Scottish Government

CHILDREN'S ATTITUDES TO SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT

CHAPTER TWO DEFINING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

Introduction

2.1 In considering the meaning of sustainable transport, especially to young people, it is important to consider the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development and how these terms are relevant to Scottish children.

2.2 The concept of sustainable development has been debated extensively since the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development. There is some common agreement now that it is essentially a tri-partite concept which takes in the Economy, Social Development and Environmental Protection as a guide to development and decision making, with no one theme losing out to the benefit of another.

2.3 Recent thinking has developed a four-stranded approach to the concept, which distinguishes resource use from environmental stewardship.

1. Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone - e.g. better education, learning resources, training, health services, and safer communities, accessible to all and not just by the privileged few.
2. Effective protection of the environment - by limiting global environment threats; and by protecting human health and safety, wildlife, landscapes and historic buildings from natural and man-made hazards.
3. Prudent and efficient use of natural resources - in order to preserve them and/or limit the serious damage they can cause if used inappropriately/excessively.
4. Maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment - so that everyone can share in higher living standards and greater job opportunities now and in the 21 ^stCentury.
(Sustainable Development Education Panel, 1999)

2.4 The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) portrays sustainable development via the analogy of a three-legged stool, with the legs representing the environment, the economy and society. If any leg is more or less important (i.e. shorter or longer) than the others, the stool will be unstable. If any leg is missing, the stool simply will not work. But if all three legs are the same length (i.e. environmental, economic and social considerations have been given equal weight), the result will be well-balanced.

2.5 Although a policy agenda for sustainable development has arisen in the UK since the concept was first discussed, engaging the public with its aims still has some major hurdles, as recognised by DEFRA research.

• Sustainable Development currently enjoys little, or no, salience. Knowledge cannot be assumed;
• There are major conflicts with the public mindset and the aims of Sustainable Development;
• While Sustainable Development requires people to focus on the world around them, people focus on their individual lives;
• Where Sustainable Development requires people to believe in a world in balance or harmony, people are incredulous and cynical;
• Broadly speaking, people are not able to make even the most rudimentary connections between their behaviours and those of businesses and nations on local and global societies, economics and environments;
• The term 'Sustainable Development' is not, in itself, the barrier to understanding - discovering Sustainable Development requires great effort and starts from seeing the interconnections between its four objectives;
• Alternative words for Sustainable Development, definitions thereof, and its component elements will not in themselves automatically facilitate or infer greater significance, relevance or meaning to the concept;
• Images are good for stimulating interest, exploration and engagement, and are able to facilitate the process of 'discovery' more easily than words can.

Sustainable Development Language

2.6 The concept of "sustainability" and the adjective "sustainable", applied to a whole range of activities, have enjoyed very extensive use. There can be confusion over what these terms actually mean and the emphasis that they are giving, whether this is in terms of environmental protection, self-sufficiency or simply longevity.

2.7 Discussion about Sustainable Development tends to revolve around environmental protection. Whilst the environment protection concepts have been better understood this does not necessarily mean that progress should be confined to green issues or concepts simply because people find these easier to identify with and describe. The real question is, therefore, how an equal emphasis on the four elements can be developed, without confusing or alienating audiences.

2.8 Key issues include the need to help build a broader understanding of what is meant by 'environment' i.e. it includes our built and social, as well as natural, surroundings.

2.9 Language can also be important in motivating positive behaviours. The dominant emphasis of the literature considered was toward public awareness and behaviour in relation to the environment. Several general points can be established:

• Levels of awareness of environmental issues and possible actions. For example, we know that awareness of global warming as a 'bad' thing is high. But, there is little understanding of its actual causes and possible implications.
• Attitudes towards the environment. We know that most people are aware that we all could do more to protect the environment.
• Understanding personal motivations. For example, we know that most individuals feel powerless to make any real impact on protecting the environment, and that they favour low cost, least effort and immediately rewarding activities.
• Some assessment of levels of behaviour. For example, we know that parents of young children are more likely to behave in an environmentally friendly fashion than single adults, often precipitated by their own children's actions and encouragement.

(Sustainable Development Education Panel, 1999)

2.10 The accessibility of the terms in which sometimes complex and inter-related topics and ideas are expressed is particularly significant for young people.

