Agenda

Our consumption and production patterns lead to an increasing pressure on the environment. These patterns are not just accidental, but are rooted in worldviews, including ideas what constitutes quality of life and how mankind should relate to nature. The hypothesis of this study is that, to realise long-term sustainability, it should correspond with people’s ideas about how to achieve and maintain a high quality of life.

This study focuses on the meso level of communities and aims to investigate possible ways of realising a high quality of life combined with a sustainable way of living. The author studied the worldview, values and behaviour patterns of four religious communities: Amish, Hutterites, Franciscan and Benedictine communities, in order to study whether and in what way their values and principles may lead to a relatively low impact on the environment and a structure that helps to maintain their quality of life.

These communities appear to base their choices not so much on environmental values, but on values such as community, stability, moderation, humility or modesty, the rhythm of life, and reflection. In many cases, these values lead to behaviour choices with a relatively low environmental impact, while they also contribute to their preferred quality of life. In order to maintain their quality of life, four principles appear to be important: a consistent and transparent worldview, a strong social capital, reflective change based on values, and good leadership and an appropriate decision-process.

 The study among the four religious communities has brought to light values that might still connect to ideas about quality of life rooted in broader Western society and may stimulate a reflective change towards a sustainable development with a lower impact on the environment.