospheric values are indirectly related to pro-environmental behavior, through behavior specific beliefs, norms, and intentions (e.g., Stern 2000). So, most scholars assume that these factors, indirectly, will have some sort of effect on pro-environmental behaviour. Not only is this extremely vague, but neither can policy be based on the mere assumption of an effect. A stronger relation has to be found. This model is the most well-known theoretical approach to pro-environmental behaviour. This behaviour is directly affected by one’s knowledge and values. Whereas it would sound reasonable to assume that environmental knowledge would be an important predictor for the associated behaviour it has been shown that this is not necessarily the case. “Most researchers agree that only a small fraction of pro-environmental behavior can be directly linked to environmental knowledge and environmental awareness.” (Anja. K, 2002) They argue that it is very important to differentiate two types of knowledge. If people want to be able to behave in a pro-environmental way it is necessary that they know how to do this. It is obvious that people can not and will not change their behaviour if they do not understand what they are doing wrongand in what way they can improve. On the other hand, people with a very