Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Welcome to the Meliora Podcast from the Sustainability and Resilience Institute at the University of Southampton!
This podcast explores the greatest and most wicked problem that is sustainability, whilst looking at how we are collectively addressing this critical global challenge.
Sustainability needs to be addressed by understanding how the economy, society, culture, politics and environment intersect, and this is the focus that informs each episode of the Meliora podcast.
In each episode, host Professor Simon Kemp and guest hosts are joined by a variety of guests, including academics, students, staff, researchers, alumni, community groups and business leaders.
The aim of the podcast is to shine a light on the vast range of topics surrounding sustainability and to allow listeners to learn about the critical challenges we face, as well as how they can be part of the solution. We also ensure our fantastic students have the opportunity to share their brilliant work with the world.
Podcast host: Professor Simon Kemp, Deputy Director of the Sustainability & Resilience Institute, University of Southampton
Podcast editors: Lily Killner, Sophie Green, Libby Kale, Jack Dinham, School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton
Please do get in touch to discuss this podcast and any of the issues we raise by emailing sri@soton.ac.uk
Follow us on instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
Meliora: a podcast from the Sustainability & Resilience Institute
Isabelle Horrocks: Exploring the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on sustainable consumption practices among students
In this episode of the Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium at the University of Southampton, we are joined by Isabelle Horrocks (BA Geography) for an exploration of her dissertation research titled: ‘Exploring the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on sustainable consumption practices among students’.
Over recent years, the combination of stagnant wage growth and a sharp rise in inflation has driven a significant increase in the cost of living across the UK. In accordance, consumption behaviours have altered, especially among university students who are often on lower incomes. This research aims to provide a critical insight into how student consumption behaviours have been impacted as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, while simultaneously offering tentative suggestions into whether these practices have become more or less sustainable.
Throughout the episode we discuss the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis on sustainable behaviours and consumption practices, highlighting the impact of economic pressures on making sustainable choices. The complexity of assessing sustainability is also examined, followed by a discussion of methodological considerations and key findings from the project.
Further resources:
A useful tool from The Office For National Statistics to visualise how the average price of goods are changing: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/shoppingpricescomparisontool/2023-05-03
The challenges associated with measuring sustainability:
Sikdar, S. (2020) ‘Measures for Sustainability’, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 22(2), pp. 279–280. doi:10.1007/s10098-020-01817-y. (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10098-020-01817-y)
Sustainable consumption and behavioural change:
https://timjackson.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Jackson.-2005.-Motivating-Sustainable-Consumption.pdf
The Meliora Podcast Student Research Symposium is part of the 2024 Student Takeover Season where we celebrate the fantastic sustainability research work of our Undergraduate Students.
Guest: Isabelle Horrocks (Third-Year BA Geography Student)
Host: Prof Simon Kemp
Editor: Lily Killner
Engage with us on Instagram and X: @meliorapodcast
