ERIC Number: EJ1296739
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1366-5626
EISSN: N/A
A Practice-Based Learning Approach toward Sustainable Consumption in the Workplace
Figueiredo, Marina Dantas de; Castro, Neyliane Maranhão de; Silva, Minelle E.
Journal of Workplace Learning, v33 n3 p197-211 2021
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze how changes toward sustainable consumption of electric energy are learned in the workplace, the paper uses a practice-based approach to organizational learning. This paper focuses on the workplace as a rich environment where social learning is not limited to individuals but is also rooted in the community of practitioners at an organizational level. Design/methodology/approach: This paper used participative action research through interviews, two focus groups and observations. Departing from the interventions, this paper identified the elements of the practice of energy consumption. This paper further altered elements to intentionally promote the reconfiguration of such practice toward sustainable patterns among the working group. Findings: The results show that the goal of promoting sustainability through changes in the individual and collective actions and understandings may be achieved through sharing knowledge and keeping knowledge alive within the practices of a community; embedding knowledge in material practices and innovating as an ongoing process. During the research, this paper observed that employees became more aware of sustainable consumption and such self-consciousness prompted behavioral changes in the workplace. Likewise, the new material arrangements adopted in the work environment nudged sustainable energy consumption, which required lower levels of awareness. Originality/value: This paper contributes to sustainability studies by providing more information on how the learning of sustainable energy consumption happens in the level of social practices. It also contributes to workplace studies by showing that changes in materials, meanings and competences interwove with new dynamics to reshape the practice, foreshadowing more lasting changes toward sustainability.
Descriptors: Work Environment, Workplace Learning, Organizational Learning, Organizational Communication, Socialization, Workshops, Energy Conservation, Sustainability, Consumer Economics, Communities of Practice, Employee Attitudes, Consciousness Raising, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Brazil
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A