This thesis focuses on pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors and the interactions between recycling behavior, food buying attitudes, food buying behaviors, and ecological beliefs. Following an introductory chapter, I present an article-length paper on recycling behavior to be submitted to Environment and Behavior. Data for this study came from a telephone survey of Tennessee residents (N=270). Using OLS regression analysis, I find that recycling behavior is significantly related to access to recycling facilities. I do not find a significant interaction effect between access to recycling facilities and willingness to recycle. I conclude by suggesting that pro-environmental policies need to make structural resources more available to all in order to promote recycling (and protect the environment in general). Positive attitudes alone do not get us very far. My additional thesis research goal of developing an accurate measure of ecological food buying attitudes and behaviors needs further work.

A internet e a preocupação com o meio ambiente, dois assuntos tão presentes em 2013, tiveram origem nos anos 60, se desenvolveram durante as duas décadas seguintes, mas só se popularizaram no Brasil a partir dos anos 90. Os brasileiros nascidos na década de 90 foram alfabetizados ouvindo falar em sustentabilidade e já com algum contato com a internet. Estes jovens, que podem ser chamados de Geração Digital brasileira, estão cursando o ensino médio ou ensino superior em 2013 e possuem características peculiares que os diferenciam das gerações anteriores, sobretudo pela forma como se relacionam entre si e com o mundo através dos recursos digitais de comunicação. Em breve, eles serão maioria no mercado de trabalho e estarão tomando decisões que vão determinar o rumo da sociedade. Diante disso, questiona-se qual é o nível de consciência ambiental desta geração? Para responder a esta pergunta, foi utilizada a escala do novo paradigma ecológico – a Escala NEP – para a realização de uma pesquisa com estudantes de nível médio e superior do Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), dos campi Osório, Canoas e Restinga (Porto Alegre). Além de aferir o nível de consciência ambiental, foram analisados dados sociodemográficos, a influência das formas de aprendizado formais e não formais sobre sustentabilidade e as características da Geração Digital dos estudantes. Os resultados mostram que quanto maior a aderência ao perfil da Geração Digital, menor é o nível de consciência ambiental dos estudantes. Além disso, o fato de já ter estudado ou não sobre sustentabilidade na escola, não tem correlação com o nível de consciência ambiental aferido. Espera-se que estes resultados possam subsidiar o planejamento da Educação para a Sustentabilidade para jovens no futuro. / Internet and Environmental Concern, two issues so prevalent in 2013, were both originated in the 60s, had some development during the following two decades, but only became popular in Brazil in the 90s. The brazilians born in the 90s spent their school years hearing about sustainability and they had already some contact with the internet. These young people, that may be called ‘Brazil’s digital generation’, are in high school (called medium level in Brazil) or in higher education, in 2013. These youth have unique characteristics that differentiate them from previous generations, especially by the way they interact with each other and with the world through digital communication gadgets. Soon, they will be the majority in the labor force and they will be making decisions that will shape our society. Therefore, the question raised is this: which is the level of environmental awareness of this generation? To answer this question, it was used the new ecological paradigm scale - the NEP scale - to conduct a survey with students from the Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), campi Osorio, Canoas and Restinga (Porto Alegre). In addition, sociodemographic data were analyzed, aspects from the instutionalized and non institutionalized learning about the sustainability as well as the students’ characteristics of the digital generation were also analysed. The results show the greater adherence to the digital generation profile, the lower the level of environmental consciousness of the subjects (IFRS’s students). Furthermore, whether the students had or not studied sustainability at school showed no correlation to the level of environmental awareness measured. It is intended that these results may be useful for the planning of Education for Sustainability for young people in the future.

