In great news for the Youth & Sustainable Consumption leadership initiative, IYPF’s partner in this project, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), has won an Australian Research Council (ARC) Grant to conduct more research to underpin the community capacity building project.

For more on the ARC Grants, see the media release for the current round of funding here: www.arc.gov.au/news/media/media_9Nov05.htm.

The official title of the research is ‘Enhancing Capacity for Change: Promoting Leadership in Sustainable Consumption amongst Australian Youth’, with RMIT as the administering institution, and the lead researchers being Prof Fien, Prof Bessant, and Dr Jolliet. The Grant provides AUD175 000 over 2006-2008 to support the research.

Here is an except from the project summary: “Building societal capacity for sustainable consumption is vital if the destructive impacts of current patterns of development and lifestyle choices are to be reversed. Directly relevant to the 'Sustainability' and 'Good Health' (Australian) National Research Priorities, this research will develop the change-agent potential of a significant, high spending consumer class - youth and young adults. The research will result in practical guidelines and program materials for youth organizations to use in capacity building for change leadership. The resultant modelling and encouragement of sustainable consumption through 'purchasing differently' will help stimulate the growth of sustainable products and services in Australia.”

For more on the Youth & Sustainable Consumption research project, see the following URL: www.iypf.org/IYPF-projects.htm#YouthSC.