Dablander, F., Hickey, C., Sandberg, M., Zell-Ziegler, C., & Grin, J. (2025). Embracing sufficiency to accelerate the energy transition. Energy Research & Social Science, 120, 103907. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103907
In our perspective, we emphasize sufficiency as a cornerstone for a successful energy transition and broader societal sustainability. We identify key barriers to sufficiency and sketch how policymakers, businesses, researchers, the media and arts, and civil society can help to overcome them. We note that a full transition to sufficiency, beyond individual interventions or novel practices, requires systemic changes that address underlying structural barriers, and distil four broad lessons from the field of transition studies that can help achieve these systemic changes. We call on relevant stakeholders to embrace sufficiency in order to accelerate the energy transition.

Malik, J., Wei, M., & Hong, T. (2024). The Sufficiency Imperative – why deep energy conservation is needed to achieve climate and equity targets and how might it be achieved? ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, USA.
With current warming to anticipated warming above 1.5°C, the chances of exceeding climate system-altering tipping points are increasingly possible. To avert climate catastrophe, deeper GHG cuts may be needed, sooner than current targets, and policies and programs that focus only on EEE/CE/NET are not enough to meet the urgency of the climate challenge. Sufficiency measures combined with EEE/CE/NET across policy, technology, and social innovations provide the best chance for a more equitable, livable, and flourishing planet.

Breucker, F., & Thalberg, K. (2024). Unlocking sufficiency at the EU, National and Local Level—A policy brief from the FULFILL Project. https://fulfill-sufficiency.eu/our-research/
This policy brief outlines key recommendations from the FULFILL project, a three-year, EU-funded Horizon 2020 research project to foster sufficiency at EU, national, and local levels.

Buschka, M., Schepelmann, P., Breucker, F., & Kurwan, J. (2024). Sufficiency Initiatives and Municipalities: Opportunities and Limitations for Bringing People and Politics Together. Urban Planning, 9, 7960. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.7960
This article examines the potential and challenges of sufficiency initiatives within the urban environment, focusing on their ability to bring people and politics together. Sufficiency initiatives find themselves in a precarious position against a backdrop of growth-oriented urban development and face barriers such as lack of resources, legal and regulatory challenges, measurement difficulties, and inertia of municipalities. However, the study also identifies examples of fruitful cooperation between municipalities and initiatives and identifies enablers for successful collaboration, including aligned goals, engaged individuals, and effective communication.

Jenny, A., Müller, U., Skelton, R., & Mastai, N. (2024). Policies for sufficiency: Factors influencing acceptance in the Swiss population. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 20(1), 2420415. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2024.2420415
This article presents two related studies that investigated the acceptance levels of policies supporting sufficiency among the Swiss population and the factors influencing this acceptance. The first study involved a quantitative survey of 834 individuals to assess acceptance of ten policy measures at national and communal levels. The second study entailed interviews with 15 individuals with the same sociodemographic criteria as a critical subgroup identified in the quantitative survey, namely respondents with little environmental affinity, with a low or medium level of education, and from rural or semi-urban areas, and considered on an in-depth basis three of the ten policy measures: the real price of meat, the potential of reduced working hours, and the ban on fossil-fuel powered cars. The findings show that sufficiency policy can gain public support if implemented equitably and seen as effective by the population.

Christensen, T. H., Aagaard, L. K., Juvik, A. K., Samson, C., & Gram-Hanssen, K. (2024). Promoting practices of sufficiency: Reprogramming resource-intensive material arrangements. Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 629–644. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.436
This paper explores theoretically the possible pathways for sufficiency-based everyday practices within existing, slightly modified materialities. It develops the concept of ‘reprogramming’, i.e. to promote sufficiency through performing practices in different ways within existing or slightly modified material arrangements, and it explores how changes in institutional arrangements further can promote such resource-light practices. Based on discussions of sufficiency, practice theories and social metabolism, the concept of reprogramming is exemplified through empirical findings, particularly focusing on mobility practices in young adults (n = 31).

Wiese, F., Zell-Ziegler, C., Burghardt, C., Kloos, Y., & Schäfer, M. (2024). Reducing demand: A quantitative analysis of energy service demand indicators in sufficiency-oriented scenarios. Environmental Research Communications. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ad966e
To help fill the existing research gap around the assumptions and quantification of sufficiency potentials, we analyse quantified European-focused sufficiency scenarios that are ambitious with respect to energy demand reduction. We propose twelve main service level indicators for comparison and create a database for the industry, transport, building and food sectors which includes values for these indicators from all identified scenarios. Achieving a common understanding of such indicators in the research community and more transparency in published scenario assumptions, input and output parameters, would improve comparability and streamline data research efforts.