A internet e a preocupação com o meio ambiente, dois assuntos tão presentes em 2013, tiveram origem nos anos 60, se desenvolveram durante as duas décadas seguintes, mas só se popularizaram no Brasil a partir dos anos 90. Os brasileiros nascidos na década de 90 foram alfabetizados ouvindo falar em sustentabilidade e já com algum contato com a internet. Estes jovens, que podem ser chamados de Geração Digital brasileira, estão cursando o ensino médio ou ensino superior em 2013 e possuem características peculiares que os diferenciam das gerações anteriores, sobretudo pela forma como se relacionam entre si e com o mundo através dos recursos digitais de comunicação. Em breve, eles serão maioria no mercado de trabalho e estarão tomando decisões que vão determinar o rumo da sociedade. Diante disso, questiona-se qual é o nível de consciência ambiental desta geração? Para responder a esta pergunta, foi utilizada a escala do novo paradigma ecológico – a Escala NEP – para a realização de uma pesquisa com estudantes de nível médio e superior do Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), dos campi Osório, Canoas e Restinga (Porto Alegre). Além de aferir o nível de consciência ambiental, foram analisados dados sociodemográficos, a influência das formas de aprendizado formais e não formais sobre sustentabilidade e as características da Geração Digital dos estudantes. Os resultados mostram que quanto maior a aderência ao perfil da Geração Digital, menor é o nível de consciência ambiental dos estudantes. Além disso, o fato de já ter estudado ou não sobre sustentabilidade na escola, não tem correlação com o nível de consciência ambiental aferido. Espera-se que estes resultados possam subsidiar o planejamento da Educação para a Sustentabilidade para jovens no futuro. / Internet and Environmental Concern, two issues so prevalent in 2013, were both originated in the 60s, had some development during the following two decades, but only became popular in Brazil in the 90s. The brazilians born in the 90s spent their school years hearing about sustainability and they had already some contact with the internet. These young people, that may be called ‘Brazil’s digital generation’, are in high school (called medium level in Brazil) or in higher education, in 2013. These youth have unique characteristics that differentiate them from previous generations, especially by the way they interact with each other and with the world through digital communication gadgets. Soon, they will be the majority in the labor force and they will be making decisions that will shape our society. Therefore, the question raised is this: which is the level of environmental awareness of this generation? To answer this question, it was used the new ecological paradigm scale - the NEP scale - to conduct a survey with students from the Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), campi Osorio, Canoas and Restinga (Porto Alegre). In addition, sociodemographic data were analyzed, aspects from the instutionalized and non institutionalized learning about the sustainability as well as the students’ characteristics of the digital generation were also analysed. The results show the greater adherence to the digital generation profile, the lower the level of environmental consciousness of the subjects (IFRS’s students). Furthermore, whether the students had or not studied sustainability at school showed no correlation to the level of environmental awareness measured. It is intended that these results may be useful for the planning of Education for Sustainability for young people in the future.

A internet e a preocupação com o meio ambiente, dois assuntos tão presentes em 2013, tiveram origem nos anos 60, se desenvolveram durante as duas décadas seguintes, mas só se popularizaram no Brasil a partir dos anos 90. Os brasileiros nascidos na década de 90 foram alfabetizados ouvindo falar em sustentabilidade e já com algum contato com a internet. Estes jovens, que podem ser chamados de Geração Digital brasileira, estão cursando o ensino médio ou ensino superior em 2013 e possuem características peculiares que os diferenciam das gerações anteriores, sobretudo pela forma como se relacionam entre si e com o mundo através dos recursos digitais de comunicação. Em breve, eles serão maioria no mercado de trabalho e estarão tomando decisões que vão determinar o rumo da sociedade. Diante disso, questiona-se qual é o nível de consciência ambiental desta geração? Para responder a esta pergunta, foi utilizada a escala do novo paradigma ecológico – a Escala NEP – para a realização de uma pesquisa com estudantes de nível médio e superior do Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), dos campi Osório, Canoas e Restinga (Porto Alegre). Além de aferir o nível de consciência ambiental, foram analisados dados sociodemográficos, a influência das formas de aprendizado formais e não formais sobre sustentabilidade e as características da Geração Digital dos estudantes. Os resultados mostram que quanto maior a aderência ao perfil da Geração Digital, menor é o nível de consciência ambiental dos estudantes. Além disso, o fato de já ter estudado ou não sobre sustentabilidade na escola, não tem correlação com o nível de consciência ambiental aferido. Espera-se que estes resultados possam subsidiar o planejamento da Educação para a Sustentabilidade para jovens no futuro. / Internet and Environmental Concern, two issues so prevalent in 2013, were both originated in the 60s, had some development during the following two decades, but only became popular in Brazil in the 90s. The brazilians born in the 90s spent their school years hearing about sustainability and they had already some contact with the internet. These young people, that may be called ‘Brazil’s digital generation’, are in high school (called medium level in Brazil) or in higher education, in 2013. These youth have unique characteristics that differentiate them from previous generations, especially by the way they interact with each other and with the world through digital communication gadgets. Soon, they will be the majority in the labor force and they will be making decisions that will shape our society. Therefore, the question raised is this: which is the level of environmental awareness of this generation? To answer this question, it was used the new ecological paradigm scale - the NEP scale - to conduct a survey with students from the Instituto Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (IFRS), campi Osorio, Canoas and Restinga (Porto Alegre). In addition, sociodemographic data were analyzed, aspects from the instutionalized and non institutionalized learning about the sustainability as well as the students’ characteristics of the digital generation were also analysed. The results show the greater adherence to the digital generation profile, the lower the level of environmental consciousness of the subjects (IFRS’s students). Furthermore, whether the students had or not studied sustainability at school showed no correlation to the level of environmental awareness measured. It is intended that these results may be useful for the planning of Education for Sustainability for young people in the future.

