In a time of urgent climate change exacerbated by non-climate-friendly consumption, this Ph.D. dissertation raises the following question: how is understanding the relationship between everyday practices and places useful for climate-friendly changes?

Through qualitative research with young adults in Denmark, the interconnectedness of everyday life practices related to food, mobility, and housing, which are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, is examined. While most research, planning, and political strategies focus on improving one domain, e.g., food, mobility, or housing, this research looks across all domains. It investigates how these consumption domains are related to one another and intertwined in everyday life by using theories of practices as the theoretical lens. From this, it empirically emerges that certain practices prefigure others. For example, housing location may determine daily mobility routes and where grocery shopping is done. Therefore, in order to change towards a climate-friendly future, it is crucial to look across all domains.

The dissertation further emphasizes the crucial role of the places where these interrelated practices unfold. Drawing on insights from theories of place, the dissertation shows how the meanings and materials of everyday practices are intertwined with the places where they unfold. For instance, driving outside urban areas gives as much meaning as cycling within cities when going grocery shopping. In conclusion, considering the commonalities of place and practice reveals the potential for enabling climate-friendly change.

In light of these findings, the dissertation argues for integrating theories of practice into urban planning in order to enable climate-friendly changes. This means shifting the focus to include place-specific and practice-centric aspects. Ultimately, urban planning is a medium for using everyday knowledge to bring about social change, echoing the essence of the Ph.D. title: Putting practice into place. Urban planning involves not only incorporating practical knowledge into the design of places but also strategically placing practices to enable change.

Please email Caroline Samson to get a copy of the thesis: carolines@plan.aau.dk