Wiese, F. et al. (2024). The key role of sufficiency for low demand-based carbon neutrality and energy security across Europe. Nature Communications, 15(1), 9043. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53393-0
A detailed assessment of a low energy demand, 1.5°C compatible pathway is provided for Europe from a bottom-up, country scale modelling perspective. The level of detail enables a clear representation of the potential of sufficiency measures. Results show that by 2050, 50% final energy demand reduction compared to 2019 is possible in Europe, with at least 40% of it attributable to various sufficiency measures across all sectors. This reduction enables a 77% renewable energy share in 2040 and 100% in 2050, with very limited need for imports from outside of Europe and no carbon sequestration technologies. Sufficiency enables increased fairness between countries through the convergence towards a more equitable share of energy service levels.

Fragkos, P., Zisarou, E., & Andreou, A. (2024). Exploring the Impacts of Lifestyle Changes in the Global Energy Transition: Insights from a Model-Based Analysis Using PROMETHEUS. Climate, 12(12), 193. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12120193
This study explores the impact of lifestyle changes on the global energy system and CO2 emissions using the PROMETHEUS model, an advanced energy–economy–environment system model. In this research we present scenarios in which lifestyle changes, such as reduced private car use and increased adoption of public transport and energy-savings behavior in households, are gradually introduced and complement technological and policy measures within the energy transition framework. We explore the impacts of scenarios with different levels of climate policies and lifestyle changes to evaluate the effects of various behavioral shifts on global energy consumption and CO2 emissions.

Van Valkengoed, A. M., Steg, L., & Perlaviciute, G. (2024). Representing the drivers of lifestyle change in Integrated Assessment Models using theories from environmental psychology: Introducing the Motivation, Agency, and Past Behaviour (MAP) framework. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/t5j6v
While sustainable lifestyles are increasingly included in integrated assessment models, modellers have so far not managed to realistically model what drives changes in lifestyles. Important questions about the feasibility and likelihood of lifestyle change, and how lifestyle changes can be accelerated or promoted thus go unanswered. Environmental psychology is a discipline dedicated to understanding environmental behaviour, and its theories and findings could therefore be instrumental to informing the modelling of lifestyle change in integrated assessment models.

Zhang, J., Johnson-Wang, M., Khanna, N., Wei, M., Shoai-Tehrani, B., & Zhou, N. (2025). Energy sufficiency for deep decarbonization—A modeling framework. Nexus, 100055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynexs.2025.100055
This work explores the concept and modelling of energy sufficiency, differentiating it from energy efficiency. This paper introduces the Decentralization, Right-sizing, Utilization/Timing and Longevity, Multifunctionality, Substitution, and Sharing (DRUMSS) framework to improve modelling of energy sufficiency. DRUMSS provides steps for implementing sufficiency measures across demand-side sectors, identifying policy actions to achieve deep decarbonization. We present three case studies, from the United States, China, and France, to illustrate implementing the DRUMSS framework in diverse contexts.

Moynat, O., & Sahakian, M. (2024). Imagining sufficiency through collective changes as satisfiers. Buildings & Cities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.457
This paper discusses the results of seven participatory workshops (n = 154 participants) held in Switzerland where new imaginaries around the future in cities were discussed. The results demonstrate that people can reflect on how living, consuming and working in cities could achieve the double dividend of meeting needs while using less energy. Based on the notion of practices-as-satisfiers, the participants collectively discussed synergic satisfiers or changes to practices were found to lead to energy savings and the satisfaction of multiple needs. However, for this to be possible, practices need to be thought of as part of systems: several changes would need to take place at once. Certain practices, such as reducing work time, are prefigurative of others.

Aagaard, L. K., & Christensen, T. H. (2024). Provide or prevent? Exploring sufficiency imaginaries within Danish systems of provision. Buildings & Cities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.433
This paper investigates the role of sufficiency and its potential in achieving sustainable production and consumption by studying professional stakeholders across different systems of provision in Denmark. Drawing on data from seven focus groups, including a backcasting exercise, stakeholders’ sociotechnical imaginaries are explored, which reveal diverse engagement and visions across organisations. Participants (n = 52) are drawn from domains of food, mobility and housing. Unique insights are provided into the interactions between systems of provision, production and regulation that pose current challenges to sustainability.

