The Green Practices of Tyumen Residents Traditions, Values and Meanings

This article studies the green practices of residents of the largest city in Western Siberia (Tyumen, Russia) and the values and meanings which motivate them to participate in green practices. Via questionnaires the prevalence of green practices among residents is investigated in relation to age and gender of practitioners. Traditional practices emerge as the most common, including cleaning and landscaping the territory, caring for animals and planting greenery. The participation in green practices is revealed to result in a sense of satisfaction and belonging to a supreme cause; to give an opportunity to influence the city environment; to preserve moral values among residents and to create an atmosphere of happiness in the city. Based on these results, we conclude by suggesting ways to scale such green practices.


Introduction
Environmental degradation, resource scarcity, emission increase and climate change are forcing humanity to reorient social practices to make them eco-friendlier (Steffen et al. 2018). Social practices are a set of activities carried out by the population in a local area to meet the requirements of society. Following E. Giddens, social practices are understood as repetitive sets of actions that form the material basis of social life by means of rules and resources which are reproduced in space and time (Giddens 1984). The supporters of theories of practice believe that social practices are originated due to innovations transforming various elements of these practices (Shove, Pantzar, Watson 2012, 12-13). Links between them are then consolidated and new practices are stabilized and routinized (House 2019). After that, the scaling of practices spreads via new practitioners (Shove, Pantzar, Watson 2012, 451). The greening of social practices requires similar processes. Green innovative initiatives can be supported and scaled by collective and individual actors of green practices. In this article we define green practices as the social practices aimed at harmonizing the relations between people and the natural environment (Zakharova et al. 2021a), for example, minimizing the use of resources and the generation of waste and emissions.
To scale green practices, collective and individual actors can collaborate and support each other (Lamphere, Shefner 2017) but elements of social practices such as skills, infrastructure and meanings can be transformed (Shove, Pantzar, Watson 2012;Shove, Walker 2014). J.A. Lamphere and J. Shefner emphasized that the greening of three American cities was carried out thanks to the efforts of municipalities, businesses, public organizations, activists, and universities including "policymaking, regulation, investment, event organization, and coalition building" (Lamphere, Shefner 2017, 15). However, the scaling of green initiatives involves certain difficulties. For example, the scientists considered the activities of active residents of urban and public organizations to be green grassroots initiatives and noted that usually these initiatives did not have enough resources and support to realize their potential, although they could solve important social problems and change the social practices of local communities (Vita et al. 2020;Antonova 2021;Shabanova 2021;Bushkova-Shiklina, Musikhina 2020). Therefore, it is important to expand green initiatives, on the one hand by increasing quantities of practitioners and territorial coverage (scaling out), on the other hand, by building experiences of grassroots initiatives into managerial solutions at all government levels (scaling up) (Lunenburg, Geuijen, Meijer 2020). Scaling can be carried out by both collective (authorities, NGOs) and individual (practitioners) actors. The interaction between the government and practitioners of green practices is possible on account of common goals, values, and material interests (Lamphere, Shefner 2017).
In Russia, data on the prevalence of green practices is presented in surveys conducted by various organizations, such as Russian Public Opinion Research Center (RPORC), 1 Public Opinion Foundation, 2 and Levada Analytical Center (Levada-Center). 3 In addition, there are scientific studies of individual practices, for example, separated waste collection (Ermolaeva, Rybakova 2019); reduction of consumption (Zakharova et al. 2022), and factors and conditions for the involvement of Russian population in green practices (Shabanova 2019;. Other scientists are interested in the age characteristics of green practitioners (Antonova 2021;Antonova, Abramova, Polyakova 2020;Bushkova-Shiklina, Musikhina 2020) and gender features of participates (Zakharova et al. 2021b). Researchers have also noted that some green practices have a long historical tradition (Dementieva, Eremeeva, Sulimov 2016;Kostyaeva, Plyusnina 2018;Zagladina, Arseneva 2019) while other green practices have emerged as a response to the global trend towards sustainability (Kashcheev, Usyk, Vingert 2021;Kiselev, Mayorova, Markin 2021;Har'kova 2018). However, to date there is no study concerning the values and meanings that motivate residents of a large Russian city to participate in green practices.