No description available.

This research is based on a youth intervention organisation founded by the researcher in 1997. The organisation (Agape Copeland Train) is located in the Northern Cape. Youths’ contexts in the Northern Cape are fraught with psychological, social and relational problems, including violence, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, depression, crime, poverty, and curtailed future prospects. An exploratory enquiry, informed by ecological and positive psychology, is undertaken. In particular, this research focuses on the (often neglected) perspectives of facilitators who work with youth. Exploration of how facilitators’ well-­‐being is impacted on whilst serving youth in this challenging context is undertaken. Interviews with facilitators yielded themes of positive transformation, including shifts in mindsets and positive affect. In addition, aspects of the organisation’s development, as relevant to the context of the research, are described and a model of youth facilitation This research is based on a youth intervention organisation founded by the researcher in 1997. The organisation (Agape Copeland Train) is located in the Northern Cape. Youths’ contexts in the Northern Cape are fraught with psychological, social and relational problems, including violence, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, depression, crime, poverty, and curtailed future prospects. An exploratory enquiry, informed by ecological and positive psychology, is undertaken. In particular, this research focuses on the (often neglected) perspectives of facilitators who work with youth. Exploration of how facilitators’ well-­‐being is impacted on whilst serving youth in this challenging context is undertaken. Interviews with facilitators yielded themes of positive transformation, including shifts in mindsets and positive affect. In addition, aspects of the organisation’s development, as relevant to the context of the research, are described and a model of youth facilitation process, as developed by facilitators within the organisation, is presented. The researcher’s own experiences in the organisation (as director and as a facilitator) are reflected upon. Observations, incidents, and experiences are used as additional data sources. Facilitating vulnerable youth from an ecological systems perspective is an intricate, reflexive, complex and challenging process. / Psychology / MA (Clinical Psychology)

L'environnementalisme américain est un mouvement dont la première vague surgit à la fin du 19e siècle face à l'exploitation excessive des ressources naturelles. Théodore Roosevelt a mis en place des mesures pour assurer la gestion avisée de la nature au bénéfice des générations présentes et futures. A côté de la conservation du gouvernement, un autre courant appelé préservation mit l'accent sur les valeurs esthétiques et spirituelles de la nature. Les deux conceptions de la relation de l'homme à la nature suscitèrent des conflits à propos de la façon dont on devait utiliser et protéger le patrimoine naturel. Le fort développement économique après 1945 puisa dans les ressources et généra de la pollution ainsi que des dangers posés par les industries atomiques et chimiques. "Printemps Silencieux" de Rachel Carson, paru en 1962, démontra que ces risques pesaient sur l'humanité elle-même et lança le mouvement environnemental moderne. Désormais, l'aspect éthique de la protection environnementale rivalise avec l'intérêt économique. Le succès du mouvement, canonisé par une série de lois environnementales, en fit la cible du contre-mouvement conservateur qui se développe depuis les années 1980. Les valeurs écologiques représentent une menace au credo américain, ainsi créant des tensions qui caractérisent le débat depuis le début du mouvement aux États-Unis. / American environmentalism is a movement that grew out of concerns over wilderness and wildlife depletion evident in the late 19th century. Theodore Roosevelt initiated conservation measures designed to manage natural resources wisely to ensure their sustainability for the benefit of present and future generations. Preservation, another current of American ideas that stressed the esthetic and spiritual values of nature, existed concurrently. The two visions of humans' relationship to nature gave rise to conflicts over how the nation's natural resources should be used. By the 1960s rapid development had led to heightened resource use and pollution, as well as new threats posed by the chemical and atomic industries. Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" published in 1962, demonstrated that humans themselves were in peril and launched the modern environmental movement. The ethical dimension of preserving nature and human health came to rival economic concerns. The success of the movement, canonized in a series of major environmental protection laws, made it the target of the conservative countermovement from the 1980s onward. Ecological values threaten the dominant values of the American creed, causing tensions that have characterized the debate since the advent of environmental protection in the United States.

