Deep ecology seeks answers to and treats the earth's ecological crisis by digging down to the root of the problem. In deep ecology, an ecocentric worldview where human life is part of all living things is preferred over the anthropocentric view where humanity places itself at the center of the world. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceived interconnectedness with the rest of nature and how that connection affects possible environmental activism. Engagement can stem from various reasons and the study also examines whether or not it is based on the principles of deep ecology. With the intention to answer the study's research questions, a survey consisting of 18 questions was designed with both closed and open-ended answers, which enabled the use of both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods. The survey was distributed online, and data were collected from 95 individuals, 72% female and 28% male. The results showed that a 93% of the respondents see themselves as environmentally conscious people. A statistically significant majority agreed with the eight principles linked to the deep ecology movement, and it can therefore be assumed that these principles are at least partially accepted by environmentally conscious people. 55% of the respondents replied that the reason for their environmental activism is that they are committed to "nature of which we are all a part", this result is of interest regarding the focus on the ecocentric worldview in this study. The results show that a statistically significant majority agree that a stronger sense of connection with nature makes them want to make more environmentally conscious choices. This particular result encourages continued research of the subject, and a continuation of digging deeper for possible solutions to the ecological crisis. / Djupekologin söker svar till, och behandlar, jordens ekologiska kris genom att gräva ner till roten av problemet. En ekocentrisk världsbild där människan är en del av allt levande föredras framför den antropocentriska bilden där människan sätter sig själv i centrum. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka människans upplevda samhörighet med resten av naturen och hur den samhörigheten påverkar eventuellt miljöengagemang. Detta engagemang kan komma från olika anledningar och studien ville även undersöka huruvida det grundar sig i djupekologins principer eller ej. För att besvara studiens frågeställningar utformades en enkät bestående av 18 frågor med både slutna och öppna svarsalternativ, vilket möjliggjorde användandet av både kvantitativ och kvalitativ analysmetod. Enkäten distribuerades online och data samlades in från 95 individer, varav 72% kvinnor och 28% män. Resultatet visade att en majoritet av respondenterna, 93%, svarade att de ser sig själva som miljömedvetna människor. En signifikant majoritet instämde med de åtta principerna kopplade till den djupekologiska rörelsen och det kan därför antas att dessa principer är minst delvis godtagna av miljömedvetna människor. 55% av respondenterna svarade även att anledningen till deras miljöengagemang är att de engagerar sig för ”Naturen som vi alla är en del av”, detta resultat är av intresse med tanke på fokuset på denekocentriska världsbilden. Resultatet visar också att en signifikant majoritet svarar instämmande till att en starkare känsla av samhörighet med naturen får dem att vilja göra mer miljömedvetna val. I synnerhet detta resultat gör att studien uppmuntrar till fortsatt utforskning av ämnet, och till att gräva djupare efter lösningar till den ekologiska krisen.