The current study identifies several key features of green values. Environmental values are socially determined and harmonize the relationship between society and nature (Zakharova et al. 2023b). The scientists note the diversity of green values and subscribe to the stance that these are "the various ways in which individuals, processes and places matter" (O'Neill, Holland, Light 2008, 1). From this perspective, the issues of green practices and green values are closely intertwined; the study of green practices should begin by examining what values underlie these practices. Green values realized through ecological activities are termed relational. Relational values were presented as an attempt to overcome the narrow view of nature only through the prism of instrumental or moral values (Chan, Gould, Pascual 2018). For example, many economic activities (fishing, hunting, gathering) can be driven by instrumental values and a deep commitment to nature (Gladun, Zakharova 2020). Through shared green values, people can unite. Relational values are also key elements of the cultural context through the evaluation of nature's contribution to human life. In this regard, values are historically and spatially conditioned relationships and meanings that connect people with their environment and ecosystems (Klain, Satterfield, Chan 2014 In addition, some researchers consider green values to be the most important factor affecting sustainable behavior (Lazaric et al. 2020). In 2012 the French environmental agency (ADEME) funded a study to find out who green consumers were and what exactly they did (Lazaric et al. 2020). 3005 families took part in the survey. They were asked 85 questions which were connected with the purchase of organic food, the use of environmentally friendly equipment (washing machines), separate waste collection, energy conservation and the use of transport. According to the results of the study, the most important factors influencing sustainable behavior were green values and the closest social sphere (friends, peers, neighbors, colleagues, etc). The green practices can be individual and collective (Balsiger, Lorenzini, Sahakian 2019). Individual practices can be demonstrated by turning off lights or buying energy-saving light bulbs, i.e. sustainable consumption. An example of a collective practice is the recognition of the role of politics and legal regulation in achieving environmental goals and social change as well as activities of non-governmental and environmental organizations.
Our research focuses on the green practices and green values of Tyumen residents. Tyumen is one of the larger towns of the Russian Federation, with a population of 700.000. Residents of the city have a high income and standard of living. City residents enjoy spending time in parks, green spaces and on the waterfront. There are many places for recreation near the city such as beaches and hot springs in summer, and sledging hills in winter. There are several environmental communities in the city as discussed in previous studies (Zakharova et al. 2022;2023a). Communities that care for stray animals, promote eco-products (e.g. vegetarian products) and organize separate waste collection are the most numerous. Environmental communities regularly organize eco-festivals, where eco-activists talk about opportunities to participate in volunteer organizations, greening everyday life and responsible consumption, as well as showing films, organizing workshops, demonstrating the reuse of things, and playing environmental games. Many residents regularly participate in cleaning and landscaping the territory. Nevertheless, for the last two years the surveys indicate that residents' dissatisfaction with the environmental situation in the city has been growing, which is worsening due to the increased environmental pollution and waste accumulation and increased migration, connected to regional economic growth. According to the quality-of-life rating, Tyumen ranks 14th out of 250 cities, 4 but according to the environmental well-being index, Tyumen ranks 29th out of 150 cities. 5 The city authorities and residents can collaborate in solving environmental problems, however, so far, there is almost no interaction. The main reason of this fact is a lack of knowledge of residents' green practices and the values and meanings which motivate residents to participate in green practices. We have here examined the involvement of residents in green practices, such as vegetarianism/veganism, sustainable consumption, care for stray animals, cleaning and landscaping the territory, planting greenery, separate waste collection, using a reusable cloth bag.
The aim of the article is to identify the resident's green practices and the values and meanings which motivate them. We formulated four research questions: What kind of green practices are residents engaged in? What values do residents consider green values? What does it mean for residents to participate in green practices? How do you describe yourself when you participate in green practices?