Alexander-Haw, A., & Schleich, J. (2024). Low carbon footprint - A consequence of free will or of poverty? The impact of sufficiency orientation and deprivation on individual carbon footprints. Energy Policy, 195, 114367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2024.114367
In our study, based on a 2022 demographically representative survey of the adult population in Germany, we estimate linear and multinomial regression models to investigate the influence of individuals’ sufficiency orientation and deprivation on carbon footprints. We examine both the aggregated carbon footprint and its breakdown into specific activities, including space and water heating, electricity consumption, transport, and food. We find that having a higher sufficiency orientation is associated with a lower individual’s aggregated carbon footprint and a lower carbon footprint of each specific activity, except space and water heating, ceteris paribus. In contrast, we only find evidence that deprivation negatively correlates with the carbon footprint related to transport.

Westlake, S., Demski, C., & Pidgeon, N. (2024). Leading by example from high-status individuals: Exploring a crucial missing link in climate change mitigation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1292. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03787-8
Behaviour change has great potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions quickly, helping to prevent dangerous global warming. Some of the most impactful changes are: flying less, eating less meat, driving electric cars, improving home energy efficiency, increased use of public transport and active travel. However, these choices have proved elusive at scale and are rarely encouraged or modelled by high-status individuals (“leaders”), despite established knowledge about the influence of leaders as role models. Applying theories of embodied leadership and credibility enhancing displays, our novel pre-registered survey experiment (n = 1267) reveals that visible leading by example from politicians and celebrities significantly increases the willingness of members of the UK public to make these high-impact low-carbon choices.

Korsnes, M., Labanca, N., Campos, I., & Bertoldi, P. (2024). How can energy prosumerism align with sufficiency and justice principles? A typology for policymakers, researchers and practitioners. Energy Research & Social Science, 118, 103789.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103789 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2024.103789
Through typologising prosumerism along three core dimensions—degree of technological engagement, ownership, and participation—we propose a framework for assessing the extent to which energy prosumerism is compatible with social organisation towards increased energy sufficiency and energy justice. Through a practical and holistic framework, the three dimensions identified will help policymakers and other stakeholders assess the extent to which new energy prosumer projects can simultaneously advance energy sufficiency and energy justice.

Oliu-Barton, M., Pommeret, A., Robinet, A., Schubert, K., & Viennot, M. (2024). Chosen Energy Sufficiency: Preference Shocks and Behavioural Biases. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 543, 21–37. https://doi.org/10.24187/ecostat.2024.543.2117
There is a lot of expectation surrounding energy sufficiency as part of the energy transition. It may result from an increase in energy prices, but it could also be a conscious choice. In this case, it would be the consequence of an adjustment in preferences or a reduction in behavioural biases. Changes in preferences can be modelled as an adjustment to the relative weights attributed by individuals to durable goods, energy or even non-durable goods. Here, we show that the macroeconomic impacts differ largely based on the type of adjustment, which we can use to guide public policy decisions.

Flipo, A., Alexander-Haw, A., Breucker, F., & Dütschke, E. (2024). Who is sufficient, and why? A mixed-methods approach to the social determinants of sufficiency lifestyles in the pursuit of decarbonisation. Consumption and Society, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1332/27528499Y2024D000000037
This article aims to investigate whether a combination of low carbon footprint and high wellbeing exists, what socio-demographic characteristics are associated with it, and to explore the actual experiences of people engaged in sufficiency lifestyles through initiatives and their characteristics. We use a mixed-methods design with data from demographically representative surveys in Denmark, Germany, Italy and Latvia (N=5,080), and in-depth interviews with participants from sufficiency-oriented intentional communities (N=90). We find that sufficiency lifestyles are linked to a stronger inclination towards sufficiency orientation or a heightened stronger environmental identity, accompanied by a negative correlation with social deprivation aspects.

Bouillet, J., & Grandclément, C. (2024). Sufficiency, consumption patterns and limits: A survey of French households. Buildings & Cities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.454
A survey of French households (n = 2452) reveals people are generally reluctant to accept strict consumption caps, especially binding ones. Both high and low material consumption groups strongly oppose consumption limits, suggesting that wealth does not correlate with a sense of having ‘enough’. Individuals with fewer possessions support the idea of limits to consumption, though not outright bans. This approach suggests a pathway for fostering sustainable consumption corridors that feel normal rather than imposed.

