Umeå offers its residents mental training approach to sustainability

It turns out that there is a gender divide when it comes to environmental awareness

Sweden has one of the most environmentally aware populations among European countries with 75% of residents showing concern for climate change. Nevertheless, even there only one in five Swedes believe they are doing enough to lead properly sustainable lifestyles. This means there is a large gap where much needs to be done in order to support people in making personal changes.

For this purpose, the Swedish municipality of Umeå has announced that it will provide a course, called BeChange Umeå, for climate-conscious residents willing to do more but unsure how to implement the necessary changes in their lives. It will run for six weeks from the end of April.

Internal development and external adaptation

In addition to learning on their own, participants receive inspirational lectures and the opportunity to share their thoughts with other participants. At the beginning of the course, everyone weighs their own climate footprint and their mood. At the end of the course, they can see and reflect on the change.

This is based on a method for streamlining environmental work with the help of mental tools and internal adjustment processes.

“In elite sports, mental training is a matter of course. In leadership development, it is also common to work with mental training and self-leadership. In the same way, climate change works best when we work with both internal and external factors. During the course you get tools for internal development and external adjustment. It is important both for us as individuals and to achieve a system change,” explained mental coach Ann Murugan, one of the founders of BeChange.

Gender disbalance

The Municipality of Umeå has already received a lot of applications for the course. But one thing has become immediately apparent. They come mostly from women.

“We already know that young women are the group that feels the greatest personal responsibility to do something about the climate, so we are not really surprised that a larger proportion of women sign up for the course,” explained Lucas Röhlinger, community planner at Umeå municipality.

He added: “At the same time, we also know that men generally account for a larger climate footprint than women, which makes their participation in the transition important. We are convinced that there are also many men who are concerned about climate change, and we want to offer a way to put it into practical action. We want everyone to feel that they can become part of the climate change on their own terms.”

Through previous tests with the method that BeChange uses, it has been shown that the participants not only reduce their climate footprint, they also feel better by acting more in accordance with their values. And that’s what makes this program different, that it can be adapted to individual particularities and lifestyles. Plus, for those who participate, there is also the opportunity to win prizes.