Related Papers
Cultural Sustainability: Towards divergence or convergence?
Ahmad Borham
The term “sustainable” can be found in both science and practice. It was accepted as a global concept of development in 1992 as a way of dealing with problems connected to the development of contemporary civilization. Three dimensions of sustainable development are addressed: economic, social and ecological dimensions. The presentation discusses yet another dimension; the cultural dimension, paving the way to the discourse of whether it is a fourth dimension, or an over-arching dimension that influences all others. It has been argued that the cultural dimension is not only significant to attain development but that it also represents the basis for the development of local communities. The cultural dimension of development respects the particularities of local communities and emphasizes the maintenance of the cultural and national variety. In that sense it tackles the controversial relation between global and local; the association of modernity, development and universality to global, versus the association of tradition, underdevelopment, and particularity to local. The cultural dimension addresses the adoption of new ethics and behavior, yet at the same time it grounds it in the existing systems of values and rules respecting their religious and cultural variety. Some claim that for sustainable development not to be something alien to the majority of people, it is necessary to plan development through the cultural dimension at the level of local communities. Others have argued that introducing the cultural dimension of sustainable development is especially significant while planning the development in a multicultural and multinational environment, because only when we accept cultural particularities of the local community can we harmonize the aims of development with them, and fully realize development. On the one hand, there is the view where cultural groups that are clearly delineated and identifiable coexist like pieces of a mosaic; the rationale being that even norms of universal respect and egalitarian reciprocity are subject to discursive argumentation. What kind of practice is considered cultural, religious, moral or legal; which norms should apply to judging that? What if their meaning shifts and changes with social and cultural interactions, across time and within different spaces; all these are questions hardly tackled outside the cultural sustainability dimension. On the other hand, the universalists proceed from a certain definition of human agency and rationality where the subject matter of practical discourses is restricted to what each can will or choose, yet this determinacy of content is attained at the cost of restricting the conversation, as well as abstracting away from, the identity of the individuals involved. As an important component of the built environment, traditional and historical environments have a crucial role to play in the sustainable development of cities. Traditional built form responded effectively to change in culture. The case of the traditional Arab/Islamic built environments are presented, as a case where laws that governed the community manifest themselves through the transformation rules of ‘fiqh’ into the surface structure of the urban fabric. The traditional environments embraced diversity and variability rather than attempt to control and reduce it. ‘Fiqh’ has been able to balance between the diversity in Muslim societies as a result of its open, discursive nature, which bridges the gap between divine abstract source and variety of human behaviors and contexts. Unity was mainly due to the application of consistent ‘Šarīah’ principles all over the Islamic nations, while diversity was achieved by the recognition of the local customs ‘urf’ by the Islamic law. Acknowledging ‘urf’ made it possible to cope with the diversity on the micro level while maintaining unity on the macro level. This interface between the broad concepts of ‘Šarīah’ and local attitudes rooted in various Islamic societies ‘urf’ demonstrated the flexible nature of the rules system based on Islamic ‘fiqh’. It showed that it is a system of law that is performance-based and proscriptive in nature. Transferring this lense to other traditional urban forms raises questions about the universality of these deep underlying principles and their abstract source, raising even more questions for debate about whether the cultural dimension of sustainability can move to the global rather than the local arenas of discourse; of whether it would lead to more convergence than divergence among humans.
Typhina, E. (2016). Urban park design + love for nature: Interventions for visitor experience and social networking. Environmental Education Research. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2016.1214863
Eli Typhina
Affect or emotion for nature can prime environmentally friendly attitudes and behaviors, but for one’s love of nature to grow she must physically experience and communicate about nature with others. This study aimed to identify urban park designs that could increase affect for nature in park visitors by stimulating their desire to communicate about and experience nature. Participants included 33 visitors at four urban parks in a mid-sized US city who were interviewed on location. Social network theory (SNT) served as the methodological framework for interpreting why, how, and with whom visitors’ communicated their nature experiences, as well as the design elements that led to increased love for nature. Analysis of the interviews confirmed findings from similar studies, while contributing new insight to how visitors’ use mobile technology to communicate about nature and build bonds with their social network. The conclusion offers ways for scholars and practitioners to improve urban park design so as to increase visitors’ affect, communication about, and action for nature.
Positive Connectedness: Encouraging Pro- Environmental Behaviour Change in Responsible Accommodation
christopher warren
Human dimensions of wildlife
2012 •
Maarten Jacobs
Biophilic Design, Restorative Environments and Well-Being
Ana Karinna Hidalgo
Well-being in cities can be addressed from the perspective of multiple disciplines. Urban design can contribute to creating built environments within nature with tangible elements to provide psychological restoration that releases stress and mental fatigue. To do so, many design approaches, such as biophilic design, biomimicry, and eco-cities can make a contribution to this topic. This paper is focused on biophilic design as an urban design approach aimed at understanding connections between natural and built environments in relation to psychological restoration. Important inputs from environmental psychology and public health are also considered to understand people’s responses to different natural and built environments. This paper consists of an extensive literature review of these disciplines and approaches in order to provide designers with elements to be considered for the design of restorative environments. These elements may include natural water features, natural light and colors, vegetation, and well-designed buildings to improve people’s well-being.
Martin—IAAP Handbook of Applied Psychology Environmental Psychology
nysa niezmo
Journal of Environmental Psychology
The influence of place attachment, and moral and normative concerns on the conservation of native vegetation: A test of two behavioural models
2011 •
Greg Brown
Healthy Ageing and Outdoor Lifestyle Activities
Jemma Hawkins
PhD Thesis
Exploring the Ecological Self: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis with Gifted Adults
2019 •
Eric Windhorst
The nature connectedness research suggests that (re)creating human-nature connections can address both escalating ecological issues and rising mental health concerns by fostering (ecological) self-realization. Given that the nature connectedness literature oversimplifies experience of ecological self, however, there remains a need to explore lived ecological self experience, and how this experience influences mental health and environmental behaviour. In this exploratory interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA), I sought to flesh out the nature connectedness research by investigating ecological self experience among a small group of gifted adults (n=8) who measure relatively high in nature connectedness. Three research questions guided the study. The project’s primary research question was: How do gifted adults experience ecological self? Two secondary, theory-driven sub-questions refined the project further: 1. How does experience of ecological self influence mental health? 2. How does experience of ecological self influence environmental behaviour? Analysis of data collected via two semi-structured interviews held with each participant reveal that while ecological self experiences might often enhance mental health, nature experiences can also be intense, distressing, and/or ambivalent, and environmental concerns can precipitate anguish and anger. Findings also illustrate how experience of ecological self can be inconsistent: conceptions of the human-nature relationship varied, and experience of ecological self seemed to oscillate along with diurnal and seasonal cycles and appeared to evolve over the lifespan. Finally, results demonstrate that while ecological self experience may motivate pro-environmental behaviour, movement from experience to action is not automatic. Findings show how a variety of intra- and interpersonal factors can hinder pro-ecological engagement. Taken together, study results nuance the nature connectedness literature by illustrating the complexity of ecological self experience. While (re)creating human-nature connections can be considered one approach to addressing escalating ecological issues and rising mental health concerns, findings from this project suggest that the back-to-nature strategy is not a cure-all.
Conceptualizing Environmental Citizenship for 21st Century Education
Conceptualizing Environmental Citizenship for 21st Century Education
2020 •
Andreas Hadjichambis, Pedro Reis
This open access book is about the development of a common understanding of environmental citizenship. It conceptualizes and frames environmental citizenship taking an educational perspective. Organized in four complementary parts, the book first explains the political, economic and societal dimensions of the concept. Next, it examines environmental citizenship as a psychological concept with a specific focus on knowledge, values, beliefs and attitudes. It then explores environmental citizenship within the context of environmental education and education for sustainability. It elaborates responsible environmental behaviour, youth activism and education for sustainability through the lens of environmental citizenship. Finally, it discusses the concept within the context of different educational levels, such as primary and secondary education in formal and non-formal settings. Environmental citizenship is a key factor in sustainability, green and cycle economy, and low-carbon society, and an important aspect in addressing global environmental problems. It has been an influential concept in many different arenas such as economy, policy, philosophy, and organizational marketing. In the field of education, the concept could be better exploited and established, however. Education and, especially, environmental discourses in science education have a great deal to contribute to the adoption and promotion of environmental citizenship.