To answer the research questions, we conducted a sociological questionnaire with 635 residents. The results of the study will help to make more effective solutions to reinforce green practices and to involve residents in both new and traditional green practices. In addition, cooperation on environmental issues is an important condition for scaling up and scaling out. It is necessary to study the fundamentals of the interaction between residents.

Methods
To answer the research questions, we conducted a sociological questionnaire of the residents of Tyumen on participation in green practices harmonizing relationships between society and nature (May 2020-February 2021). Our empirical study is based on a collection of original response-based data. Quota sampling was used to represent the population by gender and age. The sample was 635 persons aged 18 and over. The questionnaire was conducted online using the digital service surveymonkey.com.
To answer the first research question -What kind of green practices are residents engaged in? -we asked the respondents this question and gave them eight answer options, based on the analysis of research articles and previous investigations (Zakharova et al. 2022;2023a). Then an open-ended question was asked to enable respondents to indicate ecological practices that were not on our list and To answer the third research question -What does it mean for residents to participate in green practices? -we asked the following questions: What does it mean to you to participate in green practices? How did you feel when you first became involved with green practices?
What can the participation of residents in green practices affect? Through these questions we can understand the motives and goals of resident's participation in green practices.
We then asked the forth research question -How do you describe yourself when you participate in green practices? -to reveal the selfperception of residents as participants in green practices.
We studied the relationship between the answers to these questions and the age of respondents considering the prevalence of historically traditional (routine) practices and new (innovative) practices in Russia. We assumed that older people would be more likely to participate in historically traditional practices, while young people are more likely to participate in green practices that have appeared recently. We examined the relationship between the answers to these questions and the gender of the participants, considering the dependence of eco-friendly behavior on the gender of respondents identified in previous studies (Zakharova et al. 2021b), which have found that females are more inclined to eco-friendly behavior than males; however, how gender affects their understanding of green values and selfperception has not been investigated before. At the last stage, we analyzed and visualized the data obtained to demonstrate the features and differences in the participation in green practices of people of different ages and genders.

Results
In the first stage of the study, respondents were asked to select the ecological practices in which they participate. 62.5% of residents actively take part in cleaning and landscaping the territory. This is the most common green practice. Almost half of the residents (48 %) care for stray animals. 39% of residents are involved in the planting of greenery. More than a quarter of residents participate in such practices as separating waste, sustainable consumption, using a reusable cloth bag. Fewer residents declared their participation in the zero waste practice. People over 60 are more likely to engage in planting greenery; people aged 45 to 60 are more responsible for consumption; people aged 30 to 45 are more likely to separate waste for further processing. In addition, respondents evaluated to what extent each of the proposed attributes represented green values. The results showed that characteristics like "care", "responsibility", "sustainable consumption", "respect", "harmony", "ecosystem" represented green values to the greatest extent. These features were identified as green values by over 80% of residents. According to respondents, characteristics like 'diversity' and 'equality' represented green values to the least extent The gender analysis indicated that there is a significant difference in how people perceive green values between males and females. For example, 86.5% of females and 76% of males indicated that the feature "harmony" represents one of their top three green values; 93.42% of females and 85.71% of males prioritised "care" as a green value; 90.43% of females and 83.97% of males identified "responsibility" as green value. It is interesting to observe that 64.84% of females believed that beauty was the most significant aspect of green values, while 53.85% of males believed that beauty was the least significant aspect of green values. In addition, the majority of the males surveyed pointed out "solidarity" as less characteristic of green values, while the majority of females reported "solidarity" as more characteristic of green values [ fig. 3]. Similarly, almost half of the males believed "feeling of motherland" as characterizing green values to a lesser extent, while half of the females named "feeling of motherland" as characterizing green values to a greater extent. The assessments of males and females for other features do not show any significant difference. To explore what it means for respondents to engage in green practices, we asked three questions. When asked "What does it mean to you to participate in green practices?" the majority of respondents noted that engaging in green practices means "benefit" (95.18), "norm" (85.11%), "value" (85%), and "debt" (80.33%) [ fig. 4]. Females are more likely than males to believe that the proposed variants for the green practices meaning characterize their participation in these practices, except for the "standard" [fig. 5]. Males and females choose the value "standard" equally.
