engleski

Promoting Sustainable Consumption Through Higher Education

The first decades of the 21 century have been considerably marked with the immense need for changing the harm and injustice that has been brought upon the natural and social order in the world. Unsustainable production and consumption, the need for more luxury and wealth have resulted in different social inequalities, the pollution of the ecosystem, the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, which ultimately endangers human existence. The time has come for a different, more sustainable approach in the production of goods and services, as well as in their consumption. The aim of the paper is to emphasise the importance of implementing the concept of sustainable consumption, for the purpose of altering unsustainable purchasing habits, and thereby directing consumers towards sustainable consumption patterns, in order to achieve social cohesion, environmental protection and economic development. For the means of attaining a better insight into the functioning and implementation of sustainable consumption when it comes to the decisions of individuals, the research was conducted on a population of university students. Despite a high level of knowledge about eco products, the results explicitly showed a relatively low level of consumption of these products, primarily due to their insufficient information on their benefits. Therefore, promoting sustainable consumption require collaboration of universities with different stakeholders: governments (at global, national, regional and local levels), business and non- governmental organisations. The higher educational system, with its keen role in moulding young minds, must make a great effort in raising awareness on the importance of sustainable consumption, in order to improve the quality of life for all.

sustainable consumption ; consumption patterns ; eco products ; high education ; Croatia

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