Balancing needs: young unemployed Finnish adults’ discourse on well-being and its relation to the sustainability transformation

IF 3.6 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy Pub Date : 2022-02-10 DOI:10.1080/15487733.2022.2030115

Tuula Helne, Tuuli Hirvilammi

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引用次数: 6

Abstract

Abstract Meeting human needs while respecting ecological limits is one of the daunting tasks of the sustainability transformation. To succeed in it, it is vital to discuss, to reconstruct, and to deconstruct the dominant discourse on well-being. How young people understand well-being is a particularly important issue since they are the prospective harbingers of change. However, the public discourse on youth is often problem-oriented, especially regarding youth not in employment or education. In this article, the gaze is directed at one such group. Group-interview data of young unemployed Finnish adults are analyzed to explore how they conceptualize well-being and how this understanding relates to the sustainability transformation. We interpret the data with the help of a need-based theory of sustainable, multidimensional, and relational well-being (the Having-Doing-Loving-Being framework). The study demonstrates that the young adults’ discourse is compatible with the framework, and differs distinctly from the prevailing policy discourse on well-being by giving far less weight to monetary aspects, and by its emphasis on meaningfulness, ethical activities, and connectedness with nature. The article concludes with implications for the sustainability transformation regarding consumption, employment policies, social and health services, biodiversity and conservation, positive sustainability, and the theory of sustainable well-being.

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平衡需求:年轻失业的芬兰成年人对福祉的论述及其与可持续性转型的关系

在尊重生态极限的同时满足人类需求是可持续转型的艰巨任务之一。要在这方面取得成功，讨论、重建和解构关于幸福的主流话语至关重要。年轻人如何理解幸福是一个特别重要的问题，因为他们是未来变革的先驱者。然而，关于青年的公共话语往往是问题导向的，特别是那些没有就业或教育的青年。在这篇文章中，我们关注的是这样一个群体。小组访谈的年轻失业芬兰成年人的数据进行分析，以探讨他们如何概念化幸福感和这种理解如何与可持续发展转型。我们用一种基于需求的可持续、多维和关系幸福理论(拥有-做-爱-存在框架)来解释这些数据。该研究表明，年轻人的话语与框架是兼容的，并且与流行的关于福祉的政策话语截然不同，因为它对金钱方面的重视要少得多，并且强调有意义、道德活动和与自然的联系。文章最后从消费、就业政策、社会和卫生服务、生物多样性和保护、积极可持续性以及可持续福利理论等方面对可持续转型的启示进行了总结。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Sustainability: Science, Practice, and Policy Social Sciences-Geography, Planning and Development

CiteScore

12.00

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

27 weeks

期刊介绍： Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy is a refereed, open-access journal which recognizes that climate change and other socio-environmental challenges require significant transformation of existing systems of consumption and production. Complex and diverse arrays of societal factors and institutions will in coming decades need to reconfigure agro-food systems, implement renewable energy sources, and reinvent housing, modes of mobility, and lifestyles for the current century and beyond. These innovations will need to be formulated in ways that enhance global equity, reduce unequal access to resources, and enable all people on the planet to lead flourishing lives within biophysical constraints. The journal seeks to advance scientific and political perspectives and to cultivate transdisciplinary discussions involving researchers, policy makers, civic entrepreneurs, and others. The ultimate objective is to encourage the design and deployment of both local experiments and system innovations that contribute to a more sustainable future by empowering individuals and organizations and facilitating processes of social learning.