This research is based on a youth intervention organisation founded by the researcher in 1997. The organisation (Agape Copeland Train) is located in the Northern Cape. Youths’ contexts in the Northern Cape are fraught with psychological, social and relational problems, including violence, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, depression, crime, poverty, and curtailed future prospects. An exploratory enquiry, informed by ecological and positive psychology, is undertaken. In particular, this research focuses on the (often neglected) perspectives of facilitators who work with youth. Exploration of how facilitators’ well-­‐being is impacted on whilst serving youth in this challenging context is undertaken. Interviews with facilitators yielded themes of positive transformation, including shifts in mindsets and positive affect. In addition, aspects of the organisation’s development, as relevant to the context of the research, are described and a model of youth facilitation This research is based on a youth intervention organisation founded by the researcher in 1997. The organisation (Agape Copeland Train) is located in the Northern Cape. Youths’ contexts in the Northern Cape are fraught with psychological, social and relational problems, including violence, alcoholism, teenage pregnancies, depression, crime, poverty, and curtailed future prospects. An exploratory enquiry, informed by ecological and positive psychology, is undertaken. In particular, this research focuses on the (often neglected) perspectives of facilitators who work with youth. Exploration of how facilitators’ well-­‐being is impacted on whilst serving youth in this challenging context is undertaken. Interviews with facilitators yielded themes of positive transformation, including shifts in mindsets and positive affect. In addition, aspects of the organisation’s development, as relevant to the context of the research, are described and a model of youth facilitation process, as developed by facilitators within the organisation, is presented. The researcher’s own experiences in the organisation (as director and as a facilitator) are reflected upon. Observations, incidents, and experiences are used as additional data sources. Facilitating vulnerable youth from an ecological systems perspective is an intricate, reflexive, complex and challenging process. / Psychology / MA (Clinical Psychology)

[pt] A ecoteologia é um campo bastante recente da reflexão teológica. Nele se encontra a ética ambiental com seus diferentes modelos e tendências que nem sempre são pautados por uma visão integrada da realidade. O ser humano e a natureza não são realidades justapostas e antagônicas, mas são componentes distintos da comunidade biótica que se organiza segundo uma dinâmica relacional e integradora. Superando dualismos e visões reducionistas, uma ética ambiental de inspiração cristã deve integrar compromisso ecológico e justiça social, preservação do ambiente natural e respeito ao ambiente humano. Esta é a abordagem central de nossa dissertação que acentua a necessidade de um modelo de ética que, seguindo uma dinâmica de integração-inclusão, expresse a visão relacional e integradora da fé bíblico-cristã na criação e a sintonia com o novo paradigma ecológico. A nossa pesquisa consiste no estudo do Projeto de Voluntariado Ecológico do Camorim que buscou o desenvolvimento sustentável da região, baseado na identidade cultural local. À luz de pressupostos antropológicos, éticos e teológicos, procuramos identificar nesse Projeto os indicadores de um modelo de ética compatível com a perspectiva relacional e integradora da fé cristã. / [en] Ecotheology is a new field of the theological reflexion. Environmental ethics, whose models and approaches do not always have an integrated vision of reality, belongs to this field. Human beings and Environment are not separated and mutually opposed realities. On the contrary, one cannot be studied apart from the other, for they are distinct parts of the same biotic community that is organized in a relational and integrated dynamical structure. In order to overcome dualisms and reductionist viewpoints, an Environmental Ethic from a Christian perspective must integrate ecological commitment and social justice, that is, preservation of the natural world and respect for the human environment. This is the central approach of our thesis. We stress the urgency of an ethical awareness that, following a dynamics of integration and inclusion, presents a mutually interacting perspective of the biblical and Christian faith on Creation which, at the same time, is in harmony with the new ecological paradigm. Our research studies the Camorim Ecological Volunteers Project which sought a model of sustainable development for the local community, based on its cultural identity. In the light of anthropological, ethical, and theological assumptions, we seek in this Project to identify the elements of an Environmental Ethic based on relational and integrative perspectives of the Christian faith.

