Title: Do simple heuristics make us smart in the transition towards a sustainable society?

Change processes in democratic societies need not only strong single actors, but in particular active support of the citizens. Environmental psychology and environmental sciences in general assume that information and problem awareness play an important role for the willingness to engage in new behaviours or to support policy measures in the transformation. In the presentation I will invite a different perspective and take “cognitive biases” into account. Evidence that common everyday heuristics, scripts and narratives can also be barriers to the transformation will be presented and discussed.