Vasseur, V., & Backhaus, J. (2024). The influence of disruptive events on energy-related household practices: Results of a longitudinal study in the Netherlands. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 53, 100920. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2024.100920
This paper analyses how the practice of ‘keeping warm’ responds to disruptive events ranging from a small-scale and short-lived experiment to much more drastic and far-reaching geopolitical events. Following an initial study challenging households to reduce temperatures inside their homes during October/November 2018, the same households were revisited for follow-up questioning two and a half years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe and six months after the attack of Russian armed forces on Ukraine. This research explores lasting-changes in energy-related household practices following voluntary disruptive experimentation and subsequent involuntary disruptions.

Valdorff Madsen, L., Hansen, A. R., & Gram-Hanssen, K. (2024). Sufficiency and new meanings: Changes in energy practices during times of crisis. 16th ESA conference 2024: Tension, trust and transformation - University of Porto. https://vbn.aau.dk/en/publications/sufficiency-and-new-meanings-changes-in-energy-practices-during-t
We explore how households’ energy practices were affected by the energy crisis and how meanings connected to practices possibly changed. The paper builds primarily on 30 in-depth qualitative household interviews conducted during the Winter of 2022/23, supplemented by a survey with Danish households conducted in the same period. This gives a broader view on Danish households’ responses to the energy crisis, showing that many Danes made changes to several types of household practices including both heat and electricity consumption.

Fuchs, D., Bodenheimer, M., & Dütschke, E. (2025). Radically sustainable consumption and lifestyles. Consumption and Society, 4(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1332/27528499Y2024D000000042
Sustainable lifestyles and environmental behaviour have often been studied in the past, and research on sustainable consumption has developed a research stream of its own. However, radical change has been less studied and calls have been made for more research in this field. This Special Issue therefore invited the scientific community to share studies into this topic. It looked for articles that go beyond the individual and household level to adopt a structural perspective on change towards radically sustainable consumption.

Carr, D. (2024). It’s not easy being green: Investigating ‘radical’ pro-environmental living and high-impact Pro-Environmental Behaviour (PEB): A mixed methods study [PhD Thesis, Cardiff University]. https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/174938/ 
This thesis explored the drivers and barriers associated with adopting ‘radical’ pro-environmental lifestyles, which are those that consist of multiple high-impact Pro-Environmental Behaviours (PEBs). The focus is on climate-concerned individuals who have adopted such lifestyles (‘radicals’) and those who have not (‘non-radicals’), as well as on the high-impact PEBs themselves. The thesis consists of three studies: Study 1 qualitatively identified key drivers among radicals, while Study 2 explored perceived barriers among non-radicals, and a comparative analysis between radicals and non-radicals revealed some potential determining factors to radical living. Study 3 then examined these potential determinants empirically in a UK representative sample, in addition to some factors suggested in previous literature to be important in understanding PEB.

Ita, S., Washizu, A., & Ju, Y. (2024). Lifestyle changes overweighing technology improvement in household decarbonization: Evidence from Japan during 1990-2020. Carbon Footprints, 3(4). https://doi.org/10.20517/cf.2024.30
We investigated the long-term (1990-2020) changes in household carbon footprints from final users in Japan. Through factor decomposition, we found that the contribution of increasingly green technologies to household decarbonization is diminishing with time. In contrast, lifestyle changes - such as the shift to green products and services, as well as a reduction in overall demand - are becoming the main driver. Additionally, unlike most developed countries, the share of GHG emissions from food expenditures in Japan does not show a declining trend, highlighting the need to upgrade the domestic food supply chain and promote smart services for decarbonizing both homemade meals and eat-out preferences.

Bubinek, R., Knaack, U., & Cimpan, C. (2025). Reuse of consumer products: Climate account and rebound effects potential. Sustainable Production and Consumption, S2352550924003622. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2024.12.019 
This study evaluates the environmental benefits of reuse as a circular economy activity, using a municipal reuse program as case study. The analysis includes a detailed characterization of donated products, a comprehensive carbon footprint assessment, and an estimation of rebound effects caused by imperfect substitution and income changes. Findings reveal that the environmental impact of operating municipal reuse programs is relatively modest (0.28 kg CO2e per kg of reused goods), while potential emissions savings can be significant (average 3.9 kg CO2e per kg of reused goods). However, rebound effects pose a substantial challenge, driven by imperfect substitution and income-driven re-spending behaviours.

