The rising prevalence of loneliness and depression, particularly among young adults, has prompted research into the social and environmental factors that influence mental well-being. This thesis examines the relationships between loneliness, symptoms of depression, and dimensions of place attachment—specifically, place identity, place dependence, social bonding, and nature bonding—among UCF students, with subgroup analyses by gender and ethnicity. Additionally, it seeks to incorporate Native American perspectives to explore culturally specific connections to place and community. Due to recruitment challenges, the final sample primarily consists of 201 University of Central Florida students with limited Native American representation. Quantitative analysis revealed strong positive correlations between loneliness and symptoms of depression, with social bonding emerging as a significant protective factor against loneliness across the sample. Place dependence was associated with stronger social bonds, suggesting that attachment to a specific place fosters supportive social connections. Gender- and ethnicity-based analyses highlighted variations in place attachment dimensions, with females and certain ethnic groups (e.g., Asian and Hispanic participants) showing distinctive relationships between place, nature bonding, and mental health outcomes. Although limited by the small sample size of Native American participants, preliminary insights suggest that place and nature bonding may hold unique significance within Indigenous communities. These findings underscore the potential of place-based and community-centered interventions to enhance mental health, offering practical applications for mental health professionals, urban planners, and policymakers. By fostering social bonds and connections to meaningful places, such interventions may reduce loneliness and symptoms of depression. The study’s limitations, including sample diversity and cross-sectional design, point to areas for future research, particularly involving longitudinal studies and more inclusive recruitment from underrepresented populations. This thesis contributes to a growing understanding of how places, communities, and nature support mental well-being, advocating for holistic, culturally sensitive approaches to mental health care that integrate social and environmental dimensions.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Wollongong, 2007. / "Including the plays Positive expectations and Waiting for ships." Title from web document (viewed 7/4/08). Includes bibliographical references: leaf 249-267.

Ce travail souligne la nécessité d’un changement de paradigme sociétal face aux défis environnementaux contemporains et met l’accent sur l’éducation comme vecteur essentiel de cette transformation. Il se concentre sur les écoles vertes, qui tendent à s’enraciner dans une approche holistique de l’éducation environnementale, afin de cerner leur contribution face à la crise environnementale actuelle. Il commence par l’exploration de l’impact significatif de l’activité humaine sur la biosphère et le système terrestre, mettant en évidence l’influence profonde de l’anthropocentrisme. Ensuite, il souligne l’insuffisante intégration de la dimension écologique dans l’éducation formelle qui est principalement attribuable à l’influence persistante des pressions économiques et politiques sur la pensée et la pratique éducatives dominantes. Il poursuit en analysant les mouvements d’écoles vertes sur le plan théorique ainsi que leur orientation sur une approche scolaire environnementale globale. Enfin, il combine une analyse de la littérature sur les mouvements Éco-écoles et Enviroschools avec une étude de terrain menée en Uruguay auprès de l’école pionnière du mouvement Escuelas Sustentables afin de mettre en évidence leurs contributions respectives aux effets directs (impact environnemental) et indirects (littératie environnementale). Il conclut que les écoles vertes offrent une réponse multidimensionnelle aux enjeux soulevés par la crise environnementale actuelle. À ce niveau, il est remarqué que, parmi les mouvements d’écoles vertes étudiés, Enviroschools se distingue de manière significative en contribuant à la fois de manière substantielle à l’impact environnemental et à la littératie environnementale, notamment grâce à son enracinement local et à sa valorisation des perspectives autochtones locales. Dans l’ensemble, il découle de ce travail que l’efficacité des écoles vertes pour répondre à la crise environnementale repose sur leur décolonisation, intégrant les perspectives autochtones de manière culturellement appropriée pour assurer une adaptation à un monde en déséquilibre. / This work highlights the need for a societal paradigm shift in the face of contemporary environmental challenges and emphasizes education as an essential vector of this transformation. It focuses on green schools, which tend to be rooted in a holistic approach to environmental education, in order to assess their contribution to the current environmental crisis. It begins by exploring the significant impact of human activity on the biosphere and the Earth system, highlighting the profound influence of anthropocentrism. Next, it underscores the insufficient integration of the ecological dimension in formal education, mainly due to the ongoing influence of economic and political pressures on prevailing educational ideologies and practices. It continues by analyzing green school’s movements on a theoretical level as well as their orientation towards a whole school environmental approach. Finally, it combines an analysis of the literature on the Eco-Schools and Enviroschools movements with a field study carried out in Uruguay with the pioneer school of the Escuelas Sustentables movement to assess their respective contributions to direct (environmental impact) and indirect (environmental literacy) effects. It concludes that green schools offer a multi-dimensional response to the issues raised by the current environmental crisis. At this level, it is noticed that, among the green school’s movements studied, Enviroschools stands out as making a substantial contribution to both environmental impact and environmental literacy, thanks in particular to its local roots and its valuing of local indigenous perspectives. Overall, it follows that the effectiveness of green schools in responding to the environmental crisis rests on their decolonization, integrating indigenous perspectives in culturally appropriate ways to ensure adaptation to a world in imbalance.