Understandings of sufficiency: A phenomenography on the sufficiency movement in Finland

Abstract

Sufficiency is increasingly recognised as necessary to address the environmental crises, yet the concept still lacks clarity. Given the importance of a strong public opinion prioritising environmental concerns, I study understandings of sufficiency in an environmental movement context. I build on recent studies calling for further empirical research, noting that an environmental movement perspective is rare in sufficiency studies. This article aims to clarify understandings of sufficiency in the Finnish sufficiency movement ‘Kohtuusliike’. For that purpose, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 persons active in the movement and analysed the interviews utilising a phenomenographic approach. The main findings include four understandings of sufficiency: as (a) a necessity (material and mental), (b) an analytical tool (criticism and advocacy), (c) reframing change and (d) compromising action. My main contribution is having conducted the first study on sufficiency understandings in an environmental movement context, presenting a broad and systematic approach to sufficiency, including bringing up a sufficiency dimension that seems to have gained little attention in previous studies: nature relation. I conclude by suggesting that the derived understandings support clarifying the sufficiency concept, including operationalising sufficiency more broadly in an environmental movement context concerned with environmental and social boundaries. In a broader social–ecological transformation perspective, the study focuses on persons that can be characterised as sufficiency role models in an affluent country context.

Keywords

Sufficiency environmental movement sustainability transformation environmental boundaries phenomenography voluntary simplicity

Introduction

The wide-reaching impacts of human activities on the Earth have given rise to a claimed new geological epoch, the Anthropocene (Crutzen and Stoermer, 2000). Urgent environmental challenges include climate change (IPCC, 2022), biodiversity loss (IPBES, 2019) and pollution and waste (UNEP, 2021, 2021). Of the nine planetary boundaries, seven are transgressed, including, for example, climate change, biosphere integrity, freshwater change and ocean acidification (PB Science, 2025; Rockström et al., 2009). While the planetary boundaries framework has profoundly impacted the understanding of the crises, it has been criticised for not explaining the societal reasons underlying human environmental impact, resulting in calls for addressing the environmental crises as a social challenge (Brand et al., 2021). The sufficiency concept is gaining popularity and is increasingly recognised as necessary to address the environmental crises (e.g. Haberl et al., 2020; Hachtmann, 2024; IPCC, 2022). Similar, more established concepts include voluntary simplicity (VS) (Alexander, 2013; Lage, 2022). Radical transformation is outlined to require a strong environmental movement, along with other social movements, since resistance is expected to be fierce (Cassegård, 2022).

Sufficiency is a socially oriented concept concerned with staying within environmental boundaries, characterised by ‘enoughness’ and an absolute reduction of environmental harm (Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen, 2022), commonly brought up as a complement to strategies of efficiency and cooperation, that have failed to reduce human environmental impact (e.g. Princen, 2003). There is, however, no agreed understanding of what sufficiency means, which makes operationalisation challenging (Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen, 2022; Lage, 2022). Previous understandings of sufficiency have been arrived at in various ways, including literature reviews (Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen, 2022; Lage, 2022; Sandberg, 2021), conceptual analyses (Lehtonen and Heikkurinen, 2022; Princen, 2003) or synthesis reports (IPCC, 2022). Moreover, further empirical studies on sufficiency have been called for to capture contextual varieties of sufficiency (Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen, 2022), especially from an activist perspective to comprehend the difference between academic and practical understandings (Tröger and Reese, 2021). An environmental movement perspective, along with a broader social movement perspective, is rare in sufficiency studies (Lage, 2022).

This study links sufficiency and the environmental movement. The aim is to study understandings of sufficiency (‘kohtuus’ in Finnish) in a sufficiency-oriented branch of the environmental movement in Finland, ‘Kohtuusliike’, by asking the main research question: What does sufficiency signify for the Finnish sufficiency movement ‘Kohtuusliike’? and related to practical implications: How do the sufficiency understandings relate to trends in the environmental movement context? and How could the understandings be utilised by environmental movements? The participants were also asked to conduct a carbon footprint test. The study contributes to the sufficiency literature and to the wider research field of VS, by clarifying understandings of sufficiency in an environmental movement context. For that purpose, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 persons active in the sufficiency movement ‘Kohtuusliike’ and analysed the interviews utilising a phenomenographic approach.

A starting point of this article is the phenomenographic notion that how a question is understood determines how it is acted upon (Marton, 1981), affecting the biophysical reality. This study argues that environmental movement understandings of sufficiency provide valuable insights for operationalising sufficiency in the social–ecological transformation context. Given that sufficiency contradicts many prevailing norms of current affluent societies, it is often ignored in, for example, a policy context; environmental movements may, however, influence cultural norms and legislative outcomes through alternative visions (Johnson and Agnone, 2022).

This study focuses on ‘Kohtuusliike’, a small movement with a pretty straightforward root in protests against uranium mining (Ulvila, 2018), linked to the international degrowth movement (Laakkonen, 2021). It has been characterised as a meta-political actor critical of civilisation, demanding changes to lifestyles permeated by consumer culture and to the growth-seeking political culture – which political force alone cannot change (Husso, 2017). Here, ‘Kohtuusliike’ is understood as part of a broader environmental movement. Studies on ‘Kohtuusliike’ have commonly referred to degrowth literature (e.g. Husso, 2017; Lehtinen, 2019); however, this study links the concept to sufficiency, with some references to the VS literature. The sufficiency understandings in the movement are particularly interesting given the study participants’ demonstrated level of sufficiency, represented by low personal carbon footprints.

This article argues that ‘Kohtuusliike's sufficiency understandings add a novel environmental movement perspective to research on sufficiency, including insights more broadly for the VS field and with the potential to support related movements to expand and politicise, through (a) applying environmental and social boundaries as a master frame, (b) utilising the sufficiency understandings to frame staying and getting within boundaries and (c) considering both the micro- and macro-levels. The study furthermore argues that each sufficiency understanding supports operationalising the concept in climate policy.

The article is structured into six sections. The theoretical background places sufficiency within a broader context and details previous studies on sufficiency understandings. Material and methods are outlined, followed by the findings and discussion. A final section concludes the paper.

Theoretical background

This section starts by placing sufficiency in a broader context, linking it to the more established VS concept, followed by presenting understandings of sufficiency in previous studies. Then, sufficiency is placed in an environmental movement context. The final sub-section introduces framing.

Sufficiency and related concepts

Research on sufficiency is an emerging field including pioneering works published in the early 1990s and 2000s (see Sachs, 1993; Princen, 2003, 2005), with an increase in publications since 2010 representing a wide range of disciplines (Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen, 2022). With a history dating back to ancient Greece, inherent in the concept are the virtues of frugality, moderation and thrift (Princen, 2003). To place sufficiency within a broader context, related, more established concepts like VS can be noted. Similarly, an ancient concept, with more recent publications from the 1970s and particularly 2008 onwards, VS has been conceptualised as a ‘lifestyle that seeks for consumption reduction focusing on inner values that may be associated with sustainable and social purposes’ (Rebouças and Soares, 2021: 308). Under the VS umbrella term, several recurrent aspects can be noted, including environmental responsibility, expressed in the words of Elgin (2007: 4) as remembering ‘our deep roots in the natural world’ which ‘encourages us to connect with nature’. Covering a spectrum of engagement, VS has been expressed as ‘more a state of mind than a particular standard of living’ (Shi, 1985: 281). Focus tends to be on modifying individual consumption choices, generally not seeking to avoid interactions with the market (Shaw and Moraes, 2009); limited attention is given to the macro-level, and there is a lack of studies from a collective perspective (Rebouças and Soares, 2021,). Having outlined some features of the more established VS concept, next, attention will be directed to sufficiency.

Understandings of sufficiency

Among previous studies, literature reviews propose different understandings of sufficiency. Sandberg (2021) identifies a typology of consumption changes, including absolute reductions, modal shifts, product longevity and sharing practices. Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen (2022) widen the scope from consumption to include production and identify ‘enoughness’ as a central feature, comprising the complementarity of capital, social metabolism, and altruism towards human and nonhuman beings. Lage (2022), again, identifies understandings including sufficiency as ‘consumption corridors’ including maximum ecological limits and minimum social limits; as ‘a pathway to a postgrowth economy’; and as ‘a means or an end’.