"Sustainable development" is not a concept with which youth workers and young people are always familiar. They feel on surer ground when discussing "the environment" or "global issues".

(Sustainable Development Education Panel, 2000a)

2.11 Examples of phrases with which the young people and youth workers seemed more comfortable include:

• "maintaining what is needed for sustaining life"
• "better use of resources"
• "providing for your own generation without endangering future generations"
• "celebrating now and making the environment better for the future"
• "don't take out more than you can put in"

(ibid)

2.12 Language evolves, and should therefore should not be invented or imposed. Research undertaken for DEFRA (1999) has shown that prescribing a fixed set of words and definitions will not stimulate greater understanding of and engagement with Sustainable Development. This is because the meanings (and level of empathy) which people currently ascribe to sustainable related concepts and issues are diverse and polarised. They are dependent upon any individual's 'world of experience' (social and cultural e.g. upbringing, living conditions, personal status, education, media exposure etc.). Thus there is no current consistency in meanings which can be called upon in order to create a fixed language "blueprint" for Sustainable Development. (Sustainable Development Education Panel, 1999)

2.13 One way therefore to educate people about Sustainable Development is to help them discover what the term encompasses, what it means, and how it should affect the ways they live their lives - in other words develop their own language.

2.14 The 'acid test' of effective language is whether it increases people's capacity to understand and act in ways that are consistent with the principles of Sustainable Development. To do this, sustainable development, or sustainability, will need to have a personal relevance across society.

Young people and Sustainable Development

2.15 There is evidence for a high concern for environmental issues amongst young people, as demonstrated by the relatively high membership by young people of such organisations as Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, RSPB and animal welfare organisations. This was particularly the case in the "caring nineties" but is somewhat in decline now. (Transport 2000, 1996)

2.16 Whereas it is commonly considered that children are a driving force in pushing sustainable development and environmental issues, this may not be the case for slightly older young people. A survey in Scotland shows that people aged 16-24 consider environmental issues to be less important than any other age group (System 3, 2000). Only 15% saw them as very important and 26% saw them as not very important, compared with 40% and 16% respectively for people aged 45-54. As young people become young adults, their priorities change to those of work or study, and generating income to maintain a lifestyle with which they wish to be associated. It would appear that environmental concerns take a back seat at this stage.

2.17 Looking more widely than local environmental concerns, a research study investigating young people's knowledge of global issues (MORI, 1998) surveyed over 4,000 11-16 year olds from 179 middle and secondary schools in England and Wales in early 1998. 81% of the students believed that it is important to learn about global issues at school and that they need to understand global matters to make choices about how they want to lead their lives. However, 54% said they felt powerless to do anything to change the world.

Transport within the Sustainability Agenda

2.18 In debates about sustainability, transport features strongly. Transport is an activity strongly linked to many other economic, social and cultural activities, and includes services which virtually the entire population use to varying degrees - the scope and scale of transport's sustainability impacts are significant.

2.19 The use of the term sustainable transport may suggest ideas of global significance and lead to feelings of helplessness in solving these problems. Transport, however, can have significant local effects, as described by the large range of sustainability indicators linked to transport (Litman, 2003) and individual action may meet both local or regional aspects of sustainability as well as national and international imperatives.

2.20 The importance of travel behaviour and transport choice within sustainable development policy is exemplified by the indicators that are chosen for monitoring progress. Of the 24 indicators chosen to follow Scotland's sustainable development, four directly reference travel, and another three are strongly related to transport, being air quality, climate change and energy consumption. (Scottish Executive Environment Group, 2003).

2.21 The importance of transport themes is further exemplified by Scottish Executive basing its sustainable development strategy upon three key priorities (W.E.T.):

• Waste/resource
• Energy, and
• Travel

2.22 The travel priority concerns delivery of services and the contribution that improved public transport, land use planning and e-commerce can make to sustainable development.

2.23 Within the Scottish Executive's "Do a little, change a lot" environmental awareness campaign, these themes are presented through three main TV advertisements. Research looking at the success of these adverts, showed that the transport-themed feature (promoting reduced car use) had the greatest reach of all the messages (System 3, 2002).

