To ensure a long-term change on our global environmental footprint, actions to engage a behavioural evolution of Europeans’ consumption are essential. This means improving citizens’ skills on eco-friendly consumption but also giving the tools to change habits: learn by doing. Such a move needs to target all citizens, regardless of their purchasing power, and also be supported by various stakeholders to ensure the largest compliance. In this perspective, citizens have to be involved in a positive way.

Beyond to constraining, restricting and banning measures, social vouchers are incentive instruments to encourage virtuous consuming practices. They enhance citizens’ purchasing power while targeting consumption towards sustainable goods and services, having positive impacts in buying habits. The Ecovoucher in Belgium, for instance, grants all workers an additional purchasing power which is dedicated to ecological products and services, with a proven impact on their long-term consumption habits.

It is therefore also a means for Public administrations to participate in the education and the empowerment of citizens regarding environmental issues (be they organic food, energy sources, mobility and transport, waste, etc.) and the shift towards consumption of eco-friendly and resource-efficient products.

On a larger scale, social vouchers will also support workers’ purchasing power during the current inflation crisis by helping to transition to a more sustainable consumption, reducing social inequalities and supporting job creation.

The workshop will explore the potential of such practices giving the floor to various stakeholders (from public authorities to researchers on the environmental field, social partners and consumers associations). It will be an occasion to present the Belgian Ecovoucher, discuss its potential of skilling up citizens knowledge on eco-friendly choices and to explore possible transferability to other countries and sectors (as the sustainable mobility).