Geiselhart, K., Damm, M., Jeske, N., Knappmann, A., Nasser, G. P., Roth, L. F., Unkels, R., Winkler, A. S., Wolf, J., & Falkenberg, T. (2024). Sufficiency health-wise: Sustainable paths towards planetary and public health. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1497657. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1497657 
Energy and resource use are far beyond the planet’s carrying capacity. Planetary Health suggests an alternative idea of prosperity as the best possible human health for all within planetary boundaries. This implies giving priority to ecology because human health depends ultimately on the integrity of the global biosphere. This paper presents a Health Sufficiency Framework, based on the Doughnut Economics Model. It is meant to fuel discussions on delicate topics of the required transformations of health care and public health.

Sahakian, M., Fawcett, T., & Darby, S. (2024). Energy sufficiency in buildings and cities: Current research, future directions. Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 692–703. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.519
This special issue is dedicated to the topic of energy sufficiency, where the guiding question is how decent living standards for all can be ensured without exceeding planetary boundaries. Despite increasing recognition of the importance of exploring sufficiency for cities, buildings and infrastructures, before this special issue little specialist literature has been available. Papers in this issue varied in the aspects of energy sufficiency investigated and methods used: some focused on creating conceptual advances, others presented new empirical work from single or multiple countries, with citizens, professionals, policymakers and practitioners all centred in one or more contributions.

Subin, Z. M., Lombardi, J., Muralidharan, R., Korn, J., Malik, J., Pullen, T., Wei, M., & Hong, T. (2024). US urban land-use reform: A strategy for energy sufficiency. Buildings & Cities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.434
This study focuses on US built environment mechanisms of sufficiency under urban land-use policy. The historical context of US exclusionary and car-oriented planning is reviewed with an order-of-magnitude assessment of the effects on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). Key priorities for research, data collection, and technology and policy innovation are proposed. This study estimates how much climate pollution could be avoided with state-led land-use reform. If states committed to solving the housing shortage while building new housing in neighborhoods where people can drive less, the savings could be comparable with expanding electric vehicle policies.

Horn, S., Gough, I., Rogers, C., & Tunstall, R. (2025). Meeting housing needs within planetary boundaries: A UK case study. Ecological Economics, 230, 108510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108510
This paper addresses a neglected aspect of the UK housing crisis: how to rapidly but fairly decarbonise the housing stock to meet tough net zero targets while meeting housing needs of the entire population. To do so the authors adopt a radical approach based on sufficiency. The sufficiency approach is based on determining both a housing floor – a decent minimum standard for all – and a housing ceiling - above which lies unsustainable excess. The authors define these thresholds in terms of bedrooms and floorspace and analyse the distribution of housing in England. They find that excess housing is widespread, concentrated in home ownership, particularly outright ownership, and characterised by above average emissions per square metre.

Hagbert, P., Perjo, L., & Nyblom, Å. (2024). Housing as an Arena for Change – From Eco-Efficiency to Sufficiency in the Swedish Housing Sector. Housing, Theory and Society, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2024.2397987
This paper explores what is needed to reach a system-level framing of sustainability transformations in housing and home-related structures and practices. Based on previous research and empirical insights from workshops with diverse actors in the Swedish housing sector, we explore different narratives of what needs to change and perspectives on agency and collective action. Shifting the narrative from efficiency to sufficiency, and from a focus on technology and behaviour to complex interactions between actors and systems, offers opportunities as well as tensions in the sector.

Lall, A. B., & Sethi, G. (2024). Operationalising energy sufficiency for low-carbon built environments in urbanising India. Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 645–661. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.440
This study defines and operationalises the concept of energy sufficiency for the growth of Indian cities which is expected to be largely driven by low- and middle-income housing. It combines theoretical framing with quantitative assessment of test models to present an operational framework of energy sufficiency that can be implemented through urban planning regulations. By optimising the average dwelling size, limiting the land-use intensity to low-rise (four storeys) and compact urban forms, and improving operational energy performance with adaptive thermal comfort, the carbon emissions from residential buildings can be sufficiently optimised to 0.84 tCO2 per capita per year.