The next question was "How did you feel when you first became involved with green practices ?" [fig. 6]. Answering this question, the female respondents often noted that they had a sense of pride and belonging to a supreme cause, and the male respondents noted a sense of belonging to a supreme cause. In addition, some interviewees indicated other causes, for example, a sense of curiosity and a desire to make the planet better.

Figure 6
How did you feel when you first became involved with green practices? (gender distribution) (Вспомните какие чувства у вас возникли, когда вы первый раз участвовали в зеленых практиках The last question was "What can the participation of residents in green practices affect?" [ fig. 7]. The results of the survey suggest that the participation of residents in green practices can affect the cleanliness of the city (96.37%), the environmental situation in the city (92.21%), the image of the city (83.09%) and the quality of life in the city (79.65%). Interestingly, almost 70% of respondents indicated that participation in green practices can affect the feelings of happiness of residents. Less than half of respondents noted the importance of green practices in creating jobs, improving residents' wellbeing, increasing trust in authorities and reducing poverty in the city. The analysis of the answers to this question shows no significant differences by gender. Answering a fourth research question "How do you describe yourself when you participate in green practices?" most respondents (53%) described themselves as modern people who should care about nature [ fig. 8]. 32% described themselves as conscious citizens. Only 10% of respondents considered their participation in green practices as civic activism.

Olga V. Zakharova, Egine Karagulian The Green Practices of Tyumen Residents
An analysis of gender features shows that a higher percentage of female respondents described themselves as a modern person when participating in green practices [ fig. 9]. Male respondents were more likely to describe themselves as conscious citizens.

Discussion
We have identified the green practices that the inhabitants of a large Russian city are already taking part in. According to our survey of Tyumen residents, these are considered to be vegetarianism/veganism, sustainable consumption, care for stray animals, cleaning and landscaping the territory, planting greenery, separate waste collection, using a reusable cloth bag [ fig. 1].
We considered practices such as cleaning and landscaping the territory and planting as historically traditional for Russia, and assumed that they are more often dealt with by older people as a habit. The study confirmed that these practices are generally the most common among Tyumen residents and that older people more often engaged in planting greenery than young people. In addition, the elderly generation care significantly more for stray animals. New to Russia are zero waste practices and responsible consumption; residents of Tyumen do not often participate in them because the meanings, skills and infrastructure associated with these practices are

Olga V. Zakharova, Egine Karagulian The Green Practices of Tyumen Residents
163 not yet formed in society (Zakharova et al. 2022). Infrastructure constraints also play a role with regard to separate waste collection (Zakharova et al. 2022). Volunteer organizations can provide skills and demonstrate the value of separate waste collection, but find it difficult to develop widespread infrastructure i.e. to install containers for different sort of waste and to organize the transportation and recycling of waste (Shabanova 2019).
Part of green practices is individual solutions, for example, vegetarianism/veganism, sustainable consumption and using a reusable cloth bag. Another part is collective practices such as care for stray animals, cleaning and landscaping the territory, planting greenery, separate waste collection. Our research shows that collective practices are more common, confirming that the influence on the environment and shared values matter (Lazaric et al. 2020;Balsiger, Lorenzini, Sahakian 2019). Collective practices have significant development potential because previous studies show that only a quarter of those surveyed reinforce the social links that arise between practitioners through participation in organizations (Zakharova et al. 2023a). However, eco-activists and organizations are regarded as the main contributors to green practices and their institutionalization.
We examined the age characteristics of the participants in green practices to assess the process of routinizing. We suggested that seniors citizens participate more often in historically traditional practices and that youths are more likely to participate in new practices. Moreover, according to previous studies (Zakharova et al. 2021b), females are more environmentally friendly than males, so we investigated further the gender tendencies in the perception of green values, the meaning of green practices, and self-identification in green activities. This gives an overview of what values and meanings can help strengthen green practices and on what basis social links within practices can be established.
The analysis of the data obtained and its comparison with the results of other studies suggests a number of findings.