Även om bevarandebiologi finner sina rötter inom ekocentrismen, är bevarande idag oförnekligt centrerat runt människan och hennes behov. En del forskare menar dock att detta synsätt kan komma att underminera syftet med bevarande. I en snabbt förändrande värld med klimatförändringar och förlust av biologisk mångfald har biologers roll aldrig varit viktigare, inte minst blivande biologer. Men vad anser biologer att syftet med bevarande är? Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om biologers och biologistunders anledningar till bevarande är grundade i mer ekocentriska eller antropocentriska värderingar, samt om det finns några generationella skillnader mellan dessa grupper. Vidare undersöks även om det finns några skillnader i hur biologigemenskapen känner på det personliga planet och hur de anser man bör agera i praktiken. För att svara på dessa frågor framställdes en webbaserad enkät som över 300 arbetande biologer samt biologistudenter på universitetsnivå svarade på. Varje deltagare fick en poäng för ekocentrism utifrån deras svar på enkätfrågorna för att underlätta kvantitativa statistiska analyser. Majoriteten av deltagarna visade över lag på en stark benägenhet mot ekocentriska värderingar när det kommer till syftet med bevarande. Den statistiska analysen visade inte någon signifikant skillnad i poäng för ekocentrism mellan arbetande biologer och biologistudenter eller mellan generationer. Deltagarna uttryckte även en skillnad i deras personliga värderingar, som lutade mer mot ekocentriska värdegrunder, jämtemot hur man bör utföra naturvårdsåtgärder i praktiken, där ett mer antropocentrisk och monetärt perspektiv ansågs användbara och i vissa fall nödvändiga. Bevarandeetik är långt ifrån en simpel dikotomi mellan ekocentrism och antropocentrism, och de kan lätt bli komplext med tanke på alla olika involverade intressenter. Biologers idéer om att en antropocentrisk utgångspunkt är det bästa eller enda sättet att förmedla naturens värde till allmänheten, organisationer eller myndigheter riskerar att vara kontraproduktivt för det långsiktiga syftet med bevarande. Det resurstörstiga vinstbaserade samhället vi är en del av kommer inte att förändras över natt, men vi kan definitivt utbilda och uppmuntra både unga som gamla till naturupplevelser i hopp om att skapa en bättre förståelse om och relation till naturen. Inte minst borde vi uppmuntra biologer att agera utifrån deras ekocentriska värderingar. / Even though conservation finds its roots in ecocentrism, the main reasons for protecting nature today are undeniably centered around humans and their needs. Some scientists argue that this way of regarding nature might undermine the purpose of conservation. In a rapidly changing world with climate change and an ongoing loss of biodiversity the biologist’s role has never been more important, particularly future biologists. But what are biologist’s reasons for preserving nature? This study aims to better understand if professional biologists’ and biology students’ reasons for conservation are based on more ecocentric or anthropocentric values, and if there are any generational differences among these groups. Furthermore, it aims to find out if there are any differences in how biologists personally feel and how they think one should act when implementing conservation measures. To answer these questions an online questionnaire was created and answered by over 300 university-level biology students and professional biologists. Each participant was then given a score for ecocentrism based on their answers to the questionnaire, to facilitate quantitative statistical analyses. Most participants showed a strong overall inclination towards ecocentric values regarding the purpose of conservation. The analysis showed no significant difference in the score for ecocentrism between either students and working biologists nor among generations. The participants also expressed a difference in their personal values, which leaned more towards ecocentric values, versus how one should act, where they saw the usefulness of an anthropocentric and economic way of valuing nature. Conservation values are anything but a simple dichotomy between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism, and they can easily become complex with the many different stakeholders involved. Biologists’ beliefs that an anthropocentric approach might be a good way, sometimes the only way, to make the general public, organizations or governments understand the value of nature might be counterproductive to the purpose of conservation. The resource hungry profit-based society we are a part of will not change overnight, but we can certainly educate and encourage young and old people to experience nature in the hope of creating a better understanding and bond with nature and nevertheless encourage biologists to act upon their ecocentric values.

