Reprogramming as a sufficiency strategy:Implications for food, mobility and housing

As the climate crisis and biodiversity loss accelerate, it is widely acknowledged that existing patterns of consumption and production need to change. While policy approaches often frame a green transition by the building of new infrastructures and technological innovations, these are also time-consuming and resource-intensive, which runs counter to the urgency of achieving rapid reductions in environmental footprints, especially in affluent societies.<br/><br/>The notion of sufficiency has been highlighted in the literature as an approach to reaching more sustainable levels of consumption and production, by addressing fundamental needs rather than accelerating wants, and ensuring a fair consumption space for all within planetary boundaries. Existing research has pointed to different ways of working with sufficiency, for example in relation to voluntary reductions and minimalist lifestyles. However, such cases remain scattered and are unlikely to succeed alone in terms of the pace and scope needed in consumption reductions.<br/><br/>In the present paper we therefore look instead to social practices and how these can be performed less resource-intensively and avoid the pursuit of new constructions and infrastructural development. For this purpose, we engage with the concept of “reprogramming” (Christensen &amp; Gram-Hanssen 2024) which entails strategies focused on altering practices within existing material infrastructures and social institutions, or adjusting these structures, to promote resource-light practices.<br/><br/>We explore how strategies of reprogramming can be applied to food, mobility, and housing – three key domains in everyday life and responsible for the majority of environmental impacts. In food, for example, existing agricultural infrastructure and land use can be reprogrammed to reduce emissions and restore biodiversity, by growing more lentils and beans and having less animals. In mobility, reprogramming might involve optimizing current transport systems and vehicles for collective use. In housing, strategies could include repurposing the existing building stock, sharing spaces, and adopting more flexible living arrangements in response to shifting life course needs.<br/><br/>Drawing on empirical data from focus groups with professional stakeholders across public, private, and civil society sectors involved in sustainable consumption within these domains, we discuss the opportunities and barriers to implementing reprogramming strategies. By examining current practices and the challenges faced by these stakeholders, we identify key openings for applying reprogramming to achieve the most significant energy and resource reductions with minimal new material interventions. Our findings highlight the need to address regulatory, economic, and cultural factors in order to realize these possibilities. The paper contributes to ongoing discussions on sustainability by offering actionable insights into how consumption can be transformed through existing infrastructures, without the need for extensive new development.