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Abstract
Sustainable communities are new sites of exploration; spaces which have been planned and designed to overcome a multitude of social, economic and environmental problems which are present in the UK urban landscape. Given their environmental credentials, this offers a new backdrop for investigating children and young people's knowledge regarding the environment and sustainability. Data are presented from research with children, young people and families living in one of these new communities. The paper focuses on the local primary school and homes which have been designed and equipped with various eco-technologies, exploring how pro-environmental behaviour is encouraged and acted out within these (new) spaces. Ultimately, the paper identifies a number of barriers to pro-environmental behaviour which need to be overcome if these new built environments are to become true sustainable communities.
Acknowledgements
The ‘New Urbanisms, New Citizens: Children and Young People's Everyday Life and Participation in Sustainable Communities’ research project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (Reference: RES-062-23-1549) and is a collaborative project between the University of Warwick, The University of Northampton and University of Leicester. I would like to thank Professor Pia Christensen, Dr. John Horton and Dr. Peter Kraftl for their comments and contributions to earlier drafts of this paper. I would also like to thank the two anonymous referees for their critical and constructive feedback. Above all, I express my gratitude to the children, young people and their families for participating in this research, and the local primary school for their support.