No literature reviews on empirical sufficiency studies could be identified, which motivated conducting a scoping review.¹ It resulted in approximately 80 studies – showing that empirical studies exist, but the field is scattered. The review indicated that empirical studies (or studies with empirical elements) commonly applied a sufficiency definition to a wide variety of specific contexts (e.g. Pettersen, 2016; Roman et al., 2023), some in a broader perspective (e.g. Tröger et al., 2021; Villalba-Eguiluz et al., 2023). Only a few studies focused on understandings of sufficiency per se (see Table 1). These studies were conducted in a European context with different types of study participants: low-income groups in Norway (Korsnes and Solbu, 2024); individuals supporting adopting sufficiency lifestyles in France (Gorge et al., 2015); sufficiency experts in Germany (Tröger and Reese, 2021) and environmental non-governmental organisations (ENGOs) in Sweden (Persson and Klintman, 2022). A study on the Finnish word for sufficiency, ‘kohtuus’, was conducted among ‘Kohtuusliike’ activists (Laakkonen, 2021). As can be noted above, none of the studies except Laakkonen's (2021) address sufficiency from a movement perspective. This article addresses ‘Kohtuusliike’ as part of the environmental movement, related to which some general features and trends will be outlined in the following section.

Table 1.

Empirical sufficiency studies.

Author (year)	Understandings of sufficiency	Study participants
Gorge et al. (2015)	Sufficiency as (a) ‘everything’ (excessiveness); (b) ‘nothing’ (scarcity); (c) ‘not nothing’ (restrained consumption of environmental/economic reasons but without making too many sacrifices); (d) ‘not everything’ (achieved sufficiency). Two ‘journeys through sufficiency’ were identified: obligatory and voluntary sufficiency.	Citizens, voluntary sufficiency (n = 6), obligatory sufficiency (n = 6).
Tröger and Reese (2021)	Exploratory framework for a sufficiency-oriented society (barriers, key levers, visions); ‘indirect’ and ‘direct’ sufficiency.	Sufficiency experts (n = 21).
Persson and Klintman (2022)	Framing sufficiency towards reduced consumption: (a) market-based; (b) non-market-based activities.	ENGO representatives (n = 21).
Korsnes and Solbu (2024)	Sufficiency as (a) a necessity (frugal consumption is forced, economic constraint); (b) opposition (not identifying with mainstream growth narratives and consumption patterns represent the motivation for sufficiency choices; (c) reframing sustainability (sufficiency arguments give value to low consumption patterns).	Representatives of low-income groups (n = 73).
Laakkonen (2021)	Sufficiency as: criticism of continuous economic growth; advocating for alternative economic models; moderate use of natural resources; other people's well-being; and a focus on needs. Sufficiency not as scarcity, incorporates enjoyment. Measures including restricting advertisement, binding limits to consumption.	Activists in ‘Kohtuusliike’ (n = 7).

Sufficiency in an environmental movement context

The environmental movement

The environmental movement has been defined as ‘a loose, non-institutionalised network of informal interactions that may include, as well as individuals and groups who have no organisational affiliation, organisations of varying degrees of formality, that are engaged in collective action motivated by shared identity or concern about environmental issues’ (Rootes, 2004: 610).

Trends in the environmental movement include challenging the institutionalised environmental movement, driven by concerns of inadequate attention paid to critical questions (Cassegård, 2022). Current dimensions of change focus on social justice, post-apocalypse and emergency action (Cassegård, 2022). The social justice current of the environmental movement pays attention to socio-economic injustice, for example, environmental problems as entwined with exploitation, oppression and discrimination. The post-apocalypse current understands catastrophic changes as already occurring or inevitable and dismisses belief in progress. Focus being on local activism rather than protesting risks leading to depoliticisation, however, politicisation is latently present in envisioning a radically different society. Emergency action is driven by urgency, dismissing conventional politics, focusing on mass mobilisation.

The environmental movement, as part of the social movements, is recognised to advance sufficiency transitions (Sandberg, 2021). Even though sufficiency is rarely addressed from a movement perspective, both bottom-up and movement approaches are identified in relation to social change – the former focusing on individual consumption and cultural change, and the latter on structural aspects of current capitalist societies related to economic growth (Lage, 2022). No out-spelled ‘sufficiency movement’ exists but closely related movements include the (voluntary) simplicity movement.

The simplicity movement is estimated to include around 200 million people downshifting to some extent (Alexander and Ussher, 2012), primarily in Western affluent countries (Alexander, 2013). It will ‘almost certainly need to expand, organise, radicalise and politicise’ to democratically bring about sufficiency at macro-level (Alexander, 2013: 289). The movement is in the initial development phase – forming a group identity, raising consciousness and organising, with features of the second phase, getting on the public agenda (Alexander, 2013; see also McCann, 1998). Challenges include defining its actions and transformative politics (Alexander, 2013), and it has been noticed that further research is needed on VS in national contexts, including case studies of associated movements (Rebouças and Soares, 2021). Related to the development of the movement, framing constitutes a relevant tool, briefly introduced below.

Framing

Framing is considered central to bring about change as environmental movements (Parks, 2022). Frames are defined as ‘schemata of interpretation’, which organise experience and guide action (Goffman, 1974: 464). Framing, or meaning construction, is an active process resulting in ‘collective action frames’ – negotiated shared understandings in the movement – challenging existing societal interpretations (Benford and Snow, 2000). Collective action frames include, for example, three ‘core framing’ tasks (Benford and Snow, 2000): diagnostic framing, identifying a problem and its source; prognostic framing, focusing on a solution and strategies to address the problem; and motivational framing, providing a call and rationale for collective action, the words used being central. Additionally, master frames can serve as ‘guiding frames’ across several movements (Parks, 2022), being broad enough in terms of inclusivity, cultural resonance, interpretive scope and flexibility (Benford and Snow, 2000).

Material and methods

This study aims to clarify understandings of sufficiency in ‘Kohtuusliike’, utilising phenomenography. This section starts by explaining the phenomenographic approach and introducing ‘Kohtuusliike’. Then, data collection and data analysis procedures are outlined, followed by reflections on validity and reliability.

Phenomenography

Phenomenography is an approach for studying qualitatively different ways of understanding phenomena and aspects of reality (Marton, 1981), gaining increasing interest (Tight, 2016). The focus is on a ‘second-order perspective’, how individuals perceive something, rather than on a ‘first-order perspective’, how something is in an objective sense; however, phenomenography takes a non-dualist stance and recognises both (Åkerlind, 2018). The focus is on collective understandings; individuals may move between categories (Marton, 1981).

A phenomenographic study results in an ‘outcome space’ with ‘categories’ (‘categories of description’) representing qualitatively different ways of understanding a phenomenon (Marton and Booth, 1997: 124). These are distinguished by ‘critical aspects’ (Holmqvist and Selin, 2019). Usually, it is possible to distinguish a hierarchy between more basic and more complex categories (Marton and Booth, 1997). Phenomenographic research findings are two-dimensional: a referential dimension focusing on meaning (‘what’) and a structural dimension linking the various ways of experiencing and focusing on actions that comprise it (‘how’, referred to as dimensions of variation) (Åkerlind, 2005a; Marton and Booth, 1997).

The phenomenographic approach has its roots in learning-related studies (Marton and Säljö, 1976) but has also been applied in other contexts, including sustainability (see, e.g. Cotterell et al. 2020; Reid and Petocz, 2006). The phenomenographic approach is well suited for studying sustainability, given its focus on structuring differences and the clear evidence of variation shown in previous studies (Baughan, 2019). Its non-dualist stance makes it particularly suitable for studying sufficiency – including variation in understandings while recognising a biophysical reality. The decision to use phenomenography was made at the analysis phase; however, the preceding steps were broadly in line with a phenomenographic approach. In the following section, the ‘Kohtuusliike’ case is presented.

Case ‘Kohtuusliike’

The ‘Kohtuusliike’ movement was chosen as a case due to its focus and name resembling ‘sufficiency’. The Finnish word ‘kohtuus’ is translated as ‘moderation’, with examples of using the word including ‘to be fair’, ‘within [reasonable] limits’ and ‘temperance in all things’ (MOT Dictionary, 2022). ‘Kohtuus’ has previously been linked to ‘sufficiency’ by, for example, Hirvilammi et al. (2014) and Linnanen et al. (2020).

