Urban Vegetation, Wellbeing and Pro-environmental Behaviour: A Socio-ecological Experiment in Wellington City, New Zealand

<p>The challenges ahead for sustainability and biodiversity conservation require a better understanding of the relationship human beings have with the natural environment. The evidence that nature has a positive influence on human wellbeing is extensive but there is uncertainty about the influence of urban vegetation in the immediate vicinity of residents’ homes. Current research is also inconclusive as to the mechanisms that underlie the relationship between nature, human wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. I investigated whether engagement with urban nature influenced the wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) of residents of Wellington City, New Zealand. Engagement with nature was specified by the amount of vegetation cover in urban neighbourhoods and participation in a community-planting scheme. Wellbeing was assessed by measures of mental and physical health and satisfaction with life. Firstly, I aimed to describe the population of people who participated in the community planting scheme and identify the motivation, barriers and benefits associated with participation. Secondly, I aimed to test hypotheses about the relationship between urban residents and the natural environment using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM): 1. Exposure to vegetation in residents’ immediate neighbourhood and/or participation in the planting scheme has a positive influence on residents’ wellbeing and PEB. 2. The effect of nature on wellbeing or PEB is mediated by a number of socio-psychological constructs, such as Connection with Nature, use of nature for Psychological Restoration, Neighbourhood Satisfaction, (both social and natural aspects of the neighbourhood) and Environmental Attitude. PEB also mediates the nature-wellbeing relationship. Finally, I wanted to determine if adding socio-demographic variables and the amount of time residents spent outdoors could improve the models. A stratified random sample of 20 neighbourhoods across Wellington City was selected. The neighbourhoods varied in their amount and type of vegetation cover. The amount of vegetation cover was determined by site visits and using maps, with a 5 x 5 m ² grid, which showed vegetation cover and property boundaries. I quantified the mediator and wellbeing variables using existing measures, some of which were modified, and by developing some constructs based on the literature. The usefulness of these constructs was confirmed by an Exploratory Factor Analysis in SPSS. I conducted a postal survey during October 2012 of 1200 households in the 20 neighbourhoods of Wellington City to test my hypotheses. Thirty-six percent of surveys were returned (N = 428) which resulted in 423 useable surveys. Respondents who participated in the planting scheme were more likely to be married or in a partnership, highly educated and New Zealand Europeans. They also had a greater connection with nature, used nature more for psychological restoration and had stronger higher environmental attitudes and PEB those respondents who did not participle in the planting scheme. The most frequently reported barrier to participation was the lack of time and the most commonly reported benefits corresponded to the stated motivation, which was to improve the appearance of participants’ immediate neighbourhood. A priori mediation models were specified. Structural Equation Modelling followed by Information Theoretic model selection and inference using Akaike Information Criterion identified the leading influences and tested the hypotheses for wellbeing and PEB. All the a priori models fitted the data. Model selection resulted in two parsimonious models being identified, the Wellbeing model and the Pro-environmental Behaviour model. The Wellbeing model explained 16%, 13% and 3% of the variance in mental health, life satisfaction and physical health, respectively. Both the amount of neighbourhood vegetation and participation in the planting scheme were associated with the wellbeing measures. Neighbourhood Satisfaction (both nature and social), the use of nature for Psychological Restoration and Pro-environmental Behaviour were significant mediators. The Pro-environmental Behaviour model explained 38% of the variance in PEB. Participation in the planting scheme was associated with increases in PEB but the level of neighbourhood vegetation was not. Connection with Nature was the sole mediator of the relationship between participation in the planting scheme and PEB. Socio-demographic characterisations and the amount of time people spent outdoors were not necessary to explain wellbeing or PEB beyond the effect of neighbourhood vegetation or participating in the planting scheme. A final combined model, Wellbeing +Pro-environmental Behaviour, explained more of the variance in mental health (22%), satisfaction with life (16%) and PEB (45%) than the individual Wellbeing and Pro-environmental Behaviour models but did not explain physical health. Connection with Nature and Environmental Attitude were additional mediators and the amount of neighbourhood vegetation level influenced PEB. The strength of the effects of vegetation level and the planting scheme on the wellbeing measures were about the same as in the Wellbeing model. This was a less parsimonious model. I have demonstrated that the resources invested into greening Wellington City added significantly to the quality of residents’ lives, via their relationship with nature and increased wellbeing, and were associated with increases in PEB. I have identified mediators that synergistically facilitate the relationship between urban vegetation, a community planting scheme, PEB and human wellbeing and helped clarify the positive effect of vegetation in the immediate vicinity of residents’ homes on residents’ wellbeing. The effect of biologically depauperate neighbourhoods on residents’ quality of life requires further investigation. My findings suggest the promotion of time in nature and increases in the amount of urban planting, particularly trees, may be an effective public health intervention and also result in increased PEB. The demonstrated diversity of nature’s benefits and value may provide motivation for greater investment in urban greening and broader conservation initiatives by government.</p>

