05/14/2025

Less - different - communal: strategies for a fulfilling, resource-conserving life

Current tried-and-tested instructions for reading, listening and trying out show how sufficiency is possible in everyday life.

Whether socially, materially or ecologically, the earth's resources are limited. Accordingly, in recent years there has been a growing awareness in Germany and other European countries of the need to use our planet's social, material and ecological resources sparingly.1 The desire to consume ‘less’ and ‘differently’ is increasing, but how we move from wanting to act and firmly integrate planet-friendly behaviour into our everyday lives is usually difficult. This is precisely where the two-part joint project ‘SuPraStadt - Quality of life, participation and resource conservation through the social diffusion of sufficiency practices in urban neighbourhoods’ comes in.

At the end of the overall project (SuPraStadt I + II), the results have now been published in up-to-date, tried-and-tested instructions for reading, listening and trying out.

For more than five years, researchers in the project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) worked on developing resource-conserving approaches to organising everyday life in cities and making this ‘sufficiency’ lifestyle visible and tangible for citizens. Sufficiency enables a socially just, needs-orientated and ecologically sustainable way of life based on an appreciative and moderate approach to the environment and resources. Practices that are considered sufficient are generally characterised by three attributes: ‘less’, ‘different’ and ‘communal’.

On this basis, researchers from the ifeu Institute, Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, the Institute for Social-Ecological Research (ISOE) and the Collegium Academicum funding organisation designed transferable sufficiency practices geared towards human needs. They introduced these in three real-world laboratories - in cooperation with the municipalities of Heidelberg, Dortmund and Kelsterbach - and successfully consolidated them in the everyday lives of the residents.

At the end of the overall project (SuPraStadt I + II), the results have now been published in various formats:

• The final project report contains practically tested and scientifically evaluated methods, instruments and formats (‘SuPraStadt Toolbox’) for the dissemination of sufficiency practices. The target group is key players from politics, administration, business and civil society.
• The web-based, smartphone-optimised ‘sufficiency check’ serves as an orientation tool that citizens can use to compare their current lifestyle with the requirements of a planet-friendly life. They also receive practical everyday tips on which measures can contribute to a more sufficient life.
• In the 13-minute podcast episode ‘Enough is enough! Living well within planetary boundaries’, ifeu researcher and SuPraStadt project coordinator Lars Brischke explains the sufficiency concept, summarises the project results and shares impressions from the three real-world laboratories

To the final press release (PDF)

To the project including final report, toolbox and sufficiency check

To the podcast episode #15: „Es reicht! Gut leben innerhalb der planetaren Grenzen“

1 Examples include the SRU discussion paper (SRU 2024), the campaign ‘Enough is enough! More courage for sufficiency’ campaign by the Ecumenical Network for Climate Justice (ÖNK 2024), the database of European sufficiency policy measures by the Energy Sufficiency Junior Research Group (EnSu 2025) and the recommendations for action on energy and housing sufficiency by the Franco-German Centre for the Future (DFZW 2024) (In: Brischke, L.-A. et al. (2025):
„Lebensqualität, Teilhabe und Ressourcenschonung durch soziale Diffusion von Suffizienzpraktiken in Stadtquartiere – Umsetzung und Verstetigung (SuPraStadt II)“.