Abstract

The paper discusses research on sustainable lifestyles in Trondheim, Norway. The goal is to elucidate how concepts and ideologies of sustainability influence (urban) activities, attitudes and consumption habits and, vice versa, how products and services contribute to a “green habitus.” From a designerly perspective, the research contributes to learning if, and how, sustainable product qualities can be applied to conventional products, consumption patterns, and utilitized for new developments. Following the idea of a performative turn in design, that everyday practices are “performed” within certain sociocultural contexts, it is argued that sustainability practices form around shared tastes, values, and material representations, which cohere into a distinctive lifestyle and habitus. A sustainable lifestyle is enacted according to a continuously made and remade set of “appropriate” actions and consumption patterns. In order to excavate elements of a “green habitus”, the research employs methods such as participant observation alongside a set of focus group meetings and a series of individual, semi-structured interviews. The results achieved contribute to analyzing how sustainable activities and consumption patterns can be employed within a broader urban context.