Green practices of citizens: Sources, stabilization and dissemination (case of Tyumen)

Changing planetary conditions force all actors of social processes to transform social practices. A significant role of society greening belongs to socio-political activism, which becomes a mechanism for launching innovations and changes practices. This article studies the sources of green practices of citizens, the mechanisms of stabilization and dissemination of new practices by questioning the population in Tyumen. To achieve this goal, we formulated five hypotheses. The study did not confirm the hypothesis that green practices arise due to school education, that the authorities are the initiators of greening society, that young people are the driving force of green practices. The obtained data partially confirmed the hypotheses that the green practices of the population are not regular and involvement in green practices occurs through ecological communities. It was found that from 30 to 71% of Tyumen residents know about green practices and are engaged in them. The most common are both practices that have a long history — cleaning the territory, planting trees, and modern practices — taking care of pets, separate waste collection. Respondents consider environmental organizations, activists, and environmental foundations to be initiators and key drivers of green practices. The research contributes to understanding how green practices appear, how they gain their supporters, how they spread in society. Our research can be useful for authorities for improving of the greening process.