‘Kohtuusliike’ is a small, loosely organised movement originating around 2010 from two groups, one in Eastern Finland engaged in uranium mining protests, ‘Kohtuus vaarassa’ and one in Southern Finland linked to the international degrowth movement (Laakkonen, 2021; Lehtinen, 2019; Ulvila, 2018). As a national network, ‘Kohtuusliike’ focuses on local activities and political activism (Husso, 2017; Lehtinen, 2019) but not civil disobedience (Laakkonen, 2021). The movement, with 300 email list subscribers (Timo Järvensivu, 2020, personal communication), has ‘Ten reasonable demands’² requiring profound change in lifestyle and society, including criticism of limitless growth of consumption and production, underlining the importance of alternative economic systems and planetary justice (Kohtuusliike, 2025). There is limited research on the socioeconomic makeup of the movement; however, many in the Eastern Finland group have a higher education (Laakkonen, 2021). Lehtinen (2019) links ‘Kohtuusliike’ to the transition movement perceived as representing a middle-class environmentalism (see Barr and Pollard, 2017).

Data collection

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 persons active in the ‘Kohtuusliike’ movement, until a point of data saturation (see Åkerlind, 2005b), representing a suitable number of participants (see Trigwell, 2000), approximately 5% of the movement. Being ‘active in the movement’ was defined as having participated in at least one movement activity, like a seminar, by fall 2021.

Participants were selected utilising purposive and snowball sampling. Maximising variation and data saturation (Åkerlind, 2005b) guided the data collection. Age, gender and place of residence were considered, as these factors have been shown to influence environmental attitudes (see Lehtonen et al., 2020), as well as how long the participants had been active in the movement. Roughly, one-third were long-term activists (involved 9–13 years), one-third medium-term activists (3–8 years) and one-third short-term activists (<1 year). The participants were in the age span 20–80 years and represented a gender balance, with incomes between below 1000 and around 4500 euros; three fourths belonging to the lowest national income quartile and one fourth to the middle 50% (see Statistics Finland, 2025). Two were students and the rest had a tertiary education (some caution is advised regarding representativeness of the movement). The participants were working (full or part time), studying, retired and/or involved in self-reliance activities.

The participants were asked to conduct a quick carbon footprint test (lifestyletest.sitra.fi). Phenomenographically, the footprint represents a first-order perspective, that is, (global) greenhouse gas emissions, complementing the second-order perspective of (local) sufficiency understandings. The self-reported results (n = 14) ranged from 2.0 to 3.7 tonnes CO2e/year. The results need to be interpreted with some caution, given that footprints are in the magnitude of an Indian (Akenji et al., 2021). Nevertheless, the interviews support the footprints being considerably lower than the Finnish per capita average of 7.7 tonnes per year (see SYKE, 2024).

Following two pilot interviews, recorded interviews were conducted in Finnish (13), Swedish (1) and English (1) during December 2020–April 2021 and October–December 2021, at participants’ homes (7 interviews), in meeting rooms or equivalent (6) and (partly) online (2). Prior to each interview, written informed consent was provided, including consent to conduct the study, collect personal information and publish the study. To create a relaxed atmosphere (Åkerlind, 2005b), the interview began with ‘warm up’ questions asking what made participants interested in sufficiency and why they joined the movement, followed by the main question of how they understood sufficiency along with follow-up questions. The interviews lasted 1–3 h (average: 1 h and 40 min), resulting in a rich dataset. They were conducted with one person at a time, except one interview that had two participants. The interviews were anonymised and transcribed verbatim.

Data analysis

To ensure that participants commented on the same phenomenon, not on different or related phenomena (Åkerlind, 2022), sections only referring to other terms (e.g. degrowth) were removed. Responses to leading questions were left out.

The inductive and iterative analysis process was guided by work on phenomenography (Åkerlind, 2005a, 2005b; Marton, 1981; Marton and Booth, 1997; Trigwell, 2000), following the steps outlined by Han and Ellis (2019): (a) familiarisation, (b) reduction and condensation, (c) classification and comparison, (d) labelling categories. Coding was performed utilising the ATLAS.ti software in the interview language to retain the expressions of the participants. English was used when formulating categories and dimensions of variation.

Acknowledging that the aims always drive the descriptions (Marton and Booth, 1997), this study focuses largely on explicit understandings of sufficiency to support practical application of the findings. An ‘underlying’ and ‘implicit meaning’ (Åkerlind, 2005a: 331) is reflected at category level.

Step 1 included listening and reading through the printed transcripts several times while marking sections of particular interest and writing key words, quotes and comments in the margin. I wrote a summary note on understandings of sufficiency for each transcript, edited throughout the analysis. Steps 2 and 3 were conducted in tandem, from here utilising the ATLAS.ti software. Step 2 included making the data more manageable by identifying the sections perceived as central in the participants’ sufficiency understandings. Following Åkerlind (2005b), this included identifying key issues and themes running across transcripts. These included, for example, economic system and nature relation, which developed into dimensions of variation. Based on comments after a presentation of very initial findings, two preliminary sufficiency understandings were formulated: problem and solution. These were later renamed criticism and advocacy to fit the phenomenographic approach of sufficiency as something. More detailed coding followed, with two questions in mind (informed by Bowden, 2000; Marton and Booth, 1997): ‘What does the participant understand as sufficiency’ and ‘What does this tell me about the way in which the participant understands sufficiency’. This resulted in formulating a new, broad category related to processes of change. Furthermore, I noticed some references to unvoluntary sufficiency, as well as seemingly voluntary alignment with this way of living; these were named material and mental necessity. Focusing on similarities and differences between transcript excerpts, the codes were grouped in ATLAS.ti.

Step 4 included re-reading the transcripts multiple times while reviewing and refining the coding. While searching for logically related, mutually exclusive categories, the codes and code groups were grouped and re-grouped, forming categories. The categories criticism and advocacy were grouped under ‘analytical tool’ and the category relating to change was split into reframing change and compromising action. The most prevalent dimensions of variations were identified and are reported in the findings. The referential and structural aspects were supplemented by identifying a hierarchy between categories, and transcripts were checked for missing categories. Examples of the coding process are provided in Appendix 1.

Validity and reliability

Validity refers to ‘investigating what it aimed to investigate’ while reliability refers to quality and consistency in data interpretation (Åkerlind, 2005a). To strengthen communicative validity (see Åkerlind, 2005a), preliminary findings were presented on six occasions, including two international research conferences. Presenting at a seminar organised by ‘Kohtuusliike’, in addition, strengthened pragmatic validity, relating to the usefulness of the findings to their ‘intended audience’. The interpretations of ‘kohtuus’ were perceived defensible, and there was support for linking the term ‘kohtuus’ to sufficiency, which some perceived as novel. As I carried out the phenomenographic analysis individually, a coder reliability check was conducted (see Åkerlind, 2005a). A researcher familiar with phenomenography read two transcripts and concluded they supported the tentative outcome space.

Reliability is more connected to interpretative awareness than replicability (Kvale, 1996). This includes reflexivity which implies researchers turning a ‘critical gaze upon themselves’ (Finlay, 2003: 3, see also, e.g. Spangenberg, 2011). With a disciplinary belonging in sustainability science, my motivation for the study was to advance societal change. Joining ‘Kohtuusliike’ when starting this study, as both a researcher and participator, the activists were unfamiliar except a few. Regarding researcher positionality, I have a middle-class, native Finnish background, grew up in the 1980s. My sufficiency relation is characterised by voluntariness.

Being part of ‘Kohtuusliike’ may have helped with comprehending the shared experiences and in building trust (see Juvonen, 2017). Formulating interview questions was inevitably linked to my interpretations of sufficiency, influenced by cultural context and background. Having realised the first three interviews included a few leading questions on consumption, the questions were made more open, to enable participants to ‘choose the dimensions of the question they want to answer’ (Marton, 1986: 42). My dual roles unlikely influenced the choice of participants because of unfamiliarity with the activists and the aim to maximise variation; however, my positionality might have influenced who signed up. It may also have influenced data interpretation by directing attention to, for example, sufficiency in affluence contexts, while leaving others unnoticed; however, multiple transcript readings revealed several understandings.

Findings

The findings are summarised in Table 2 and Figure 1. Additional quotes by the participants can be found in Appendix 2.

Figure 1.

