Living smart homes : a pilot Australian sustainability education program

Abstract

This paper documents the rationale and experience of a pilot Australian sustainability education program, ‘Living Smart Homes’ (LSH) based on a community-based social marketing model. Inspired by the Australian ‘Land for Wildlife’ scheme, LSH is designed to engage homeowners with sustainable practices through face-to-face workshops, an interactive website with action learning modules, and a recognition scheme, a sign displayed in front of participant’s houses to which additions were made as they completed modules on energy, water, waste and transport. Participants were asked to change household behaviours and to discuss the changes and the barriers to participation in the program and to making the behavioural changes.-----

More than 120 people participated in the program. This paper documents feedback from two surveys (n=103) and four focus groups (n=12). Participants enjoyed and learnt from LSH, praising the household sign as a tangible symbol of their commitment to sustainability and a talking point with visitors. Their evaluation of the LSH program, website and workshops, as well as their identification of barriers and recommendations for improvement and expansion of the program, are discussed.