2.24 In addition to the general environmental awareness campaign, a travel awareness campaign has been implemented, "learn to let go", aimed specifically at reducing car dependence in Scotland. As well as focusing on commuter journeys, it has sections targeting:

• Parents - particularly the home to school journey
• Under 11s - walking and cycling - safety aspects always mentioned
• Teenagers - walking and cycling, bus and rail
• Students - money saving potential of using public transport

(From www.learntoletgo.org.uk)

2.25 When considering the widest definition of sustainable development, there are potential conflicts within the needs of environment, society, and economy that arise from promotion of transport options/behaviours.

2.26 For example, as an economy strengthens, more activity and greater employment generates further travel demand. Also greater purchasing power will lead to greater car purchase and use in a car-based transport culture, particularly if the choices are not available for people to "buy into" alternative modes (DHC, 2002). Meanwhile, those without cars experience greater social exclusion as public transport services deteriorate or disappear as mainstream demand falls, and conditions for cycling and walking get worse as traffic levels rise. It is clear that more inventive and individual approaches to meeting transport needs, supporting personal choice and freedom of expression for all people both now and in the future, are really what sustainable transport may mean.

2.27 In rural areas, the purchase and use of mopeds has been found to be a good way for young people to improve accessibility to work (Countryside Agency, 2002). This example illustrates that the optimum methods of transport from an environmental perspective (e.g. cycle or collective mini-bus) may not be the optimum mode from a sustainable transport perspective. Sustainable transport balances the economic, environmental and social aims to provide an option that develops independence, economic capacity, and environmental efficiency.

2.28 Transport is also a good example of where conflicting strands of sustainable development can encourage young people to explore the potentially conflicting inter-relationships between objectives and develop wider social skills (Scottish Executive, 1999)

The meaning of sustainable transport to children and young people

2.29 In order to understand children's attitudes to sustainable transport, it will be important to understand exactly what this term means to young people themselves. This will be discussed in more detail later in this report but at this stage in the research there are lessons which can be learned from the literature.

2.30For the population as a whole, sustainable transport is often used as a convenient catch-all term to include approaches and topics such as:

• Reducing the need to travel,
• Cleaner transport, for example using alternative fuels,
• Reducing car dependence and use,
• Promotion and uptake of alternatives such as car sharing, tele-working, public transport, and
• Greater reliance on cycling, walking or other so-called "soft" modes.

2.31 For young people, some of these concepts are likely to have direct relevance, some will have none. It could be interpreted that young people's transport needs are less centred on the need to make specific journeys, as for adults, than the ability to reach certain destinations (or location types) within certain time periods. Travel horizons ¹, that is the distances or areas within which young people are confident to travel independently, are often limited.

2.32 The significance of personal mobility increases as children grow up, as they widen their scope of activities and independence. Key stages in this mobility awareness can be defined according to general age groups:

Primary School

• Increased awareness of wider environment
• Understanding of different forms of transport
• Safe and enjoyable cycling and walking
• Significant parental guidance

Secondary School

• A move towards more responsibility for own mobility
• Greater reliance on public transport
• Moves towards greater independence
• Increased need for credibility within peer group

School-leavers 16 & 17 year olds

• Low incomes
• Wider social activities and travel needs
• Reliance on reliable public transport, but issues over cost
• Aspirations for independence and "own" motorised transport
  (Adapted from Save the Children Scotland, 2000, Scottish Executive, 2002a)

2.33 For young children, sustainable transport may best be practicalised as safe, healthy and active travel, where the means and confidence to walk or cycle in their local area is developed (OCC, 2002). For young people below the legal driving age especially, sustainable transport may well mean reduced dependence upon lifts given in private cars, either by parents, friends or relatives. This will mean confidence in using public transport, which is developed to meet their needs.

2.34 Research has highlighted the enthusiasm that young people have about cars, even from an early age (Save the Children Scotland, 2000). Cars were perceived as cheaper, more convenient and an important aspect of being accepted within a peer group.

2.35 Transport 2000 (1996) indicate that the awareness by young people of the environmental aspects of transport seems to be greater the younger the child is. This non-intuitive finding is probably a reflection of attitudes and behaviours that older children wish to display, rather than of their understanding levels.