Findings and the relation between the sufficiency understandings. Explanatory note: The category of sufficiency as a mental necessity aligns with material necessity and is informed by and informs sufficiency as an analytical tool. Criticism and advocacy inform the category of reframing change and may, in an affluent society context, lead to compromising action.

Table 2.

Findings.

→ Categories of description (referential)	Necessity		Analytical tool		Reframing change	Compromising action
↓Dimensions of variation (structural)	Material	Mental	Criticism	Advocacy
Macro
Prevailing culture	Basic human needs, scarcity–sufficiency, survival. Work connected to subsistence.		Overconsumption and production. Anthropocentrism,individualism. Inequality, globalisation, urbanisation.Work based on harming ecosystems. Technology optimism.	Guided by enoughness, good life, contentment. Ecocentrism, importance of community.(Global) justice, small scale. Work supporting a flourishing environment. Limited role of technology.	Redefining ‘good life’, ‘gaining life quality through making life more understandable’.	Compromises in implementation, not sufficiency in everything.
Boundaries	Set by ecological carrying capacity and basic needs.		Set by the economy, recognising no environmental boundaries.	Set by ecological carrying capacity and human needs.	Both abundance and scarcity – ‘not only limitations but also possibilities to act differently’.	Social boundaries, what is reasonable to expect from people.
Nature relation	Dependence.		Instrumental value, anthropocentrism, dualism.	Intrinsic value, ecocentrism, (deep) nature connection.	‘Being ecocentric is the same as being egocentric’.	The societal context determines possible choices.
Economic system	(Focus on subsistence.)		Growth/profit focused.	Degrowth, sufficiency/steady-state economy, smaller-scale parallel systems.	‘The transition to a sustainable and more meaningful culture means (in this system) degrowth’.	Partial self-reliance, eco-communities, circular economy.
↓Dimensions of variation (structural)	Material	Mental	Criticism	Advocacy
Micro
Transport	Aiming to fulfil basic needs.		Private car use, flying.	Walking, (e-)biking, public transport. Sharing/renting. Using biogas. Avoiding unnecessary driving. No car, driving licence or flying. Less travel abroad.	‘Upgrading to bicycle speed’.	Difficult to make do without a car, owning a car despite rental possibility. Not giving up some travel.
Housing	Aiming to fulfil basic needs.		Large living space, high indoor temperature, polluting energy sources. Excessive warm water use, frequent acquisition of new appliances and furniture.	Smaller living space, low indoor temperature, renewable energy. Sparse warm water use. Living off-grid. Composting toilet. Recycling, second-hand furniture.	‘…living off-grid … I start to see … what is enough. And that's surprisingly little, which makes it a lot easier’.	Climatic circumstances affect energy use.
Food	Aiming to fulfil basic needs.		Large food markets, food imported from far away, processed food. Meat-rich diet.	Local food, vegetarian/vegan diet. Avoiding food waste. Growing own food, picking berries and mushrooms, preserving.	‘…not giving up bananas … gaining a safety on my food’.	Not being completely vegan, animal husbandry has a place in farming.

Sufficiency as a necessity (material and mental)

Sufficiency as a necessity refers to sufficiency as something non-negotiable. It is arrived at from two perspectives: material necessity resulting from social or environmental constraint, and mental necessity representing a cognitive realisation of environmental boundaries resulting in alignment with material necessity. While this category does not seem to link to any core framing task, mental necessity can be interpreted as a form of prognostic framing. Foremost, it relates to the social boundary, examining the line between scarcity and sufficiency. Material necessity is brought up as an unvoluntary experience, for example, related to having grown up experiencing economic constraints or previous generations having experienced war and austerity-era Finland. It can also be experienced by parts of the population in current affluent societies. Sufficiency as a mental necessity is informed by sufficiency as an analytical tool and may appear voluntary to some degree but is the result of searching for a way of life that can continue over time. One participant experienced it as a matter of survival:

I find sustainability, survivability, resilience, sufficiency, like they're, very often interchangeable […]. Survival is not the, you know, enduring some tough times, survival is to, yeah, to actually live a good life, also in a way that it can continue and continue. (Int. 6)

The two sub-categories share the views expressed in the dimensions of variation. At the macro-level, norms and values include a prevailing culture focused on basic human needs and survival, with experiences ranging from scarcity to enoughness and to occasional times of abundance connected to, for example, harvesting times. The human relationship with nature is characterised by dependence. The economic system has no out-spelled focus in the transcripts, but the overall focus on ensuring subsistence can be assumed to also apply here. Centrally, boundaries for human activities were defined by environmental carrying capacity. Even though sufficiency understandings vary, the ‘carrying capacity of nature is the primary matter’ to be adapted to. (Int. 10)

At the micro-level, the focus is on fulfilling basic needs, with not many resources available for other things.

Sufficiency as an analytical tool (criticism and advocacy)

Sufficiency as an analytical tool is distinguished from the material necessity understanding in the possibility to reflect on personal and others’ lifestyle choices to represent more informed views about the world, and from the mental necessity understanding in not being aligned with material necessity. In the data, sufficiency analysis is represented in two sub-categories, namely criticism and advocacy. These can be analysed as diagnostic and prognostic framing, constructing meaning by identifying problems and solutions. The former presents sufficiency-informed critique, whereas the latter presents sufficiency-informed alternatives. One participant refers to sufficiency in a way that aptly reflects the overall category of sufficiency as an analytical tool:

I do read all the news and articles from a completely different perspective, […] I've been offered […] glasses through which one can interpret things […]. (Int. 2)

Criticism and advocacy were the most frequently represented sufficiency understandings, covering a wide range of topics. At the macro-level, criticism included manifold criticism of overconsumption and overproduction in the prevailing culture, in the words of one participant:

Overconsumption has not decreased at all. Everything has just changed shape and new loopholes have been found to keep consuming. (Int. 12)

Furthermore, the resource-intense consumer culture at large was criticised, along with the current system and missing angles in the sustainability debate. Other identified problems included anthropocentrism, individualism and inequality. Globalisation, extensive international trade and urbanisation were also perceived as problematic. The nature of work as commonly being based on harming ecosystems and causing climate change and biodiversity loss was also the focus of criticism. When it comes to nature relation, approaches characterised by anthropocentrism, instrumentalism and dualism were perceived as deeply problematic.

Regarding boundaries, criticism was expressed for denying environmental boundaries and for boundaries being set solely by the economy. Despite understandings advocating for boundaries (see below), there were further nuances, including criticism of paying too much attention to limits and measurements. Participants put forth understandings that not everything should (or can) be measured, that sufficiency is a larger question than the carbon footprint, and that sometimes focus should rather be on ‘what is enough’.

The growth-based economic system received widespread criticism, including its dominant focus on profit-making. It was described in terms of ‘omnipresent capitalisation’ and being ‘exploitive’. The monetary system was described as a ‘monoculture’. Reliance on gross domestic product as a measurement and faith in the decoupling of economic growth and environmental harm were also criticised.

At the micro-level, criticism concerned various consumption sectors, including transport, housing and food. For transport, this involved private car use and flying. Several topics were identified as problematic in housing, including large living space, high indoor temperature, utilising polluting energy sources, excessive warm water use and frequent purchasing of new household appliances. Related to food, criticism concerned a meat-rich diet, large food markets, food imported from distant locations, and processed food.

Switching to advocacy, a sufficiency-oriented culture at the macro-level included both non-material and material dimensions, often intertwined. The former refers to sufficiency as a virtue, a mindset, ‘a mental thing’, something that cannot be measured, while the latter refers to material aspects of, for example, production and consumption, measurable through environmental footprints and such. A sufficiency-oriented culture included a vision or goal based on enoughness, with a focus on needs (which can be understood in various ways), a good life informed by contentment, with time for idling and doing meaningful things, but also by avoiding, reducing, simplifying and doing less.

The importance of community and communal aspects was underlined, as was a focus on small-scale, local belongingness and solutions. (Global) justice was concurrently emphasised. Overall, a culture based on ecocentrism was called for. Concerning work, some participants noted that work ought to support a flourishing environment rather than destroy it; for example, restoration was advocated for. Ambiguities around the sufficiency definition were expressed through references to sufficiency as something relative. However, some were followed by references to limits, such as that the environmental carrying capacity is the ‘primary matter’ (see the section ‘Sufficiency as a necessity (material and mental)’.