Niewöhner, C. (2024). LIVING ON LESS - Sufficiency-enabling Policies as a Lever for a Just Housing Transition in Germany [Master of Science in Industrial Ecology, Delft University of Technology and Leiden University]. https://repository.tudelft.nl/
Research investigating country-specific political and policy environments that allowed for the emergence of high floor area per person households is lacking for almost all regions. In this thesis, I aim to address this gap, using a mixed-method approach to comprehensively understandt he German housing context for meaningful policy recommendations. The historical driver analysis reveals the influence of capitalist, market-oriented policies, which promoted home ownership as retirement security to decrease provisioning by the state. These policies included subsidies favouring ownership and single-family houses, as well as large-scale privatization and financialization, shifting the housing sector’s focus to (international) investor profits rather than providing affordable and sufficient living space for all.

Lehner, M., Richter, J. L., Kreinin, H., Mamut, P., Vadovics, E., Henman, J., Mont, O., & Fuchs, D. (2024). Living smaller: Acceptance, effects and structural factors in the EU. Buildings & Cities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.438
This article examines limits to per capita living space (i.e. living smaller and/or sharing living space) as a measure for achieving sufficiency in housing. It studies the acceptance, motivation and side-effects of voluntarily reducing living space in five European Union countries: Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain and Sweden. Insights are derived from an extensive collection of qualitative empirical material collected from citizen and stakeholder ‘thinking labs’ across the five case countries. Overall, the data reveal an initial reluctance among citizens to reduce living space voluntarily. They also point to some major structural barriers: the housing market and its regulatory framework, social inequality, or dominant societal norms regarding ‘the ideal home’. Participants also reported positive effects to living smaller, including increased time for leisure activities and proximity to services.

Ruokamo, E., Kylkilahti, E., Lettenmeier, M., & Toppinen, A. (2024). Are people willing to share living space? Household preferences in Finland. Buildings & Cities, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.453
This paper explores citizens’ interest in space sharing in private housing. It is based on a large-scale random sample citizen survey (N = 1448) conducted in Finland focusing on multiple aspects of low-carbon housing. Both quantitative preference-related results and qualitatively analysed open question responses show that the concept of shared space use is relatively low in popularity. However, there are differences depending on the space to be shared.

Hüppauff, T., & Hunecke, M. (2024). Creating Meaningful Experiences of Sufficiency. A quasi-experimental field study to examine student housing settings to enhance the meaning of shared living and sufficiency. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8pnx9
This study investigated the Collegium Academicum (CA) student home as a setting where shared living is practised with a strong focus on sufficiency. We examined whether such sufficiency settings can enhance the personal meaning of sufficiency compared to ordinary shared living environments. Data were collected from 159 residents of the CA and a standard student home. Our findings indicated that residents of the CA experienced greater meaningfulness of shared living, improved sufficiency attitudes and a higher intention to choose shared living in the future.

Sula, M., Mahapatra, K., & Mainali, B. (2025). Unveiling the perspectives of Swedish homeowners on embracing space sufficiency within the context of energy renovation. Energy and Buildings, 328, 114997. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2024.114997 
This study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining focus groups and online surveys to examine the willingness of Single-Family Housing (SFH) owners in Sweden’s Kronoberg Region to adopt space sufficiency interventions during energy renovations and using the Attitude-Behavior-Context (ABC) theoretical framework to identify the factors influencing these decisions. The interventions studied include downsizing, optimizing space use, and converting underutilized areas into smaller living units, aiming to reduce per-capita energy consumption, and decrease both operational and embodied carbon emissions. The findings reveal a low interest among SFH owners in adopting these measures, primarily due to concerns about lifestyle changes, reduced comfort, privacy, status, and property value depreciation.

Czepkiewicz, M., Schmidt, F., Krysiński, D., & Brudka, C. (2024). Satisfying transport needs with low carbon emissions: Exploring individual, social, and built environmental factors. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 114, 102196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2024.102196
The article studies the relationships between daily travel greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and self-rated satisfaction with transport needs. It also investigates the conditions that satisfy one’s transport needs at emission levels compatible with internationally agreed reduction targets by 2030 to keep warming below 1.5 degrees. It uses a representative geo-questionnaire survey from Poznan, a functional urban area in Poland (ca 800 thousand inhabitants), with 550 study participants answering questions used in the study. Four built environmental (BE) and accessibility measures are calculated using geospatial methods and used as predictors of low/high emission levels, low/high need satisfaction levels, and their combinations (i.e., social-ecological quadrants), along with socio-demographic characteristics and transport-related resources, competences, and responsibilities.

