Introduction

The pivotal role of culture in the drive for sustainability

Authors

  • Theodoor A.M. Richard National Chung Hsing University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v13i1.2154

Keywords:

sustainability, anthropocene, sustainability culture, cultural dynamics, paradoxical lifeworlding

Abstract

In this Introduction to Exchanges’ special issue on Sustainability Culture, I argue that the concept of culture plays a crucial role in understanding the sustainability crisis. I propose that the concept of Sustainability Culture that originally developed in organisational studies may be expanded to a more generally applicable concept, which may serve the purpose of understanding our experienced anthropocenic life situation more deeply. After discussing the organisational concept, I examine the ideas of cultural dynamics that can clarify how people form their cultural awareness. I argue that even though people may have the wish to be more sustainable, they may not act upon this wish, to the extent they have a belief system that makes them think the world does not allow them to live sustainably. And finally, I conclude that the concept of sustainability culture could provide answers to questions surrounding how people could want to live more sustainably.

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Author Biography

  • Theodoor A.M. Richard, National Chung Hsing University

    Dr Richard is an assistant professor in Sustainability Education at National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan, and holds a PhD in Taiwan and Transcultural Studies. Dr Richard's interdisciplinary research is focused on how culture forms in ‘glocalised’ times as a function of (borderless) mobility in the Anthropocene, and how thinking around sustainability can shape cultural formation to avoid climate change crisis. His specific research interests include sustainability culture, new climate ethics, (agro)ecological transition, transculturality and transcultural system thinking, diasporic culture, borderlessness, and how belief systems influence the way we act.

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Published

2026-03-06

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2026): Special Issue: Sustainability Cultures

Section

Introduction

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Theodoor A.M. Richard

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