Firstly, J.A. Lamphere and J. Shefner investigating the experience of greening three cities in the United States (Chicago, Little Rock, Knoxville), concluded that the development of a green economy was based on the interaction and cooperation of all social actors, despite the complexity of organizing such interaction (Lamphere, Shefner 2017). However, the experience of cooperation in the field of the environment is almost nonexistent in the Russian Federation. Thus, the strategic document National project "Ecology", 6 approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, includes projects related to the reform of waste management, the creation of protected natural areas, the development of ecotourism, the conservation of Lake Baikal and the Volga River, and the implementation of an air quality monitoring system. Although the aims of the National Project "Ecology" are relevant for Russia, the projects are not consistent with existing environmental initiatives of residents and do not involve broad participation of the people. For example, 29% of Tyumen residents take part in separate waste collection. At the same time, they are far behind the rest of Russia in the practice of separate waste collection. According to RPORC (VCIOM 2020), 49% of Russians are already involved in waste sorting. Tyumen residents lag behind because only volunteer associations organize separate collection; the city waste management system does not involve sorting waste by households, there is no infrastructure for separate collection, and waste processing is not developed. This situation does not allow residents to get involved in implementing the Russian government's strategic goals. The same situation exists in the other cities of Russia (Korenyuk, Fedorova 2021). Researchers estimate that the potential for separate waste collection by volunteers is already exhausted, because the enthusiasm of activists has reached its maximum (Shabanova 2021;. The integration of such collective actors as government and business in the development of separate waste collection can therefore give new impetus to this practice. Further involvement of residents requires the development of a convenient infrastructure for separate waste collection, education of the people, stimulation of entrepreneurship in the processing of waste and the production of goods from recycled materials, that is, elements of a circular economy (Shove, Pantzar, Watson 2012). Thus, grassroots initiatives solve problems similar to those of government, but exist as in parallel worlds and sometimes even clash (Ezhov 2019).
Secondly, people's green practices are seldom extended to politics (Antonova, Abramova, Polyakova 2020). According to RPORC (VCI-OM 2020), the majority of Russians' green activities are mainly motivated by their daily needs. The Russians are actively involved in the cleaning and planning of the territory, planting greenery, they are ready to engage in the separate collection of waste. Our research has shown that the most common green practice is the cleaning and landscaping. 62% of Tyumen residents take part in this practice, which is lower than the RPORC score (79%) (VCIOM 2020). This green practice has a long history as a form of socialization (Kostyaeva, Plyusnina 2018) and now remains an important socio-economic practice considered by the residents as a way to solve environmental problems (Zagladina, Arseneva 2019). Furthermore, 40% of Tyumen residents are involved in the planting of greenery, which is almost in line with the RPORC's 44% (VCIOM 2020). This practice also has a long historical tradition (Dementieva, Eremeeva, Sulimov 2016). Practices that require political involvement, such as eco-activism, volunteerism, donations, petitions, are less common. According to RPORC (VCI-OM 2020), only 5% of the population are engaged in organizing environmental actions, 4% work as volunteers at such events, 7% donate funds to nature protection organizations, 27% signed petitions for nature protection. According to our research, people rarely participate in such practices as zero waste, sustainable consumption, using a reusable cloth bag. Thus, residents are involved in traditional and everyday green practices. Although the greening of society is impossible without political transformations, most residents avoid influence on governance.
Thirdly, the importance of practices reducing consumption is not noted by respondents. According to our study, Tyumen residents believe that they are not involved in the social practice of zero waste (refuse, reduсe, reuse, recycle, recover (5R)), aimed at reducing consumption. Only 6% of Tyumen residents answered that they participate in this green practice. 29% of Tyumen residents stated that they participate in sustainable consumption, which includes zero waste. Previous studies have confirmed this situation (Zakharova et al. 2022). We assume that the reason for such responses is the lack of awareness of residents about the zero waste practice, while sustainable consumption is considered in the media as a new cultural paradigm (Bushkova-Shiklina, Musikhina 2020) in conditions of resource scarcity and increasing demand in the market of green products (Kiselev, Mayorova, Markin 2021). Thus, there is a potential for scaling out practices reducing consumption, but they are not currently popular.
