The overall purpose of this study was to find out whether changes in social action or social practices are predicated on, or correspond with changes in ontological assumptions and social normative structures or ethical orientations. Specifically, this study investigated the relationship between a range of farming practices and the two predominant ontological assumptions about human-nature relationship. As well, the study investigated the relationship between the range of farming practices and categories of environmental ethical orientations. The two ontological orientations include the 'externality' assumption, which represent the social understanding that humans interact with nature but are only externally related to nature. The 'internality' assumption, on the other hand, is the understanding that humans are internally related to nature or the physical environment. The study also investigated the role of other structural forces that can shape farming practices. The theoretical orientation that informed this study was Habermas' neo-modernity thesis, which primarily argues that changes in social normative structures, which induces appropriate social action can, and do develop, without changes in ontological assumptions about human-nature relationship. The Habermasian approach thus rejects the reenchantment thesis espoused by constructive postmodernists. In this study Habermas' thesis has been contrasted with the neo-conservative and postmodernist approaches. The study involved two forms of investigation. One aspect of the study involved archival research of Canadian agricultural policy as an overarching background against which contemporary farming practices may be understood. The other aspect of the study involved a survey of farm families living in the south western Saskatchewan section of the Palliser Triangle. The study found a moderate to strong relationship between the 'internality' ontological assumption and alternative farming practices. The 'externality' assumption was more predominant among conventional farmers. This pattern also corresponded with a relatively higher incidence of environmentalism among alternative farming practitioners, with a relatively higher incidence of resourcism among conventional and conventional-alternative farmers. Despite these patterns the study found partial support for the Habermasian thesis. For example, a significant minority of alternative farmers who espouse environmentalist ethics also espouse an 'externality' ontological assumption.

Living in harmony with nature is a pervasive ideology, or cultural blueprint, of how a "sustainable future,” a "good society,” and a "fulfilled life" would look like. However, this notion of harmony with nature is highly paradoxical, as consumers often want and even must dominate and control nature. The current thesis explores consumers’ desires of living in harmony with nature through a post-human analysis of how backcountry hikers negotiate tensions between utilitarian and romantic discourses of nature vis-à-vis their experience of material forces of nature. Through conceptualizing nature as an active actor in a symmetric assemblage of material and cultural entities (i.e., nature agency), this thesis contributes to our understanding of the human/nature relationship, materialism, and sustainable consumption. Findings are presenting through three interrelated themes. The first theme highlights how hikers appropriate romantic discourses by seeking harmony in a nature that is perceived as external to civilization. Noting the contradiction that hikers’ quest for being in harmony with a “romantic nature” oftentimes exposes them to higher physical dangers in material nature, the subsequent themes explore how harmony can arise when hikers have to struggle with physical dangers of nature. Focusing on physical dangers that are experienced in material nature, theme 2 finds that hikers’ relationship with nature is highly ambivalent: They strive to experience “more nature and less civilization”, but also “more civilization and less nature.” The third theme explores how meanings of nature and technology emerge from fluidly shifting assemblages, finding that the same technological resources can both distract from and enable feelings of harmony with nature. These findings contribute to consumer research by broadening our understanding of the human/nature relationship and by challenging previous notions (Canniford and Shankar 2013) that technology and civilization must always betray consumers’ experiences of “romantic nature.” Furthermore, the notions of nature agency and that no single actor can unilaterally shape the assemblage of heterogeneous entities contribute to the emerging material turn in consumer research. Finally, this post-human analysis of consumers’ relationships with nature offers theoretical and practical implications for sustainable consumption and sustainable marketing. / Thesis (Ph.D, Management) -- Queen's University, 2014-01-31 14:58:31.326

This study aims to develop an understanding of how circular economy should be implemented to result in sustainable development and to analyze the potential of one particular implementation to result in sustainable development. “The sustainable development way of implementing circular economy” is presented by understanding circular economy with system thinking and considering the factors affecting the implementation of circular economy. Interviews and text-analysis are conducted to analyze the character and potential of ReTuna, a reused items mall in Eskilstuna, to result in sustainable development. Results show circular economy should be implemented as a way of reasoning that can result in a systemic transformation of the economic system to result in eco-centric sustainability. Implementations that do not explicitly derive from a an understanding of circular economy as a new way of reasoning are despite this valuable due to a system’s character of interconnectedness. ReTuna is implemented as a set of practices and an organizational structure but it also demonstrates an honorable effort to change people’s perception of the human-nature relationship. It is concluded that way of implementation has to reflect and be synchronized with the aspiration behind implementing circular economy. ReTuna has potential to result in sustainability but does not yet.

