20 June 2011
How family relationships can drive behaviour change
Ferhan Khan reports:Earlier today, I visited the Centre for Research into Families and Relationships at The University of Edinburgh. We were invited to a seminar called 'The environment, families and relationships'. The aim of the event was to explore the gap in knowledge of 'the interaction between family and personal relationships and behaviours regarding the environment',
to quote the website.
After having attended the event, what's clear is that there's a great deal of potential regarding partnership working between researchers that look into families and relationships and us. It's Transform Scotland's aim that living more sustainably is encouraged and that public policy is steered in a way that fosters sustainable transport modes. The event was an opportunity to find out how research into families and relationships can support people to live more sustainably.
In the seminar we meted out whether focusing on the education of children could change future behaviour. Notable comments were that children could present 'pester power' to their parents when they return home from school. Family relationships offer a medium where more effective persuasion can occur, it was argued. Instead of an outsider prescribing better behaviour, members of the family could communicate these positive messages on a personal level and it's clear that that's got its benefits.
Families offer a unique perspective on sustainable transport. Greater localisation would favour families. If we had community hubs for instance, which provided a focus for remote working but also healthcare, education, shopping delivery assistance (such as storage for e-commerce), postal and financial provision; the demand for travel would reduce. A useful term is 'local living' and it's useful to know that the average adult spends about 2 days per week working from home already.
This 'fertile ground' extends to the way children access their places of education. Currently, Scottish kids travel to school by car less often than their English counterparts: 20% versus 30%. This suggests that 'Safer Routes to Schools' would be a welcome addition to the way that families plan their children’s travel to school. School travel planning could further encourage take-up of such active travel.