Urban Vegetation, Wellbeing and Pro-environmental Behaviour: A Socio-ecological Experiment in Wellington City, New Zealand

<p>The challenges ahead for sustainability and biodiversity conservation require a better understanding of the relationship human beings have with the natural environment. The evidence that nature has a positive influence on human wellbeing is extensive but there is uncertainty about the influence of urban vegetation in the immediate vicinity of residents’ homes. Current research is also inconclusive as to the mechanisms that underlie the relationship between nature, human wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. I investigated whether engagement with urban nature influenced the wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour (PEB) of residents of Wellington City, New Zealand. Engagement with nature was specified by the amount of vegetation cover in urban neighbourhoods and participation in a community-planting scheme. Wellbeing was assessed by measures of mental and physical health and satisfaction with life. Firstly, I aimed to describe the population of people who participated in the community planting scheme and identify the motivation, barriers and benefits associated with participation. Secondly, I aimed to test hypotheses about the relationship between urban residents and the natural environment using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM): 1. Exposure to vegetation in residents’ immediate neighbourhood and/or participation in the planting scheme has a positive influence on residents’ wellbeing and PEB. 2. The effect of nature on wellbeing or PEB is mediated by a number of socio-psychological constructs, such as Connection with Nature, use of nature for Psychological Restoration, Neighbourhood Satisfaction, (both social and natural aspects of the neighbourhood) and Environmental Attitude. PEB also mediates the nature-wellbeing relationship. Finally, I wanted to determine if adding socio-demographic variables and the amount of time residents spent outdoors could improve the models. A stratified random sample of 20 neighbourhoods across Wellington City was selected. The neighbourhoods varied in their amount and type of vegetation cover. The amount of vegetation cover was determined by site visits and using maps, with a 5 x 5 m ² grid, which showed vegetation cover and property boundaries. I quantified the mediator and wellbeing variables using existing measures, some of which were modified, and by developing some constructs based on the literature. The usefulness of these constructs was confirmed by an Exploratory Factor Analysis in SPSS. I conducted a postal survey during October 2012 of 1200 households in the 20 neighbourhoods of Wellington City to test my hypotheses. Thirty-six percent of surveys were returned (N = 428) which resulted in 423 useable surveys. Respondents who participated in the planting scheme were more likely to be married or in a partnership, highly educated and New Zealand Europeans. They also had a greater connection with nature, used nature more for psychological restoration and had stronger higher environmental attitudes and PEB those respondents who did not participle in the planting scheme. The most frequently reported barrier to participation was the lack of time and the most commonly reported benefits corresponded to the stated motivation, which was to improve the appearance of participants’ immediate neighbourhood. A priori mediation models were specified. Structural Equation Modelling followed by Information Theoretic model selection and inference using Akaike Information Criterion identified the leading influences and tested the hypotheses for wellbeing and PEB. All the a priori models fitted the data. