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Le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario a présenté sa nouvelle politique en matière d’éducation environnementale en 2009. Elle implique la participation de tous ceux œuvrant au sein du système éducatif, incluant les enseignants. Dès le départ, les enseignants ne sont pas neutres à l’égard de l’environnement. Les valeurs environnementales préalables des enseignants auront-elles un impact sur l’accueil qu’ils réservent pour cette politique? À l’aide de l’échelle du New Ecological Paradigm développé par Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig et Jones (2000), cette étude mesure les valeurs environnementales des enseignants d’un conseil scolaire francophone du Nord de l’Ontario et évalue l’accueil qu’ils réservent à la politique d’éducation environnementale pour ensuite vérifier s’il y a une relation entre ces facteurs. Les résultats démontrent que le groupe accueille la politique de façon plutôt favorable. Les valeurs environnementales semblent exercer une influence sur l’attitude qu’adoptent les enseignants face à celle-ci, mais c’est vraisemblablement dans le niveau d’action qu’ils entreprendront que cette influence se manifestera.

Le ministère de l’Éducation de l’Ontario a présenté sa nouvelle politique en matière d’éducation environnementale en 2009. Elle implique la participation de tous ceux œuvrant au sein du système éducatif, incluant les enseignants. Dès le départ, les enseignants ne sont pas neutres à l’égard de l’environnement. Les valeurs environnementales préalables des enseignants auront-elles un impact sur l’accueil qu’ils réservent pour cette politique? À l’aide de l’échelle du New Ecological Paradigm développé par Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig et Jones (2000), cette étude mesure les valeurs environnementales des enseignants d’un conseil scolaire francophone du Nord de l’Ontario et évalue l’accueil qu’ils réservent à la politique d’éducation environnementale pour ensuite vérifier s’il y a une relation entre ces facteurs. Les résultats démontrent que le groupe accueille la politique de façon plutôt favorable. Les valeurs environnementales semblent exercer une influence sur l’attitude qu’adoptent les enseignants face à celle-ci, mais c’est vraisemblablement dans le niveau d’action qu’ils entreprendront que cette influence se manifestera.

Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) use has grown enormously on Utah’s public lands and is one of the most contentious and difficult issues for federal, state, and local land management agencies to address and provide for. Despite OHV use’s meteoric rise in popularity and its ongoing public conflicts, little is known about OHV recreationists. This thesis develops a typology that identifies within-activity differences related to recreation specialization; it also determines differences in OHV owners’ environmental attitudes and motivations. Findings show Utah’s owners comprise a range of use along the recreation specialization continuum. Results also indicate that an OHV owners’ specialization level is not a significant determinant of either their environmental attitude or four out of the seven given motivations for participation in the activity. Specialization is, however, directly correlated to three specific motivation domains: achievement/stimulation, independence, and meeting new people. Overall, the recreation specialization framework, broadly interpreted, was successfully utilized to develop a typology of use which can inform resource management decisions.

Environmental attitudes are shaped by a variety of factors including our educational history, cultural background, childhood and life experiences, and past and current interactions with nature. This research set out to examine attitudes toward the environment in an understudied but growing segment of the Canadian population, homeschoolers. The purposes of this study were to investigate whether environmental attitudes in Canadian homeschoolers differ from those of people involved with public school and to acquire a greater understanding of the factors that affect the development of these attitudes. The mixed method, follow-up explanatory research design utilized the New Ecological Paradigm Scale and the Connectedness to Nature Scale in an internet survey. The survey was sent to homeschooling and parent groups across Canada. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with a subsample of respondents. The results of the survey showed that demographic variables were not significantly related to environmental attitude scores with the exception of locale and religion. Urban respondents had slightly stronger environmental attitudes than rural respondents. The confluence of homeschooling and religiosity emerged as the key factor influencing environmental attitudes. There was no significant difference between environmental attitudes of homeschoolers and public schoolers until importance of religion was taken into account. As measured by the scales, religious homeschoolers exhibited the weakest environmental attitudes, public schoolers were in the middle, and not-as-religious homeschoolers had the strongest environmental attitudes. The qualitative data supported these results, with religious homeschoolers expressing weaker iv environmental attitudes, particularly in terms of climate change and the need for a more sustainable lifestyle. Religious homeschooling respondents favoured a more structured back to basics style of schooling which also correlated with lower environmental attitude scores. Unstructured homeschooling respondents tended to choose a child-centred philosophy of education which was correlated with stronger environmental attitudes. During the interviews, respondents were asked to reflect on what in their lives had influenced their attitudes toward the environment. Consistent with other literature, unstructured outdoor time as a child remained the most significant factor, cited by a majority of respondents. Other important factors included religion, parents, school, teachers, TV/media, economic necessity, and negative experiences with environmental pollution. The results of this study highlight the importance of considering variables associated with religion when exploring the development or level of environmental attitudes or when conducting a study of homeschooling. Religious beliefs are complex and highly personal in some cases, as is their corresponding influence on environmental concern. Potential exists for environmental concern and action from a group of spiritual people with strong community bonds and often political involvement. The key may be finding common ground and learning to communicate, while resisting expectations of complete agreement. This dissertation showed that stepping outside of the educational system does not necessarily have a direct impact on environmental attitudes, as they are mediated by a complex array of variables. Homeschooling may not directly generate a different level of environmental attitudes than public school; however, religious v homeschoolers definitely have a different set of attitudes toward the environment that deserve further in-depth study.

