Nested Ecological Affordances: A Relational Framework for Environmentally Significant Behavior

Understanding environmentally significant behavior requires moving beyond categorical distinctions that separate psychological, structural, and cultural determinants. This paper introduces the nested ecological affordances framework, a relational model grounded in ecological psychology that situates behavior within a multi-scalar ecology of opportunities for action. Affordances for sustainable action are defined as possibilities relative to actor capabilities and are understood here as hierarchical, dynamically evolving, and embedded within micro-level infrastructures, meso-level practices, and macro-level policies and cultural narratives. Illustrative cases demonstrate how nested affordances scaffold sustainable practices through reciprocal dynamics and coordinative structures. By integrating psychological determinants, choice architecture, and social practices within systemic contexts, the framework offers a heuristic for policy and design that expands sustainable opportunities across scales and supports resilient sustainability transitions.