Policy Choices and Individuals' Attitudes From the Perspective of Imaginary Future Generations—A Discussion Experiment With City Officials on Carbon Neutrality

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate the effects of adopting “imaginary future generations (IFGs),” which has been proven to be effective for generating futurability in individuals, on policy choices and individual attitudes toward environmentally friendly behavior. We conducted a series of discussion experiments on the theme of carbon neutrality with the participation of city officials in Suita City, Osaka, Japan. Based on the discussion results, as well as those of a questionnaire survey administrated to the same participants, we analyzed the effects of adopting IFGs. We found that as a result of adopting IFGs, (1) changes occur in policymaking details and policy selection; and (2) changes could occur in individual behavior, possibly creating motivation for installing photovoltaics and purchasing environmentally friendly cars. We conclude that the practices to discuss future issues and policy measures from the perspective of IFGs may not only lead to changes in decision-making of policy choices, but also provide incentives to change the perception and attitude of policymakers. We found that by looking at the issues from the perspective of future generations, incentives can be created to change personal attitudes toward pro-environmental behavior. This exploratory study provides important insights both for Future Design and research fields related to pro-environmental behavior.