Do we need personalization more than normalization.

Abstract

Sustainability is a current buzzword, used profusely in academia, business and public life, yet it seem to be merely the latest expression of the Human Exemptionalism Paradigm: a framing that reinforces the perceived separation between humans and nature. The 1987 UN sustainability definition of meeting 'the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' is an anthropocentric perspective that also serves to further separate us from present participation in environmental change. It is future generations who will be compromised, so, by extension, the present situation must have been caused by past generations (not us!). This us-versus-them, guilt/blame narrative also encourages all-too-familiar frames such as the War on Terra. To counteract this approach, a more ecopsychological framing – that where we are is part of who we are, with sustainability emerging from wellbeing – might personalize how we understand and address environmental change.