Therefore, an analysis of the practices in which residents are involved showed the gap between these practices and governance, as well as their apolitical nature. In addition, the green practices of residents are not aimed at transforming society, reducing production and consumption; their goal is adaptation to environmental changes.

Conclusion
To identify the green practices of residents and the values and meanings which motivate them to participate in green practices we conducted our study in Tyumen, the largest city in Western Siberia.
To scale up green practices we have identified which elements of these practices need to be developed and which links between them need to be strengthened. The results of the analysis indicate that the interaction between residents and authorities is not sufficiently developed to promote the greening of society. We found a gap between residents' green practices and authorities' policies regarding certain practices, while other practices are not supported by the state. Residents' green practices differ from activities declared in government policy documents, and residents prefer traditional green practices that do not involve political participation. Urban green practices rarely aim at solving environmental problems by reducing consumption or transforming social attitudes and practices, but instead focus on adapting to environmental degradation.
To scale out green practices, we defined the age-specific features of residents participating in green practices, as well as gender-specific perceptions of green values and meaning of green practices, participants' self-identification. We asked residents of Tyumen what values they consider green. "Ecosystem", "harmony", "care", "response", and "respect" are among the green values that more than 60% of residents recognized. The activities in which these values are implemented can be the basis for closing the gap between the green practices of residents and the governance and politicization of these green practices. It is important to understand what these practices mean for residents in order to scale green practices (Shove, Walker 2014). Analysis of the responses shows that almost all respondents were proud to have been introduced to green practices for the first time. Satisfaction and the opportunity to participate in a great cause were also commonly noted responses of residents in relation to a first involvement in ecological practices. Most respondents feel like modern and responsible people when involved in green practices. Almost all respondents hope that their participation in green practices will have an impact on cleanliness, the environmental situation, the image and quality of life in the city. These answers are in line with the green values that we identified.
The obtained results suggest that the interaction between residents and the authorities for the greening of society can develop in the following ways: • Green practices of residents have a significant potential for participation in landscaping, cleaning, and improving of the urban environment, because most residents are willing to participate in such practices that have historical roots. • The green practices of residents can become the fundamental for the development of a circular economy in the city, because volunteer organizations have gained significant experience in introducing separate waste collection into everyday life and in building logistics chains for transporting waste for recycling. This experience can be used to educate people, stimulate small companies in producing goods from recycled materials and develop infrastructure for separate waste collection. • Green practices of residents can be used to solve important social problems of the city, for example, caring for stray animals. Many residents are involved in the practice of caring for stray animals and NGOs have experience of organizing shelters for stray animals. • Practices aimed at reducing consumption should receive constant support from the authorities, as it is not enough to adapt to environmental changes. It is important to conserve resources and reduce waste by supporting practices such as reuse, exchange, sharing, recycling, refusing to purchase, repairing, etc. • The common efforts of residents and authorities should be used to involve males in green practices, who are still less likely than females to report participation in green practices. The organization of events such as repair cafes would allow not only to involve the population in practices aimed at reducing consumption, but also to involve males in green practices, because males are more often involved in technological repairs. • Gender differences in the perception of green values and green practices should be studied when developing strategies for engaging new practitioners, organizing events and establishing social links within practices. For example, the proposed activities can be organized on the basis of common values and meanings shared by the majority of residents as activities aimed at cleaning the city, improving the urban environmental situation, greening the image of the city and raising the residents' feelings of happiness. The importance of green practices in creating jobs, improving residents' well-being, increasing trust in authorities, and reducing poverty in the city should be emphasized at eco festivals and environmentalist events, which are often organized in the city by eco-organizations.
Our results can be useful for both eco-activists and authorities in order to make decisions about the promotion of green practices. A limitation of the study is related to the non-exhaustive list of green practices used in the survey. Although respondents had the opportunity to answer "other" and write what other practices they are engaged in, very few people took advantage of this opportunity, preferring to choose from the proposed list.