UK Government Provides Guidance On Behavior Modification Techniques Used to Shape Personal Lives of UK Citizens

UK BEHAVIOUR CHANGE FORUM – PROVIDING GUIDANCE ON HOW TO PURSUE A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE


http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/government/task-forces/behaviour-change.htm


“We all - government, businesses, families and communities, the public sector, voluntary and community organisations - need to make different choices.


In order to evaluate and share what works best in practice, a Forum has been established across Government departments to promote and support better policymaking to deliver sustained behaviour change.


...The past 20 years have seen a growing realisation that the current model of development is unsustainable. In other words, we are living beyond our means. From the loss of biodiversity with the felling of rainforests or over fishing to the negative effect our consumption patterns are having on the environment and the climate. Our way of life is placing an increasing burden on the planet.


... Unless we start to make real progress toward reconciling these contradictions we face a future that is less certain and less secure. We need to make a decisive move toward more sustainable development. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is in our own long-term best interests. It offers the best hope for the future. Whether at school, in the home or at work, we all have a part to play. Our small everyday actions add up to make a big difference.


... The UK Government, Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Administration have agreed upon a set of principles that provide a basis for sustainable development policy in the UK. For a policy to be sustainable, it must respect all five principles.


UK priorities


In terms of focusing our efforts, the UK has identified four priority areas for immediate action, shared across the UK, these are:


Sustainable Consumption and Production


Climate Change and Energy


Natural Resource Protection and Environmental Enhancement


Sustainable Communities


The UK Government also recognises that changing behaviour is a cross cutting theme closely linked to all of these priorities. In addition, Securing the Future identifies wellbeing as being at the heart of sustainable development.