Bird Feeders Increase Connection to Nature in Parents But Not in Their Children

The article examines the impact of digitalization on human life and intellectual experience. The development of computer technology demands an understanding of new aspects of human development and requires a capability to overcome not only external conditions but also ourselves. Entering a new level of development cannot imply a complete rejection of previous dispositions, but should be accompanied by reflection on personal experience and by the quest for new forms of interaction in society and with nature. Communicative and cognitive activity of a person has an ontological basis and relies on processes that actually evolve in nature. Therefore, the creation of new objects is always associated with the properties of natural material and gives rise to new points of support in the development of man. The more audacious his projects, the more important it is to preserve this connection to nature. It is always the human being who turns out to be the initiator who knows how to solve problems. The conformity of complex technical systems to nature is not only a goal but also a value of meaningful construction of development perspectives. The key to the nature orientation of the modern digital world is the human being himself, who keeps all the secrets of the culture of his natural development. Therefore, the proposed by the Russian philosopher V.S. Stepin post-non-classical approach, based on the principle of “human-sizedness,” is an important contribution to contemporary research because it draws attention to the “human – machine” communication, to the relationship between a person and technological systems he created. The article concludes that during digital transformation, a cultural conflict arises: in an effort to solve the problems of the future, a person equips his life with devices that are designed to support him, to expand his functionality, but at the same time, the boundaries of humanity become dissolved and the forms of human activity undergo simplification. Transhumanism engages society in the fight against fears of vulnerability and memory loss and ignores the flexibility and sustainability of natural foundation.

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Waters, Islands, and Shores in American Folklore and Folklife

The Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190840617.013.26 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 576-597

Author(s):

Shelly Drummond

Keyword(s):

Traditional Culture ◽

Folk Art ◽

Future Research ◽

Connection To Nature ◽

Shoreline Development ◽

Maritime Culture ◽

American Folklore ◽

Maritime Community

Maritime community traditions along America’s shorelines include occupational and recreational folklife, water-to-table foodways, and folk art. The forms vary regionally, but common threads are a relationship to the water and a connection to nature. Understanding the commodification of traditional maritime culture as it is incorporated into the identity of shoreline communities is critical to future research. Implications include the authority and diversity of maritime narratives, the commodification of that storyline, and the influence of researchers as advocates in shoreline development and preservation efforts. Development on shorelines reflects nostalgia for traditional landscapes and a drive for recreational space. Opportunities exist for advocacy and promotion of sustainability measures that support traditional culture.

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How participation in ecological restoration can foster a connection to nature

Restoration Ecology ◽

10.1111/rec.13430 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ella Furness

Keyword(s):

Ecological Restoration ◽

Connection To Nature

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Association Between Connection to Nature and Children’s Happiness in China: Children’s Negative Affectivity and Gender as Moderators

Journal of Happiness Studies ◽

10.1007/s10902-021-00386-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Wei Cui ◽

Zhihui Yang

Keyword(s):

Negative Affectivity ◽

Connection To Nature ◽

And Gender

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Personal Assessment of Reasons for the Loss of Global Biodiversity—an Empirical Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12104277 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 4277

Author(s):

Matthias Winfried Kleespies ◽

Paul Wilhelm Dierkes

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

High School Students ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Connection To Nature ◽

School Students ◽

Teacher Trainees ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Global Biodiversity ◽

The Relationship ◽

Personal Assessment

The UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs), which aim to solve important economic, social, and environmental problems of humanity, are to be supported by education for sustainable development (ESD). Empirical studies on the success of the implementation of the SDGs in the field of education are still pending. For this reason, using the loss of global biodiversity as an example, this study examined the extent to which high school students, teacher trainees in biology, and biology bachelor students can identify the causes of the global biodiversity loss. A new questioning tool was developed and tested on 889 participants. In addition, the relationship between connection to nature and the personal assessment about biodiversity threats was examined. The factor analysis of the scale used showed that 11 out of 16 items were assigned to the intended factor. The comparison between high school students, teacher trainees in biology, and biology bachelor students showed no significant difference in overall assessment of the reasons for global biodiversity loss. When comparing the three risk levels in which the risk factors for biodiversity could be divided, across the three student groups, only minor differences were found. Therefore, a specific education of prospective teachers is necessary, as they have to pass on the competence as multipliers to their students. No significant difference could be found when examining the relationship between connection to nature and the overall scores of the assessment scale for the reasons of biodiversity loss. However, it was found that people who felt more connected to nature were more capable of assessing the main causes of risk for global biodiversity, while people who felt less connected to nature achieved better scores for the medium factors.

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Measuring Connection to Nature—A Illustrated Extension of the Inclusion of Nature in Self Scale

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13041761 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 1761

Author(s):

Matthias Winfried Kleespies ◽

Tina Braun ◽

Paul Wilhelm Dierkes ◽

Volker Wenzel

Keyword(s):

Students With Disabilities ◽

Human Nature ◽

Conservation Education ◽

Measuring Instruments ◽

Connection To Nature ◽

Nature Connection ◽

Cognitive Limitations ◽

New Instrument ◽

Actual Target ◽

Similar Accuracy

The human-nature connection is an important factor that is frequently the subject of environmental education research and environmental psychology. Therefore, over the years, numerous measuring instruments have been established to quantitatively record a person’s connection to nature. However, there is no instrument specifically for children with cognitive limitations. For this reason, in this study, an established scale for connection to nature, the inclusion of nature in self scale (INS), was modified especially for the needs of this group. Study 1 investigated what students understand by the term “nature” in order to create an illustrated version of the INS. In study 2, the new instrument was tested on university students and compared with the original INS and the connectedness to nature scale (CNS). No significant differences between the original INS and the new developed scale were found (p = 0.247), from which it can be concluded that the illustrated INS (IINS) measures the connection to nature with similar accuracy as the original INS. In study 3, the instrument was tested together with other established nature connection instruments on the actual target group, students with disabilities. The correlation between the IINS, the CNS, and nature connectedness scale (NR) were in accordance with the expected literature values (rIINS-CNS = 0.570 & rIINS-NR = 0.605). The results of this study also prove effectiveness of the developed illustrated scale. This research thus provides a suitable measuring instrument for people with learning difficulties and can make a contribution to the investigation of human-nature connections and conservation education.

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