In terms of boundaries, advocacy included understandings of both environmental and social boundaries – a maximum level set by environmental carrying capacity and a minimum level to ensure that human basic needs are met.

Nature relation was characterised by an ecocentric approach that focuses on intrinsic values, humans being perceived as a species among others. This entailed a (deep) nature connection, based on symbiosis, reciprocity and dependence, including a sense of sacredness. As one participant expressed it:

I'm thinking of the view of mankind and worldviews. How these should change. And here the key words are precisely nature-centeredness and ecocentrism […]. (Int. 12)

To be noted is that not all participants experienced nature connection; one participant explicitly commented on the matter, aware of activist friends’ experiences.

Concerning the economic system, alternatives such as degrowth, sufficiency economy, steady state or post-growth economy were advocated for, including creating parallel systems for non-monetary exchange.

At the micro-level, advocacy related to certain features of the transport, housing and food sectors, including references to doing things oneself. In terms of transport, sufficiency advocated for walking, (e-)biking, public transport, car sharing or renting, using biogas, avoiding unnecessary driving and less travel abroad. Furthermore, advocacy included refraining from having a driving licence, owning a car and flying altogether. Advocacy related to housing included smaller living space, low indoor temperature and utilising renewable energy. Furthermore, having second-hand furniture and recycling were advocated for. Other advocated features included having a composting toilet, living off-grid, using muscle power and producing own electricity. Other advocated features included living off-grid, producing own electricity and having a composting toilet. Regarding food, advocacy was expressed for a vegetarian or vegan diet, local food, avoiding food waste, along with growing one's own food, mushrooming, berry picking and preserving.

Sufficiency as reframing change

This category is distinguished from sufficiency as an analytical tool in formulating alternative perspectives on how sufficiency-oriented change can be perceived. This provides a powerful motivational framing. The words used are central in providing a rationale for engaging in collective action, reflecting the purpose of the movement. The category can also be interpreted as a form of prognostic framing.

At the macro-level, a fundamental societal shift towards sufficiency is called for, including through policy. Central is to redefine what constitutes a ‘good life.’ This includes, for instance, moving from consuming too much to enoughness, as pointed out in the analytical tool. If not redefining a good life, (social) policy risks remaining in a ‘sustainable transition [that] in practice […] is all about strengthening the mining industry, which is climate-wise questionable’, as one study participant expressed it.³

Through redefining a good life, change can be reframed. Reflecting on relinquishing things and on abundance, a participant voiced that focusing on things that do not actively ‘conflict with their values’, like nourishing human relationships, changes the notion of ‘giving up’, creating ‘a lifeworld that can be really extensive and rich’ (Int. 11). Sufficiency was referred to as opposing norms and representing new norms.

Participants were attentive to the words used, calling for new terminology indicating a desired direction of change, and said the group had modified words like ‘digitalisation’ and ‘digital leap’ to express a conversion to physical work (in Finnish: ‘hikitalisaatio’, ‘hikiloikka’). There were also notions of avoiding linking sufficiency to a ‘culture of scarcity’. A participant had experienced a shift in understanding biking, from ‘reducing to bicycle distance’ to ‘upgrading’.

Regarding boundaries, a link was made to permaculture philosophy and ‘abundance instead of scarcity’ and that there are ‘not only limitations but also possibilities to act differently’ (Int. 11). Nature relation aligned with sufficiency was expressed concisely: being ‘ecocentric’ is the same as being ‘egocentric’. (Int. 6)

Furthermore, participants reflected on how to address growth-centrism while avoiding referring solely to ‘reduction’:

[I]t is a transition to a sustainable and essentially more meaningful culture […]. In practice, it means degrowth, at least in this system. (Int. 15)

At the micro-level, sufficiency was generally described as ‘freedom from consumption addictions’, including understanding how little is enough, making it ‘easier’. And rather than ‘giving up bananas’, it was understood as ‘gaining safety’ on one's food.

Sufficiency as compromising action

Sufficiency as compromising action is distinguished from the reframing change understanding by the need for various forms of compromise in implementation. In framing terms, this category can be understood as motivational, a call for action spelling out possible steps for implementing sufficiency in a context where full realisation is not possible of various reasons. This understanding can also be perceived as linking to prognostic framing in terms of presenting a strategy to addressing the problems.

Sufficiency as compromising action is characterised by experiences of the relation to contemporary society. This ‘way out’ is referred to as a ‘process’, ‘direction’, ‘slow change’, ‘a spiral’ and a ‘goal’. The category included notions of going against the prevailing culture in various ways and at different levels. One participant reflected on the tensions linked to work:

It's very challenging trying to be part of a system and to concurrently do something radical against it. […] Maybe a kind of double life is quite difficult here. (Int. 2)

Simultaneously, a notion of ‘not sufficiency in everything’ is brought up. This included references to the need to compromise – returning to ‘sustainable structures’ but ‘not to the Stone Age’ and not to ‘becoming a slave under personal principles’. Technology use was perceived as challenging. This notion also included sometimes doing things that are ‘not sufficiency at all’, like ‘buying glitter nail polish … and organising a wild party’.

The desirability of urban or rural settings from a sufficiency perspective comprised mixed understandings. Cities were perceived as problematic in terms of various dependencies and limited opportunities for self-reliance. On the other hand, cities provide aspects like culture and education. Calls for re-localising was juxtaposed with recognising challenges, resulting in calls for compromising:

Principally, I think that cities are more a problem than a solution, but when so many people live in these ‘problems’, how can you increase self-sufficiency in such conditions and how can you break away from such dependencies in the circumstances you happen to be in […], it's not either, perhaps, realistic that everyone suddenly moves to the countryside. (Int. 15)

Regarding boundaries, participants also mentioned social boundaries related to what can be expected in terms of individual change.

Nature relation was characterised by the discrepancy between a desire to deviate from a dominant instrumental approach while being limited by societal circumstances.

The economic system was perceived as a challenging object of change. Alternatives like living in eco-communities and partial self-reliance had been considered by some, but seeing friends become exhausted while trying to get by made some participants refrain and conclude that everyone needs to be ‘merciful’ and ‘take care of themselves’.

At the micro-level, transport gave rise to considerable reflection regarding private car use. These included notions on the difficulties of making do without a car and of owning a car despite rental possibilities. Also, there were references to ‘not giving up travel’ to neighbouring countries and that sometimes one ‘needs to fly’. Regarding housing, there were comments related to energy consumption and that the cold climate in Finland results in a higher energy demand, and a partly self-sufficient participant stated that they allow themselves the ‘luxury of a freezer’. Regarding food, reflections were expressed of not being completely vegan but having some fish or meat occasionally and that animals may have a place in Finnish farming. Also, limits of individual choice were recognised.

Discussion

Motivated by the urgent sustainability challenges of the Anthropocene, this study addresses the environmental movement, a gap in existing sufficiency research, adding insights to related concepts like VS. Next, the findings are discussed vis-à-vis theoretical contribution in relation to previous sufficiency research and practical implications for the wider environmental movement.

Theoretical contribution

Comparison with understandings of sufficiency in literature reviews

This study confirms many sufficiency features outlined by the literature reviews (see the section ‘Sufficiency and related concepts’), organising them according to categories and dimensions of variation. A feature that seems to underpin all sufficiency understandings of ‘Kohtuusliike’ is a concern to stay within boundaries, environmental and social, aligning with the consumption corridor approach identified by Lage (2022). The understandings furthermore include characteristics like enoughness, and the three premises outlined by Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen (2022), which are echoed in the analytical tool–advocacy category at the macro-level. Similarly, the consumption typology outlined by Sandberg (2021) resonates with advocacy at the micro-level. Largely, the literature-based understandings seem to link to sufficiency as an analytical tool, which was the dominant understanding in the present study. However, the other sufficiency understandings (a necessity, compromising action, reframing change) receive scarce attention in the literature reviews.

Comparison with understandings of sufficiency in previous empirical studies

The present study both resonates with and adds to the findings of the studies in Table 1, here referred to as the (other) empirical studies. Notably, the understandings of sufficiency as a necessity and compromising action, which were not visible in the literature review understandings, are represented in the empirical studies, indicating that empirical studies contribute with sufficiency aspects that would otherwise risk receiving little attention. Interestingly, Korsnes and Solbu (2024) also note a sufficiency characteristic of ‘necessity’. Similar understandings were found in the study by Gorge et al. (2015), in the position called ‘nothing’, linked to scarcity and most commonly experienced by obligatorily sufficient persons. The position ‘not everything’, again, shares features with sufficiency as a mental necessity, even though an exact comparison is not possible – a mental necessity may represent a more frugal option.

