We are pleased to highlight the recent work of our member organisation, the “Conseil National des Associations Familiales Laïques” (CNAFAL), which contributed to an ambitious national project led by the “Association Citoyenne et Laïque des Consommateurs” (ACLC). At the end of 2024, ACLC’s initiative “Raising awareness and improving access to sustainable consumption for everyone, everywhere” was selected under a public call for proposals by the French Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF). Following six months of implementation and testing, ACLC published a series of recommendations addressed to public authorities and consumer organisations.
The project combined volunteer training with direct engagement of consumers across five regions in France. After receiving targeted training on sustainable consumption, ACLC volunteers met consumers in a range of community settings. Social psychologists facilitated initial focus groups to better understand perceptions, motivations, and barriers. These were followed by awareness-raising workshops structured around three key themes:
- reducing food waste;
- the environmental impact of the fashion industry;
- the environmental footprint of digital technologies.
In total, 94 consumers took part in the sessions. Participants included users of social centres, young adults in training pathways, school-age children, and adolescents engaged through ACLC’s partner organisations, “Fédération Léo Lagrange” and “Solidarité Laïque”. ACLC then assessed behavioural changes after the workshops to understand the effectiveness of the intervention.
To support the activities, ACLC developed a range of thematic materials, practical guides, and age-adapted educational tools, all of which are now freely accessible through the association’s websites. These resources will help ACLC scale up its work and support more consumers in making informed and responsible choices.
Building on the project’s findings and its long-standing expertise as a nationally accredited consumer organisation, ACLC formulated a set of recommendations aimed at policymakers and consumer-protection actors. These recommendations call for:
- identifying high-impact product categories and curbing practices that promote over-consumption;
- regulating sales methods for environmentally harmful products;
- supporting bulk sales and improving accessibility for all consumers;
- promoting local production, circular consumption, product repairability, and second-hand markets;
- improving consumer information on drinking water quality;
- strengthening consumer education on sustainable consumption throughout the life course;
- reinforcing the role of consumer organisations in sustainability awareness.
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About ACLC and CNAFAL
ACLC (formerly ULCC) is a national consumer-protection organisation created in 2019, bringing together three associations: ADEIC, ALLDC, and CNAFAL. United by shared values of secularism, citizenship, consumer rights, and education, these organisations work together to protect, inform, and empower consumers. ACLC received national accreditation in 2021 and adopted its current name in 2025.
CNAFAL, founded in 1967, is a family organisation committed to secularism, solidarity, democracy, and family rights. Since 1983, it has also been an accredited consumer association, defending the interests of families in areas such as education, health, housing, environment, culture, and everyday consumer rights. CNAFAL has been a member of France Nature Environnement since 2015 and remains actively engaged in promoting sustainable living and environmental protection across its nationwide network.