[pt] Pretende-se propor um paradigma ecológico alternativo ao paradigma da modernidade que, estruturado sob uma racionalidade instrumental, produziu um conhecimento mecanicista e fragmentado, a partir de um pensamento disjuntor e reducionista, baseado na concepção da natureza como ser inanimado e pronto para a dominação do homem. Tal visão de mundo, validada pela ciência, legitimou o uso insustentável dos recursos naturais e a ideia mitológica de progresso ilimitado, responsáveis pela deflagração, no século XX, de grave crise ambiental, que produziu sérias injustiças socioambientais entre países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento, bem como no próprio âmbito interno das nações. Embora tenha sido atribuído ao meio ambiente uma perspectiva integrada da relação homem-natureza, com a conscientização ambiental iniciada na década de 1970 e consolidada com a constitucionalização brasileira do Direito Ambiental, ocorrida em 1988 - que abraçou um olhar antropocêntrico alargado -, a estrutura jurídica como um todo ainda se revela fundamentalmente arraigada na doutrina positivista, amparada no pensamento simplificador, possuindo como fundamentos a certeza, a previsibilidade, a segurança e a ordem. Sucede que o Direito Ambiental se baseia em aspectos como incerteza, imprevisibilidade, insegurança e desordem e, por isso, não consegue dialogar com o sistema jurídico em si, que valoriza aspectos opostos àqueles concernentes ao meio ambiente e à sua tutela. Além de promover a baixa efetividade do Direito Ambiental, a disparidade mencionada induz e legitima movimentos de retrocesso ambiental, haja vista que a legislação ambiental, embora contenha em si elementos finalísticos de tutela ao meio ambiente, é de difícil implementação na prática, caracterizando, assim, a função simbólica do direito ambiental. É preciso, pois, romper com o paradigma moderno em favor do paradigma da complexidade, ecologizando todo o sistema jurídico, de modo a transformar a racionalidade dominante em uma racionalidade ambiental, por meio da inserção de regras, princípios e valores que modifiquem as mentalidades e ideologias das instituições, governos, estabelecimentos de ensino e paradigmas de conhecimento, com o intuito de construir um futuro sustentável, equitativo, plural e democrático. / [en] This dissertation intends to propose an alternative ecological paradigm to the paradigm of modernity that, structured under an instrumental rationality, produced a mechanistic and fragmented knowledge, starting from a breaker and reductionist thinking, based on the conception of nature as an inanimate being and ready for the domination of the men. This world-view, validated by science, legitimized an unsustainable use of natural resources and a mythological idea of unlimited progress, responsible for the emergence, in the twentieth century, of a serious environmental crisis, that produced serious socio-environmental injustices between developed and developing countries, as well as within the internal realm of nations. Although an integrated perspective of the human-nature relationship with an environmental awareness has begun in the 1970s and has been consolidated with the brazilian constitutionalization of Environmental Law in 1988 - which embraced a broad anthropocentric view -, the legal structure as a whole still remains fundamentally rooted in the positivist doctrine, supported by simplistic thinking, having as its foundation certainty, predictability, security and order. It turns out that environmental law is based on aspects such as uncertainty, unpredictability, insecurity and disorder and, therefore, it can not dialogue with the legal system itself, which values aspects opposed to those concerning the environment and its protection. Besides promoting the low effectiveness of Environmental Law, such disparity induces and legitimizes environmental backtracking movements, given that environmental legislation, although it contains in itself final elements of protection of the environment, it is difficult to be implemented in practice, thus characterizing the symbolic function of environmental law. It is necessary, therefore, to break with the modern paradigm in favor of the paradigm of complexity, greening all the legal system, in order to transform the dominant rationality into an environmental rationality, through the insertion of rules, principles and values that modify mentalities and ideologies of institutions, governments, educational establishments and knowledge paradigms, with the aim of building a sustainable, equitable, plural and democratic future.