Building on the previous workshops, in which the lab participants had identified and jointly developed 100 measures for a sustainable and good life in areas such as housing, nutrition, mobility and general consumption, in this last round of Living Lab workshops they focused on the challenges and opportunities for integrating such measures into everyday life.

The inability to influence the living infrastructure due to lack of ownership (e.g., living property), high financial costs, impediment to convenience and/or lack of availability and accessibility to more sustainable options were recurring challenges across the various countries. For example, in all countries, not owning the property where one lives, is a key obstacle to adopting changes that would make housing more sustainable.

Each challenge identified in the Living Lab sessions was discussed in terms of opportunities and potential future solutions. For example, participants noted that positive change is best introduced gradually and with additional support from key decision-makers to make sustainable options more accessible, available and affordable. Another frequently voiced suggestion was to highlight the financial and health benefits of sustainable solutions. Additional information, reminders and entertaining or social elements were mentioned as features that would lead to better acceptance and implementation of more sustainable living patterns.

The PSLifestyle Living Labs are undertaken to further co-develop and improve the PSL tool, a consumption-based carbon footprint calculator that allows users to not only measure their carbon footprint but also take actions and track their progress towards minimising it. The exchanges with the participants, including from this last round of workshops are embedded into the PSL tool to increase its appeal and usability among its target group.

The project will officially go live with the PSL tool this year in the 8 target countries: Portugal, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Greece, and Turkey. Keep visiting our PSLifestyle project website and don’t miss out on the opportunity to engage with the PSL tool, find out what your carbon footprint looks like and how you could potentially improve it.