Notre thèse s’intéresse à des pratiques expérimentales et contemporaines du cinéma qui explorent la matière de l’image cinématographique (argentique ou numérique) via des altérations visuelles. Les œuvres sélectionnées supposent un travail de captation, d’enregistrement d’espaces naturels, produit en amont de l’expérimentation matérielle. Les textures et les effets visuels représentent le point de départ de nos analyses filmiques ainsi que de nos recherches théoriques, dont l’altération représente le cœur battant. Nous réfléchissons un ensemble d’œuvres matérialistes de nature, exprimant la nature par l’intermédiaire de la matière cinématographique, en leur adressant la question suivante : comment le cinéma se ferait-il l’expression écocentrique de la nature ? En replaçant ces œuvres dans notre contexte environnemental, nous questionnons aussi l’engagement écologique qu’elles suscitent : que peut exprimer le cinéma de notre nature anthropocène ? Comment adresse-t-il ces enjeux naturels, environnementaux ? Réciproquement, nous interrogeons aussi l’influence des espaces naturels filmés dans cette expression : comment leurs caractéristiques esthétiques, leur topographie, leur état actuel, conditionnent-ils cette expressivité cinématographique ? À ces questions, le postulat tenu est le suivant : les altérations visuelles de l’image en mouvement développent une expression plus directe de la nature, une mise en présence. L’expérimentation altérante de certaines caractéristiques du cinéma (mouvement, couleur, durée) accorde cette expression médiale sensorielle à la nature filmée qui propose d’en faire l’expérience, de façon sensible. Elle s’appuie sur la sensorialité et l’esthétique initiales de ces espaces naturels, que les artistes démultiplient à travers les altérations. Cette expression naît donc de la complémentarité entre les potentiels esthétiques des lieux naturels filmés et de ceux du cinéma. Cette expressivité de la nature se constitue selon nous à travers trois principales actions altérantes, chaque film en présentant au moins l’une d’entre elles : 1- les altérations de l’image décrivent les espaces filmés ; 2- elles composent un milieu à/dans l’image, un milieu à la fois naturel et filmique (s’appuyant sur les caractéristiques de la nature filmée et sur les possibilités du média) ; 3- elles renouvellent l’attention à la nature, en sensibilisant notamment à sa dimension anthropocène. L’altération de l’image témoigne donc de notre expérience vécue de la modification d’environnements en captant leurs transformations et en en figurant la trace visible (l’altération). Présenter, par l’image altérée, l’actualité de cette nature contemporaine soulève ainsi les enjeux complexes et pluriels du contexte qui a fait advenir cet état dégradé de la nature. L’espace de l’image travaillé par l’altération renvoie métaphoriquement à celui que nous occupons dans le monde naturel, et à la façon dont nous l’investissons (à l’altération que nous engendrons dans ces espaces). Une expression écocentrique de la nature en ressort et nous sensibilise, nous engage dans sa condition dégradée, ruinée. / Our thesis focuses on experimental and contemporary cinema practices that explore the materiality of the cinematographic image (analog or digital cinema) via visual alterations. The artworks selected presuppose an effort of capturing and recording natural spaces, produced upstream of material experimentation. Textures and visual effects are the starting point for our filmic analysis and theoretical research, of which alteration is the beating heart. We reflect on a range of materialist artworks of nature, expressing nature through the medium of cinematic material, addressing the following question to them: how can cinema become the ecocentric expression of nature? By placing these artworks in our environmental context, we also question the ecological commitment they engender: what can cinema express about our anthropocenic nature? How does it address these natural, environmental issues? Reciprocally, we also question the influence of the natural spaces filmed in this expression: how do their aesthetic characteristics, their topography, their current state, condition this cinematic expressivity? To these questions, our postulate is the following: visual alterations to the moving image develop a more direct expression of nature, a mise en présence. The altering experimentation of certain characteristics of cinema (movement, color, duration) grants this sensory medial expression to the filmed nature which offers to experience it, in a sensitive way. It draws on the initial sensoriality and aesthetics of these natural spaces, which the artists multiply through alteration. This expression is born of the complementarity between the aesthetics potentials of filmed natural sites and those of cinema. According to us, this expressiveness of nature is constituted through three main altering actions, with each film presenting at least one of them: 1- the alterations to the image describe the filmed spaces; 2- they compose a setting in/within the image, a setting that is both natural and filmic (drawing on the characteristics of the nature filmed and on the possibilities of the media); 3- they renew our attention to nature, notably by raising awareness of its anthropocenic dimension. The alteration of the image therefore bears witness to our lived experience of changing environments by capturing their transformations and representing their visible trace (alteration). Presenting the actuality of contemporary nature through altered images raises the complex and plural issues of the context that brought about this degraded state of nature. The space of the image worked by alteration metaphorically refers to the space we occupy in the natural world, and to the manner we invest it (to the alteration we generate in these spaces). An ecocentric expression of nature emerges, sensitizing us and engaging us in its degraded, ruined condition.

The age of climate crisis is upon us, whether we accept it or not. Besides affecting the ecosphere that is earth, it affects all levels of society, including education. Therefore, this study poses the questions “How are different ecocritical perspectives presented in Where the Crawdads Sing?” and “Why and how should an ecocritical reading of Where the Crawdads Sing be used in the Swedish upper secondary school’s English curriculum to introduce wild pedagogies and foster a deeper understanding of ecological issues among students?”. The study analyses the novel Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens from an ecocritical perspective and discusses how such an analysis can be used to implement wild pedagogies in English courses in Swedish upper secondary school. This study mainly utilises Glotfelty’s, Fromm’s and Garrard’s perspectives of ecocriticism, but focus is placed on the ecocentric perspective to highlight the importance of nature. The findings show that an ecocritical close reading of the novel illustrates an ecocentric characterisation of nature which places it in the forefront of the narrative and underscores the importance of the relationship between nature and humanity. Furthermore, this ecocentric characterisation may be a valuable resource when trying to implement wild pedagogies in education based on its transferability from fiction to real life. In this study, only a few perspectives of ecocriticism have been utilised and the implementation of wild pedagogies is merely touched upon. Therefore, more research is encouraged to explore other aspects of ecocriticism and to further understand how an effective implementation of wild pedagogies could transpire.

This thesis researches what the main ecocentric values and principles are from eco-artists and ecotherapy facilitators, and how they can promote ecocentric perspectives about the relation between humans, other beings and the planet. It starts with an overview of anthropocentrism, which is a human-centred perspective of humans and nature that sees them as separate, and believes humans to have more intrinsic value than nature and other beings. The more-than-human world is seen as resource capital for human use, enabling harmful practices like ecocide and over-extraction. Beliefs that form the roots of this rift are a perceived Western human superiority and power over human and non-human beings that are seen as inferior; and a worldly understanding based on simplification, separation and dualisms. Historically, this perceived superiority became symptomatic in harmful practices like colonisation and slavery. The thesis then moves on to explore six ecocentric perspectives and nature-centred values that stress equal intrinsic value of humans and other beings. Six main ecocentric themes are identified: humans are nature; the importance of pluriversality; presence and connection; cyclical change and dynamic transformation; co-creation and autonomy; and life as a subjective experience that values other ways of knowing. These ecocentric perspectives are illuminated and discussed through interviews with eco-artists and ecotherapy facilitators. Besides interviews and conversations with ecocentric practitioners, a complementary research method has been observatory participation, which both deepens and colours the findings of this research. Conclusively, an argument is made for the importance of personal and subjectively felt experiences that can steer humans towards shaping their own lived understanding of their relation to planet Earth. In moving away from a monistic worldview in a biodiverse world it is important to create space to honour and work with the many ways of learning, knowing, and living on planet Earth. There is no one right way to live well and be sustainable. Diverse ecotherapy and eco-art practices offer examples of how nature connection can be established in relatively simple ways, yet cause a profound shift in worldly perception, which is essential in acknowledging how human beings are dependent on a healthy, biodiverse natural environment.

Idag står vi inför utmaningen att leva inom vår planets gränser. För att uppnå en hållbar utveckling krävs det en förändring i tankesätt, värderingar och livsstil menar UNESCO-UNEP. Detta kan åstadkommas genom en fundamental förändring i utbildningen från tidig barndom. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur hållbar utveckling tolkas i den svenska grundskolan. Två ämnen har valts; biologi och hem- och konsumentkunskap. I uppsatsen identifieras de miljöetiska perspektiven antropocentrism och ekocentrism och hur de kommer till uttryck i förhållande till ämnestradition. De metoder som används är semi-strukturerade intervjuer av högstadielärare, dokumentanalys av läroplan och kursplaner och tematisk analys intervjuerna. Resultatet visar att i såväl läroplan och kursplaner som undervisningen framgår det att antropocentrismen har stort utrymme, då det är stort fokus på resurser, människan och samhället, i såväl hem- och konsumentkunskap som biologi. Ekocentrismen kan ses i form av uttryck i läroplan och kursplaner utifrån hänsyn och respekt för naturen, och genom att ge eleven förståelse inför valsituationer som rör hälsa och miljö. Ämnestradition har betydelse för hur hållbar utveckling tolkas i undervisningen. Biologi är naturorienterat med naturliga processer och kretslopp i fokus, vilket leder till fler ekocentriska resonemang. Hem- och konsumentkunskap har fokus på individen, hemmet och samhället, vilket ger mindre utrymme för ekocentrism. Alla lärare visade på både ekocentriska och antropocentriska resonemang. Lärarnas egna åsikter angående hållbar utveckling kan finna väg in i undervisningen, vilket anses kunna leda till större utrymme för ekocentrism i undervisningen. / Today we stand before the challenge of living within our planets limits. UNESCO-UNEP argue that to achieve a sustainable development changes in thinking, attitudes and lifestyle is required. This can be accomplished with a fundamental change in education from early childhood. The aim with this study is to research how sustainable development is interpreted in the Swedish elementary school. Two school subjects have been chosen; biology and home economics. In the essay the environmental ethics anthropocentrism and ecocentrism, and how they are expressed in relations to tradition is identified.  Methods used are semi-structured interviews with teachers, document analysis of the curriculum and syllabus and thematic analysis of the interviews. The results show that in the education as well as the syllabus it is clear that anthropocentrism has larger room. This because of the focal point in both home economics and biology is common resources, humans and society. Ecocentrism in the curriculum and syllabus is shown through consideration and respect for the nature, and through students’ understanding when making choices. The tradition of the school subjects has significance for how sustainable development is interpreted in the education. Biology is nature oriented with focus on natural processes and cycles, which lead to additional ecocentric reasoning. Home economics has the focal point on the individual, the home and society, which leads to less ecocentric reasoning. All teachers that were interviewed showed both ecocentric and anthropocentric reasoning. The teachers’ opinions can find way in to the education, which here is considered to the possibility of more room for ecocentrism in home economics.

Depuis les années 1970, les philosophies environnementales se sont essentiellement préoccupées de la question de la valeur morale de la nature rare et remarquable qui subsiste dans quelques régions de la planète. Héritant de la pensée américaine de la wilderness, les philosophes de l'environnement se sont efforcés de donner des fondations théoriques à la valeur intrinsèque d'une nature, dont l'homme se devait d'être absent. Ce faisant, Ils laissaient à penser que sur les terres habitées ou transformées par les hommes, qui couvrent la quasi-totalité de la surface de la planète, il fallait renoncer à penser la nature. A rebours de cette idée, nous soutenons qu'il y a de la nature dans les sociétés humaines, que nous faisons société avec la nature En suivant cette hypothèse, nous ferons apparaître, il partir d'un matériau descriptif varié, que nos activités productives et reproductives engagent, en effet, de nombreux acteurs naturels, mais aussi que, très souvent, nous nous conduisons mal avec ces derniers. C'est ce qui nous semble motiver l'élaboration d'une éthique de la nature ordinaire. / Since the 1970s, environmental philosophy has been mainly concerned with the intrinsic value of nature and with the preservation of some rare and remarkable forms of nature which stand in remote areas, Influenced by the American classical idea of wilderness, which excludes humans from nature, environmental philosophers worked to elaborate intrinsic value theories of nature. By doing so, they suggested that nature had disappeared from the hum an inhabited world, i.e. from almost the whole Earth. Against this idea, I argue for nature being part of our societies. Humans and nature share a living mutual interdependence. Following this hypothesis, we will see how natural beings could be considered partners in most of our productive and reproductive activities, while we often act wrongly with these natural members of our communities. That's why there is a need for an ethics of everyday nature.

Syftet studien är att undersöka hur en skönlitterär barnbok öppnar för samtal om ekologisk hållbar utveckling med elever i årskurs 3. Barnboken som används ochanalyseras heter Lovis Ansjovis och jorden (2017). Den analyseras genom ett ekokritiskt perspektiv och boken läses upp för elever i helklass under ett lektionstillfälle. Efter högläsningen diskuterar eleverna tankar som boken gav dem. Deras funderingar skrivs upp i en tankekarta. Tankekartan, vår observation underlektionstillfället och textanalysen, ligger till grund för studiens resultat. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten som studien grundar sig på är ekokritik. Resultatet visar att Lovis Ansjovis och jorden främst skildrar ekologisk hållbar utveckling ur ett antropocentriskt perspektiv, med små inslag av ekocentrism. Eleverna visar under lektionstillfället med bokens hjälp en medvetenhet om ekologisk hållbar utveckling, som de kan samtala om.

The current communicative planning paradigm appears to lack the ability to include the voices of the voiceless and is stuck in practices that continue to confirm the status-quo through technocratic quick fixes, which do not solve underlying problems causing climate change. This thesis is an exploration of how two unconventional methods, storytelling and co-created speculative design, can contribute to a change in paradigm, specifically improve the inclusiveness of coproduction, where nonhumans are involved in the decision-making processes. This thesis takes the reader on a journey through the embodiment of water in Slussen, by an analysis of semi-structured interviews and a critical discourse, a story from the perspective of water with the title Suorssá, and two alternative designs of Slussen if water were in charge. The applied lense in this thesis is a combination of Latour’s perspective on actants, Bell’s studies of the future, storytelling, critical utopianism, and ecocentrism. The methods and lense are embedded in a case study of water in Slussen, which is a major urban development in Sweden where water plays a considerable role. Through this journey an alternative perspective is attempted to be shared with the participants and an increasing openness towards ecocentrism, where all organisms on the planet have an intrinsic value irrespective of humans, is created. The results suggest that a truly inclusive planning paradigm, especially for megaprojects like Slussen, seems to be a utopian thought. Nonetheless, storytelling and co-created speculative designs turn out to be an effective step towards realizing this vision.

In our qualitative master thesis, we explore theories on sustainability in levels, ranging from very weak to very strong. We integrate academic theories with corporate perspectives to provide representatives in the corporate world with an alternative way of conversing and engaging mainly in strong sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a richer understanding of what corporate sustainability can be in practice. Our study is a collaboration with business leaders, designers, sustainability professionals and students. Using Design Science Research as an overarching framework for our method, we conducted interviews, focus groups and a survey. The academic theories and the insights from our data were then translated into a visual and verbal co-creation of an artefact (as it is called in Design Science Research). Wording and visualisations are inspired both from the corporate and the academic world. The artefact is intended to be a conversation starter which is hoped to lead to a shift in the strength with which companies work with sustainability, guided by an ecological case for business.