Worth noting is variation in the emphasis given to sufficiency as a necessity. Whereas necessity was prevalent in the study on low-income groups by Korsnes and Solbu (2024), it was recognised but not widely experienced among ‘Kohtuusliike’ participants and only briefly referred to in the expert study by Tröger and Reese (2021). This seems to reflect respondents’ experiences and underscores the importance of recognising that sufficiency is approached from various starting points – obligatory and voluntary sufficiency (Gorge et al., 2015) – and to involve study participants from diverse backgrounds. Although the ‘Kohtuusliike’ study participants mainly had low incomes (n.b., highly educated, some were retired), as activists, they represent a different population segment than the previous studies. Features include having low income but not experiencing poverty, or having middle income but a small carbon footprint. Conditions appearing to support this include understanding sufficiency as something favourable (even with a lower degree of voluntariness), and the movement context as a space where societally alternative views can be the prevailing, supported ones.

Connected to sufficiency as reframing change, other studies also reported participants engaging in re-interpretations – low-income groups in Norway in the form of ‘reframing sustainability’ (Korsnes and Solbu, 2024: 12) and voluntarily sufficient people redefining a good life and, for example, describing life without a car as ‘more weightless’ (Gorge et al., 2015: 16).

Also, sufficiency as compromising action resonates with other empirical sufficiency studies. As part of sufficiency as opposition, many low-income groups in the Norwegian study reported difficulties in pursuing ‘alternative pathways’ within a high-income and consumption society (Korsnes and Solbu, 2024: 11), and, for voluntarily sufficient people, sufficiency appeared as a ‘nonlinear progressive path, constructed through different steps’ rather than a static position, requiring effort and compromises (Gorge et al., 2015: 16–17). However, this is the only study to name this feature as a characteristic of sufficiency.

Other differences can also be noticed. A sufficiency dimension not found in the other empirical studies was references to nature relation. In this study, a relation to nature was most clearly articulated in sufficiency as an analytical tool, with criticism being directed towards assigning nature solely instrumental value, for instance, while advocacy concerned giving nature intrinsic value, along with experiences of (deep) nature connection. References to nature relation as a part of sufficiency were also reflected in the other understandings; the understanding of sufficiency as a necessity centring around subsistence expressed a nature relation characterised by dependence. Related to this, the understanding of sufficiency as reframing change equalled being ecocentric with being egocentric; as humans are part of and dependent on nature, it is in their self-interest to consider also nonhuman nature. And in sufficiency as compromising action, current societal instrumental values were recognised as limiting the possibilities to giving nature intrinsic value. Understandings related to nature relation have also been noted in other studies targeting ‘Kohtuusliike’, where deep nature connection, including spiritual aspects, have been linked to features of responsibility in the movement (e.g. Laakkonen, 2021) and, related to this, in a literature review regarding altruism towards nonhuman beings (Jungell-Michelsson and Heikkurinen, 2022). The difference may relate to the roots of ‘Kohtuusliike’ in opposing uranium mining, directing attention to nature relation as connected to addressing unsustainability. Also, traditional ways of thinking may play a role. Finno-Ugric thinking is referred to as including a resurrection to a hunter–gatherer spiritual heritage and fostering nature connection, which is something that has been discussed within ‘Kohtuusliike’ (Laakkonen, 2021). Also worth noting is that voluntary sufficiency likely enables paying attention to such aspects to a larger degree than obligatory sufficiency allows. Supporting this is that connecting with nature is a feature of the simplicity movement (Elgin, 2007).

Aspects related to sufficiency as an analytical tool both add to and confirm previous studies. Criticism of and alternatives to the growth-based economic system hold a central place in understanding sufficiency among ‘Kohtuusliike’ activists (see also Laakkonen, 2021). The other empirical studies deal with this topic in varying ways. While all studies refer to it, for example, through critique of growth narratives (Korsnes and Solbu, 2024) or by identifying economic norms and rules as a core barrier, only some referred to explicit alternatives like degrowth-oriented narratives (Tröger and Reese, 2021) or non-market-based solutions (Persson and Klintman, 2022). This may point to being part of a movement enables addressing macro-level questions, like the economic system which for an individual may appear to be far beyond personal control. Indeed, more long-term ‘Kohtuusliike’ activists had more diversified sufficiency understandings.

It can also be noted that ‘Kohtuusliike’ more often appeared to link sufficiency to creating parallel systems through self-reliance activities and living off-grid. Related to housing, many of the interviewees in Norway lived in ‘low-cost apartments’, except one who had chosen a ‘simpler life’ and lived in a boat (Korsnes and Solbu, 2024: 8). Bottom-up approaches representing sufficiency-oriented solutions outside a market-economy system were, however, identified as necessary by part of the experts (Tröger and Reese, 2021).

The references to parallel systems in the present study may be linked to the environmental movement context, enabling shared visions. This furthermore indicates the importance of having some resources (financial and other) beyond the bare necessities to provide room for manoeuvres. Simultaneously, references to parallel systems point to challenges that may be connected to going against societal norms. Nonetheless, initiatives for living differently are interesting in terms of developing alternatives to current modern societies, given studies in Finland indicating that even persons living on what is perceived a minimum exceed environmentally sustainable levels (see Lettenmeier et al., 2012; Linnanen et al., 2020).

Overall, the national context may have shaped the sufficiency understandings as a moderate way of life is part of a traditional, largely shared value system (see Lehtinen, 2019). Furthermore, the temperate/sub-Arctic climate likely influences understandings related to the line between scarcity and sufficiency, as fulfilling basic needs of housing and food is more challenging than in warmer climates.

Practical implications

Placing the sufficiency understandings in the non-institutionalised part of the current environmental movement context, they align foremost with the post-apocalypse current. The focus on micro-level action while envisioning macro-level changes supports the notion of politicisation being latently present. The sufficiency understandings also include features of the social justice current, including a transformation of the conception of justice concerned with recognising non-humans among recipients of justice (see Rydenfelt and Nyfors, 2024), but not including a strong element of mass mobilisation. However, for bringing about macro-level sufficiency, related movements need to ‘expand, organise, radicalise and politicise’ (Alexander, 2013); this article argues ‘Kohtuusliike's sufficiency understandings can support this.

Firstly, a feature underpinning the sufficiency understandings – environmental and social boundaries – appear highly relevant for all dimensions of change in the current environmental movement. Hence, perhaps boundaries could serve as a master frame for related environmental movements like the simplicity movement. Boundaries are broad enough to serve as a master frame in the sense of being inclusive – for example, crossing the environmental boundary of climate change concerns all humans – while social boundaries being culturally sensitive supports cultural resonance, interpretive scope and flexibility.

Secondly, the present sufficiency understandings may be helpful in framing staying and getting within boundaries, supporting related movements’ development. Consciousness-raising and identity formation can be strengthened through systematically identifying also local points of criticism and advocacy, that is, by utilising diagnostic and prognostic framing,⁴ while motivational framing can draw on insights from reframing change and compromising action. Perhaps the ‘sufficiency glasses’ work as ‘simplicity glasses’, providing a basis for targeting the public agenda.

Thirdly, the sufficiency understanding compromising action relates to operating in ‘structures of constraint’ (see Alexander and Ussher, 2012: 81), implying that structures either enable or restrain choices, underlining the importance of addressing both individual and structural changes. This study argues that each sufficiency understanding supports operationalising the concept, applicable, for example, in climate policy. For instance, sufficiency as a necessity makes visible that not everyone nor every society needs to reduce their environmental impact; for some, deprivation needs to be addressed, others are already aligned with sufficiency – potential new role models (Nyfors and Linnanen, 2026). While sufficiency as an analytical tool provides sufficiency with a systematic criticism/advocacy character; sufficiency as reframing change shows alternative perspectives on change; and compromising action pinpoints policy-relevant bottlenecks for implementing sufficiency. The dimensions of variation at the macro-level – culture and economic system – reflect an operating environment characterised by a consumer culture- and growth-oriented economic system (see Husso, 2017). While boundaries are central in ‘Kohtuusliike's sufficiency understandings, participants concurrently voice caution: not everything should or can be measured, sometimes focus needs to be on contentment and enoughness. This appears crucial when implementing sufficiency in policy – to be balanced with the participants’ foundational understanding that humans must adapt to the environmental boundaries.

