About

Everyday Stories
– stories of ordinary people who live extra-ordinary lives-
 

This project tells the stories of several individuals that live in European cities and who have found their own ways to lead sustainable and meaningful lives; people that most of us can identify with and who can open our eyes and inspire us. 

Short background
Most of us in the richer parts of the earth know actually a lot about how we are living.
  • We know that our environment, the planet and its creatures are at risk.
  • We know that we lead our lives in an unsustainable manner and if we continue this way, disaster awaits.
  • We also know that our lifestyle does not make us happier
  • We know that big industry manipulates us and creates fake needs, and that we can't buy happiness
  • Moreover we know we could change our own behaviour and play a part in improving the environmental situation, our own well-being and our quality of life – but we don’t do it
Knowledge and understanding is the firs step - we've got that. Caring is another step, and we do care. Looking around, we see thousands of causes people are joining, websites, TV programmes, and organised actions. The number of non governmental organisations, social change movements and aid organisations is growing very rapidly.
 
We know and we care, so what is going wrong? Why are we stuck in non-sustainable lifestyles? There is a clear need for behaviour change and revisiting values and norms. We have a reasonably good knowledge of the problems and the barriers to change. What is less developed is the discussion of possible solutions, answers and examples of ways to live and overcome real and perceived barriers at the individual level. We are still confused as to how we as an individual can make a real change in our lifestyles. What is a meaningful and sustainable life? And how do we get there?
 
This website aims to address these questions and provide real solutions based on peoples experiences. On this website we will tell stories of real people doing real things. Starting in Belgium and moving to other cities in Europe, we will follow people who live everyday in a meaningful sustainable way. They are all inspiring characters that are true to the idea of sustainability in most of their actions, their work, life, and travel. Furthermore, these people are not marginal, self-sacrificing or “ecological weirdoes” but “ordinary everyday people.” They all have an interesting story to tell and they are willing to share these with us here.
 
Join us on our journey through Europe searching for inspiration!

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PDF icon sustainable lifestyles project short march 2011.pdf60.62 KB

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