Owing to the author's interest in and concern for earth's processes, healthy ecosystems, and environmental decline and devastation, this thesis examines the human – nature relationship, as it relates to landscape architecture, through spiritual, mathematical, geometrical, historical, economical, ecological, philosophical and ethical perspectives. Sustainable design and eco-revelatory design methods are also explored in order to aid in the development of a personal design ethic that defines and produces ecologically responsible works of landscape architecture. The goal is to establish a personal framework for design that results in built landscapes that are ecologically more benign, holistically more functional, and culturally more significant than standard practices. Research methodologies include literature review, case study analysis, project site analysis, and personal interviews. Findings suggest that despite a longstanding and growing call for a more harmonious relationship between nature and anthropogenic changes on the land, the green movement remains a loosely defined alternative undercurrent. The field of landscape architecture is uniquely poised to be a leader in the sustainable revolution; this is especially true when its practitioners, researchers and theorists are dedicated to ideals and activities that bring about true ecological value. For the individual designer, the experience of developing and committing to a personal design ethic can be empowering, and can produce work that has more mettle, veracity and purpose than the designer has previously known. / Master of Landscape Architecture

The M.A. thesis Metaphors of Nature in the Czech Weekly 'Reflex' explores the question of how the changing human-nature relationship is reflected in this journal's writing on nature over the period of the last twenty years. The rationale for the choice of the Reflex weekly magazine is that it is not focused on nature or nature-related themes, and thus what we find in it can help us understand how the relationship between humans and nature has changed not only in the journal, but also in society. The principal assumption underlying the present effort is that the many and variegated existing forms of the relationship between humanity and nature transform themselves into various metaphors. By uncovering and analyzing these metaphors we are able to better understand this relationship itself. The theoretical section of this thesis discusses various ways of understanding the metaphor in general, including the conceptual metaphor approach developed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson which is applied to the textual material in the subsequent empirical section. The theoretical chapters also present a number of metaphors of nature that have previously been analyzed in the literature, and their implications for the human-nature relationship are indicated. The empirical section contains an analysis of the...

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This study primarily focuses on children’s perceptions of the natural environment during a nature camp in Antwerp. The secondary focus concerns the children’s connection to this environment. A theoretical framework of six concepts, based on existing literature in this area was employed as an orientation throughout the research: a) the physical environment; b) actions and experiences; c) the affective dimension; d) the social aspect; e) the human-nature relationship; and f) conceptualization of nature. A dual-method qualitative approach was applied, combining children’s drawings of the natural environment at the camp setting with interviews. Through an abductive process of codebook thematic analysis, two main themes were identified. The first theme was named ‘doing’ i.e. play and the second theme was named ‘being’ i.e. immersion. The first theme indicates that the children perceive the natural environment mainly through doing, specifically as a space to play. Additionally, the second theme suggests that the children perceive the natural environment through being, that is by immersion. Yet, there is no distinct line between these two themes as play is children’s natural way of being. Ultimately, these themes are two sides of one narrative in which ‘doing/being’ is intrinsically entwined in a process of relational interaction and immersion in and with the natural environment.

The large marine protected area (MPA) declared in 2010 around the Chagos Archipelago, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), has led to a conflict in the thick of environmental protection, colonialism, sovereignty claims, and the human rights dispute of the Chagossian people that once were exiled from the islands in the 1970s. By applying a Foucauldian inspired critical discourse analysis, this study interprets and examines how the nature/human relationship was portrayed during and after the creation of the Chagos MPA. Applying theories and concepts from political ecology and Foucault’s idea of biopower sheds new light on a conservation effort depicted as a global environmental success by some, and a geopolitical social justice disaster by others. Finally, this thesis applies Tim Ingold’s philosophical concept of the globe and sphere to discuss the implications of inclusion or withdrawal from nature.

Submitted by Margareth Ferreira Pinto (margarethfpinto@hotmail.com) on 2016-04-26T16:59:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertao_julia_witt_verso_digital.pdf: 2203233 bytes, checksum: 60877e929cd682e9d7554481d1593044 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ingrid Contreira (ingridcontreiradesu@gmail.com) on 2016-04-26T17:13:06Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertao_julia_witt_verso_digital.pdf: 2203233 bytes, checksum: 60877e929cd682e9d7554481d1593044 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T17:13:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertao_julia_witt_verso_digital.pdf: 2203233 bytes, checksum: 60877e929cd682e9d7554481d1593044 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / O presente trabalho constituiu-se em uma investigação que buscou analisar uma experiência de educação ambiental (EA) desenvolvida pela ONG Instituto Curicaca em unidades de conservação (UCs) no Litoral Norte do Rio Grande do Sul. Esta é representada pela “Ação Cultural de Criação Saberes e Fazeres da Mata Atlântica”, desenvolvida entre os anos de 2005 e 2010, envolvendo alunos e professores da rede pública de ensino de cinco municípios da região. A partir disso, objetivou-se compreender a repercussão que o processo educativo desenvolvido nessa Ação Cultural de Criação gerou nas práticas pedagógicas das educadoras que dele participaram. Historicamente, a criação e implantação de UCs esteve vinculada a uma perspectiva dissociativa da relação ser humano-natureza, sendo apreciadas como “ilhas de natureza intocável”. No Brasil, foram regulamentadas pela lei do Sistema Nacional de Unidades de Conservação (SNUC), configurando-se em espaços com diferentes características e fins, de acordo com sua categoria, sendo que a educação e a interpretação ambiental apresentam-se dentre os objetivos de unidades da categoria “parque”. Nesse sentido, as ações de educação ambiental propostas pela ONG foram empreendidas principalmente nesses espaços protegidos, com a intenção de trabalhar com as escolas inseridas nos microcorredores ecológicos definidos para a região do Litoral Norte. Para a elucidação dos resultados gerados, a investigação foi feita a partir de pesquisa qualitativa, adotando como procedimentos metodológicos a análise de relatórios das ações educativas realizadas com professores e a realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas com educadoras que participaram dessa ação. A sistematização dos dados foi feita a partir da análise textual discursiva (ATD), aliada à compreensão do subtexto. Para isso, foram consideradas três categorias a priori na pesquisa: práxis, consciência e autonomia. A análise foi feita à luz do materialismo histórico dialético e da EA crítica transformadora emancipatória, entendendo-se a questão ambiental configurada na integração e inter-relação entre as dimensões biológica, social, econômica e política. Os resultados encontrados permitem concluir que ações de EA continuam a ser desenvolvidas nas escolas da região, com a incorporação e apropriação de práticas pedagógicas ressignificadas pelas educadoras, em uma confluência de ações vinculadas tanto a práticas mais comportamentalistas de EA quanto a propostas mais críticas e com potencial transformador. Com isso, propõese que UCs podem se constituir em importantes espaços educativos, potencializadores na construção de uma “práxis ambiental”. / This work consisted in an investigation that analyzed the experience of environmental education (EE) developed by the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Instituto Curicaca” in protected areas (PAs) in the North Coast of Rio Grande do Sul. This experience is represented by the cultural action "Ação Cultural de Criação Saberes e Fazeres da Mata Atlântica”, developed between the years 2005 and 2010, involving students and teachers of public schools of five cities in the region. The research aimed to understand the impact of this educational process in the pedagogical practices of the teachers who participated of it. Historically, the creation and deployment of PAs has been linked to a dissociative perspective of the relationship between human beings and nature, being assessed as "islands of untouched nature." In Brazil, they were regulated by the law of the National System of Protected Areas (SNUC), setting up in spaces with different characteristics and purposes, according to its category, and environmental education and interpretation are presented among the goals of units of the category "park." In this sense, environmental education actions proposed by the NGO were mainly undertaken in these protected areas, with the intention of working with schools embedded in ecological micro-corridors defined for the North Coast region. For the elucidation of the results, the investigation was made from qualitative research, adopting methodological procedures as the analysis of reports of educational activities with teachers and conducting semi-structured interviews with educators that participated in this action. The systematization of data was made from the discursive textual analysis (DTA), coupled with the understanding of the subtext. Three categories were considered a priori: praxis, consciousness and autonomy. The analysis was made in the light of historical and dialectical materialism and of the critical transformative emancipatory EE, understanding the environment as the integration and interrelationship between the biological, social, economic and political aspects. The results allow us to conclude that schools continue to develop EE actions, with the incorporation and appropriation of pedagogical practices resignified by educators in a confluence of actions linked to both behavioral practices and critical proposals with transformative potential. It is proposed that PAs may be important educational spaces, contributing to the construction of an "environmental praxis".