Conclusion

This study has analysed understandings of sufficiency through a phenomenographic approach, answering the research questions: What does sufficiency signify for the Finnish sufficiency movement ‘Kohtuusliike’? How do the sufficiency understandings relate to trends in the environmental movement context? and How could the understandings be utilised by environmental movements? The study concludes that sufficiency can be understood as (a) a necessity (material and mental), (b) an analytical tool (criticism and advocacy), (c) reframing change and (d) compromising action. This study clarifies and supports operationalisation of sufficiency and suggests it can be utilised by environmental movements for framing sufficiency more broadly, the findings representing all core framing tasks. The contributions of this study include sufficiency understandings derived in an environmental movement context; presenting a set of sufficiency understandings that are suggested to represent a broad and systematic approach to sufficiency, bringing up a dimension given little attention in sufficiency: nature relation, which links sufficiency to the wider VS movement. Connected to the limits of this study, relevant avenues for future research can be identified. First, future studies could test and further develop the set of understandings with various segments of the population in different national contexts or related environmental movements. Second, longitudinal empirical studies on sufficiency understandings would provide further valuable insights related to social–ecological transformation. Third, the relevance of nature relation in the transformation could be investigated.

In a world that has crossed the 1.5-degree global warming threshold (Copernicus, 2024), sufficiency-oriented change is urgently needed. For a social-ecological transformation to take place at multiple levels, empirical sufficiency understandings arguably contribute with invaluable insights.

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-1-env-10.1177_09632719261459543 - Supplemental material for Understandings of sufficiency: A phenomenography on the sufficiency movement in Finland

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-env-10.1177_09632719261459543 for Understandings of sufficiency: A phenomenography on the sufficiency movement in Finland by Tina Nyfors in Environmental Values

Supplemental Material

sj-docx-2-env-10.1177_09632719261459543 - Supplemental material for Understandings of sufficiency: A phenomenography on the sufficiency movement in Finland

Supplemental material, sj-docx-2-env-10.1177_09632719261459543 for Understandings of sufficiency: A phenomenography on the sufficiency movement in Finland by Tina Nyfors in Environmental Values

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to Pasi Heikkurinen for his support throughout the work with the article. I am also grateful for valuable discussions with Jarkko Pyysiäinen, and for comments by Henrik Rydenfelt, the PROSE Research Group, SIG-9, Marilla Kortesalmi and Jean-Pierre Imbrogiano at various stages of the writing process. Furthermore, I want to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their very valuable and constructive comments, central for improving the manuscript.

ORCID iD

Tina Nyfors

Ethical approval

Not applicable.

Informed consent statement

Prior to each interview, written informed consent was provided by the study participants, including consent to conduct the study, collect personal information and publish the study.

Funding

The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the TAH Foundation [grant number 20240980, 20230022, 20210017]; the Maj ja Tor Nessling Foundation [grant number 202000488]; the Waldemar von Frenckell Foundation [grant number 9-6320-4]; and Kone Foundation [grant number 202302807].

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to the risk of recognising study participants and due to that the participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly.

Supplemental material

Supplemental material for this article is available online.

Notes

References

Akenji

Bengtsson

Toivio

et al. (2021) 1.5-Degree Lifestyles: Towards a Fair Consumption Space for All. Berlin: Hot or Cool Institute.

Åkerlind

(2005a) Variation and commonality in phenomenographic research methods. Higher Education Research & Development 24(4): 321–334.

Åkerlind

(2005b) Phenomenographic methods: A case illustration. In: Bowden

Green

(eds) Doing Developmental Phenomenography. Melbourne: RMIT University Press, 103–127.

Åkerlind

(2018) What future for phenomenographic research? On continuity and development in the phenomenography and variation theory research tradition. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 62(6): 949–958.

Åkerlind

(2022) Critique of the article, “Theoretical foundations of phenomenography: A critical review”. Higher Education Research & Development 42(6): 1–11.

Alexander

(2013) Voluntary simplicity and the social reconstruction of law: Degrowth from the grassroots up. Environmental Values 22(2): 287–308.

Alexander

Ussher

(2012) The voluntary simplicity movement: A multi-national survey analysis in theoretical context. Journal of Consumer Culture 12(1): 66–86.

Arksey

O’Malley

(2005) Scoping studies: Towards a methodological framework. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 8(1): 19–32.

Barr

Pollard

(2017) Geographies of transition: Narrating environmental activism in an age of climate change and “peak oil”. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 49(1): 47–64.

10.

Baughan

(2019)“The sociological imagination”: researching sustainability, using phenomenography. PhD thesis. Lancaster University Lancaster.

11.

Benford

Snow

(2000) Framing processes and social movements: An overview and assessment. Annual Review of Sociology 26: 611–639.

12.

Bowden

(2000) Experience of phenomenographic research: A personal account. In: Bowden

Walsh

(eds) Phenomenography. Melbourne: RMIT University Press, 47–61.

13.

Brand

Muraca

Pineault

, et al. (2021) From planetary to societal boundaries: An argument for collectively defined self-limitation. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy 17(1): 264–291.

14.

Cassegård

(2022) The future of environmental movements. In Grasso

Giugni

(eds.), Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 1–15.

15.

Copernicus (2024) Warmest January on record, 12-month average over 1.5°C above preindustrial, Copernicus Climate Change Service. Available at: https://climate.copernicus.eu/warmest-january-record-12-month-average-over-15degc-above-preindustrial (accessed 22 April 2024).

16.

Cotterell

Ferreira

Hales

Arcodia

(2020) Cultivating conscientious tourism caretakers: A phenomenographic continuum towards stronger sustainability. Current Issues in Tourism 23(8): 1004–1020.

17.

Crutzen

Stoermer

(2000) The “Anthropocene”. IGBP Newsletter 41: 17–18.

18.

Elgin

(2007) Garden of Simplicity. Available at: https://duaneelgin.com/article-list/garden-of-simplicity/ (accessed 26 January 2026).

19.

Finlay

(2003) The reflexive journey: mapping multiple routes. In: Finlay

Gough

(eds) Reflexivity: A Practical Guide for Researchers in Health and Social Sciences. Oxford: Blackwell, 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470776094.

20.

Goffman

(1974) Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of the Experience. New York: Harper Colophon.

21.

Gorge

Herbert

Özçağlar-Toulouse

Robert

(2015) What do we really need? Questioning consumption through sufficiency. Journal of Macromarketing 35(1): 11–22.

22.

Haberl

Wiedenhofer

Virág

, et al. (2020) A systematic review of the evidence on decoupling of GDP, resource use and GHG emissions, part II: Synthesizing the insights. Environmental Research Letters 15(6): 065003.

23.

Hachtmann

(2024) Linking sufficiency and the protection of biodiversity: An issue of political implications, framing, descriptiveness and interdisciplinarity? Nature Conservation 55: 83–102.

24.

Han

Ellis

(2019) Using phenomenography to tackle key challenges in science education. Frontiers in Psychology 10: 1–10.

25.

Hirvilammi

Laakso

Lettenmeier

(2014) Kohtuuden rajat? Yksin asuvien perusturvan saajien elintaso ja materiaalijalanjälki https://helda.helsinki.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/a18a3206-a4c9-4e30-a47e-323c8b763035/content (accessed 8 February 2024).

26.

Holmqvist

Selin

(2019) What makes the difference? An empirical comparison of critical aspects identified in phenomenographic and variation theory analyses. Palgrave Communications 71(5): 8.

27.

Husso

(2017) Kohtuullinen utopia: Eettisen itsen luominen kasvukriittisen yhteiskunnallisen liikkeen teksteissä. Sosiologia 54(2): 166–182.

28.

IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) (2019) Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Bonn, Germany: IPBES Secretariat.

29.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2022) Climate Change 2022. Mitigation of Climate Change. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg3/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FullReport.pdf (accessed 30 August 2024)..

30.

Järvensivu

(2020) Background information on ‘Kohtuusliike’. [Personal communication.]

31.