Project Learning Tree (PLT) is an international environmental education (EE) program designed for educators working with children and youth. In Mississippi, roughly 700 educators are trained yearly in using PLT curricula; however, how and if teachers use knowledge gained from these workshops remains unknown. This study addresses the environmental awareness and use of PLT curricula in traditional classroom of primary and secondary teachers in Mississippi. Using PLT participant survey data, individuals trained during the years 2009-2013 were surveyed using Qualtrics Survey Software. Mississippi teachers appear to have ecocentric worldviews, above average environmental knowledge, and have incorporated PLT lessons into their classroom curricula. Teachers’ subject areas appear not to affect their usage of PLT, while motivation for incorporating and attending PLT workshops appears to have minor effects. Results of this study can be used to increase the efficiency of PLT workshops, as well as mitigate barriers to incorporating PLT into classrooms.

Flygresor utrikes har ökat markant sedan 1990. För att begränsa utsläppen av växthusgaser kan andra transportmedel som tåg vara väsentliga för att ersätta flyg. Emellertid har ofta tågresor en längre restid och ett högre biljettpris. En effektiv åtgärd för att jämna ut prisförhållandet mellan flygresor och andra transportmedel kan vara genom koldioxidskatter. Studien ska ge en uppfattning om studenters betalningsvilja för en koldioxidskatt, eftersom det finns en forskningslucka för det området, samt att det finns en kontrovers om villigheten att stödja miljöbeskattning. Syftet är att förbättrade policys ska kunna utvecklas utifrån studenters åsikter och tankar kring betalningsvilja och koldioxidskatter. Syftet är även att undersöka vilket sambandet är mellan betalningsvilja och upplevd kunskap och attityd till miljön. Studien är utförd genom Contingent valuation method där studenter ställs inför en hypotetisk resa för att kunna undersöka deras betalningsvilja, priskänslighet vid prisökningar, samt skäl och drivkrafter för valet av transportmedel. Resultatet från studien visar att respondenternas betalningsvilja är hög och att det finns en villighet att betala för en koldioxidskatt. Resultat indikerar att det finns ett samband mellan stor kunskap om klimatförändringar och hög betalningsvilja. Generellt sett visar sig samtliga respondenter ha en miljövänlig attityd men inget samband till betalningsviljan kan identifieras. / Air travel abroad has increased significantly since 1990. In order to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from flights, other transport such as trains could be an essential alternative. However, train travels often mean longer travel time and a more expensive ticket price. An effective measure to even the price ratio between flights and other transport could be through carbon taxes. The study should provide a perception of students' willingness to pay since this area has shown a research gap. Also, there is a controversy of people's willingness to support environmental taxation. The study seeks to look into students' opinions and thoughts regarding willingness to pay and a carbon tax so improved policies could be developed. The purpose was also to study how willingness to pay for a carbon tax relates to an experienced state of knowledge of climate changes and attitude towards the environment. The study was performed with the Contingent valuation method where students were faced with a hypothetical trip, in order to examine their willingness to pay, price sensitivity when price increases, also reasons and driving forces for the choice of means of transport. The results show that the respondent’s willingness to pay is high and that there is a willingness to pay for a carbon tax. The results also indicate a relation between high knowledge of climate changes and high willingness to pay. In general, all respondents reveal an environmentally friendly attitude, however it does not show a connection to their willingness to pay.

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.