Álvarez-Antelo, D., López-Muñoz, P., Llases, L., & Lauer, A. (2025). Towards a sustainable mobility lifestyle: Exploring the flight to rail shift through model-based behavioural change scenarios. Ecological Economics, 230, 108498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108498
In this study, we build a coupled system dynamics model linking a passenger transport model with an exploratory endogenous behavioural change model. We use this model and a scenario discovery methodology based on Monte Carlo simulations and multivariate sensitivity analysis to explore pathways for climate mitigation in the transport sector by shifting from flights to trains. Our model reveals several scenarios for mitigation, each requiring different policy combinations and social efforts. We found that personal environmental values significantly impact the speed of behavioural change and its contribution to emissions reduction by 2050, though policy incentives such as educational and economic policies could also help in their absence.

Minguez, I., & Loloum, T. (2024). Framing Energy Sufficiency in a Swiss Mountain Resort. Sustainability, 17(1), 238. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17010238 
This article analyses how energy sufficiency can be applied in tourism destinations. It begins by highlighting the importance of decarbonizing tourism for climate action, given the sector’s high CO2 emissions. Energy sufficiency, a key pillar of the energy transition, is defined as the voluntary reduction in energy demand within climate and CO2 emission constraints. The study investigates how stakeholders interpret and frame this concept, by focusing on strategies that align with the public image of the resort to reduce its energy requirements. The methodology includes semi-structured interviews with key players in Verbier—Val de Bagnes, focus groups with cooperation partners, participant observations at local meetings and events, and analysis of local documentation.

Schmidhäuser, P., Inhofer, M., Buchholz, A., Mais, F., & Miehe, R. (2024). Industrial Sufficiency: A Conceptual Methodological Framework. Sustainability, 16(24), 11121. https://doi.org/10.3390/su162411121
Based on a literature review using Scopus and Web of Science according to the PRISMA approach, this paper develops a definition for the concept of industrial sufficiency and presents three general industrial sufficiency strategies (frugality, longevity, and specificity) regarding three distinct business determinants (product, production, and business model). The investigation shows that not only can there be overlaps between the three general sustainability strategies (efficiency, consistency, and sufficiency) but that individual measures are also mutually dependent at different levels. In addition, significant conflicts of objectives for implementation in industrial practice are revealed.

Fouiteh, I., Cabrera Santelices, J. D., Susini, A., & Patel, M. K. (2024). Operationalising building-related energy sufficiency measures in SMEs. Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 368–387. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.446 
The application and potential of energy sufficiency (ES) measures is examined in non-residential buildings occupied by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The hypothesis is whether integrating ES measures into energy audits could help disseminate these measures to SMEs. This is investigated in terms of the feasibility, challenges and opportunities for the actors involved. Standard ES measures are identified that could be implemented in SMEs, and their saving potential is evaluated. A mixed-methods approach is used incorporating interviews with experts from various backgrounds, a quantitative analysis of the database containing a list of ES measures and a questionnaire to SMEs. Results demonstrate that most ES measures are cost-effective and that certain measures can lead to substantial savings.

Bodelier, M., Lupetti, M. L., Dobbe, R., & Magnier, L. (2024a). Data sufficient products: Speculative design explorations for sustainable digital futures. Proceedings of the 27th International Academic Mindtrek Conference, 188–200. https://doi.org/10.1145/3681716.3681719
We explore whether demand for data can be moderated by encouraging ‘sufficient’ usage. We combine behaviour change theories with a critical design approach and conduct a Research through Design exploration of online consumption speculating about possible directions for reducing data use. Partnering with an internet service provider, we designed and tested with end users a set of three provotypes embodying data-sufficient design directions.

Tirel, N. (2024). Digital Sufficiency: One Step Closer to Sustainable Computing. International Colloquium on Energy-Efficient and Sustainable Distributed Systems, Brazil. https://univ-pau.hal.science/hal-04822159v1 
The ICT sector has seen many improvements in productivity and efficiency in the past decades. However, its total energy consumed, as well as its carbon emissions, has never decreased. This is mostly due to a systemic phenomenon called the rebound effect: although each process consumes less energy, the global increase in process usage results in an unexpected growth in carbon emissions. In this paper, we present energy efficient techniques and we argue why it is necessary to combine efficiency with a new approach. This novel approach is digital sufficiency, involving users and developers to reduce the demand in addition to efficiency improvements.