Johnson

Agnone

(2022) Policy and legislative outcomes of environmental movements. In Grasso

Giugni

(eds.) Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 453–471.

32.

Jungell-Michelsson

Heikkurinen

(2022) Sufficiency: A systematic literature review. Ecological Economics 195: 107380.

33.

Juvonen

(2017) Sisäpiirihaastattelu. Tutkimushaastattelun käsikirja. Tampere: Vastapaino, 398–410.

34.

Kohtuusliike (2025) Kymmenen kohtuullista vaatimusta 2025. Available at: https://kohtuusliike.fi/kymmenen-kohtuullista-vaatimusta-2025/ (accessed 6 January 2026).

35.

Korsnes

Solbu

(2024) Can sufficiency become the new normal? Exploring consumption patterns of low-income groups in Norway. Consumption and Society 3(3): 235–253.

36.

Kvale

(1996) InterViews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, 1st edn. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, Inc.

37.

Laakkonen

(2021) Kohtuullinen kasvattaja: Kohtuus vaarassa -liike ekososiaalisen sivistyksen tuottajana. Aikuiskasvatus 41(2): 113–126.

38.

Lage

(2022) Sufficiency and transformation–A semi-systematic literature review of notions of social change in different concepts of sufficiency. Frontiers in Sustainability 3: 954660.

39.

Lehtinen

(2019) Tahtomattaan radikaali: Talouden supistumisen maantiede. Terra 131(4): 235–246.

40.

Lehtonen

Heikkurinen

(2022) Sufficiency and sustainability: Conceptual analysis and ethical considerations for sustainable organisation. Environmental Values 31(5): 599–618.

41.

Lehtonen

Niemi

Perälä

Pitkänen

Westinen

(2020) Ilmassa ristivetoa löytyykö yhteinen ymmärrys? Tutkimus kansalaisten, kuntapäättäjien ja suuryritysten johtajien ilmastoasenteistawww.e2.fi/julkaisut/julkaisut (accessed 17 January 2024.

42.

Lettenmeier

Hirvilammi

Laakso

Lähteenoja

Aalto

(2012) Material footprint of low-income households in Finland-consequences for the sustainability debate. Sustainability 4(7): 1426–1447.

43.

Linnanen

Nyfors

Heinonen

, et al. (2020) The Sufficiency Perspective in Climate Policy: How to Recompose Consumption. 4/2020. Finnish Climate Change Panel. Available at: https://www.ilmastopaneeli.fi/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sufficiency-in-climate-policy_2020-09-25.pdf (accessed 30 September 2020).

44.

Marton

(1981) Phenomenography – Describing conceptions of the world around us. Instructional Science 10(2): 177–200.

45.

Marton

(1986) Phenomenography – A research approach to investigating different understandings of reality. Journal of Thought 21: 28–49.

46.

Marton

Booth

(1997) Learning and Awareness. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

47.

Marton

Säljö

(1976) On qualitative differences in learning: I—Outcome and process. British Journal of Educational Psychology 46(1): 4–11.

48.

McCann

(1998) How does law matter for social movements?. In: Garth

Sarat

(eds) How Does Law Matter?. Evanston: IL: Northwestern University Press, 76–108.

49.

MOT Dictionary. (2022) Dictionary. Available at: https://www.sanakirja.fi/ (accessed 14 December 2022).

50.

Nyfors

Linnanen

(2026) From overconsumption to respecting planetary boundaries. In: Ruuska

Nyfors

(eds) Sufficiency – From Growth and Overshoot to Enoughness. Leiden: Brill, 47–77.

51.

Parks

(2022) Framing environmental issues. In Grasso

Giugni

(eds) Routledge Handbook of Environmental Movements. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 405–418.

52.

PB Science (Planetary Boundaries Science) (2025) Planetary Health Check 2025. Potsdam, Germany: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

53.

Persson

Klintman

(2022) Framing sufficiency: Strategies of environmental non-governmental organisations towards reduced material consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture 22(2): 515–533.

54.

Peters

MDJ

Marnie

Tricco

, et al. (2020) Updated methodological guidance for the conduct of scoping reviews. JBI Evidence Synthesis 18(10): 2119–2126.

55.

Pettersen

(2016) Fostering absolute reductions in resource use: The potential role and feasibility of practice-oriented design. Journal of Cleaner Production 132: 252–265.

56.

Princen

(2003) Principles for sustainability: From cooperation and efficiency to sufficiency. Global Environmental Politics 3(1): 33–50.

57.

Princen

(2005) The Logic of Sufficiency. Cambridge: MIT Press.

58.

Rebouças

Soares

(2021) Voluntary simplicity: A literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Consumer Studies 45(3): 303–319.

59.

Reid

Petocz

(2006) University lecturers’ understanding of sustainability. Higher Education 51(1): 105–123.

60.

Rockström

Steffen

Noone

, et al. (2009) Planetary boundaries: Exploring the safe operating space for humanity. Ecology and Society 14(2): 1–33.

61.

Roman

Thiry

Muylaert

, et al. (2023) Defining and identifying strongly sustainable product-service systems (SSPSS). Journal of Cleaner Production 391: 1–18.

62.

Rootes

(2004) Environmental movements. In: Snow

Soule

Kriesi

(eds) The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 600–640.

63.

Rydenfelt

Nyfors

(2024) Climate change and transformations of justice—Views of just distribution in the Finnish policy debate. Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics 24: 1–14.

64.

Sachs

(1993) Die vier E’s: Merkposten für einen maß-vollen Wirtschaftsstil. Politische Ökologie 11(33): 69–72.

65.

Sandberg

(2021) Sufficiency transitions: A review of consumption changes for environmental sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production 293: 126097.

66.

Shaw

Moraes

(2009) Voluntary simplicity: An exploration of market interactions. International Journal of Consumer Studies 33(2): 215–223.

67.

Shi

(1985) The simple life: Plain living and high thinking in American culture. New York: Oxford University Press.

68.

Spangenberg

(2011) Sustainability science: A review, an analysis and some empirical lessons. Environmental Conservation 38(3): 275–287.

69.

Statistics Finland (2025) Palkka- ja palkkiotulojen mediaani 3390 euroa lokakuussa 2025, Statistics Finland. Available at: https://stat.fi/tup/kokeelliset-tilastot/tulorekisterin_palkat_ja_palkkiot/2025-12-09/index.html#:∼:text=Julkaistu:%209.12.2025-,Palkka%2D%20ja%20palkkiotulojen%20mediaani%203%20390%20euroa%20lokakuussa%202025,2%20384%20euroa%20tai%20v%C3%A4hemm%C3%A4n (accessed 19 January 2026).

70.

SYKE (Finnish Environment Institute) (2024) Suomalaisten kulutuksen hiilijalanjälki miltei puolittunut 2000-luvulla 14 hiilidioksiditonnista 7,7 tonniin. Available at: https://www.sttinfo.fi/tiedote/70136371/suomalaisten-kulutuksen-hiilijalanjalki-miltei-puolittunut-2000-luvulla-14-hiilidioksiditonnista-77-tonniin?publisherId=69819243&lang=fi (accessed 27 April 2024).

71.

Tight

(2016) Phenomenography: The development and application of an innovative research design in higher education research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology 19(3): 319–338.

72.

Trigwell

(2000) A phenomenographic interview on phenomenography. In: Bowden

Walsh

(eds) Phenomenography. Melbourne: RMIT University Press, 62–82.

73.

Tröger

Reese

(2021) Talkin’ bout a revolution: An expert interview study exploring barriers and keys to engender change towards societal sufficiency orientation. Sustainability Science 16(3): 827–840.

74.

Tröger

Wullenkord

Barthels

Steller

(2021) Can reflective diary-writing increase sufficiency-oriented consumption? A longitudinal intervention addressing the role of basic psychological needs, subjective well-being, and time affluence. Sustainability 13(9): 4885.

75.

Ulvila

(2018) Kohtuusliikkeen lyhyt historia. Elonkehä(4): 20–26.

76.

UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) (2021) Making Peace with Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme.

77.

Villalba-Eguiluz

Sahakian

González-Jamet

Etxezarreta

(2023) Social and solidarity economy insights for the circular economy: Limited-profit and sufficiency. Journal of Cleaner Production 418: 138050.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.02 MB

0.00 MB

0.02 MB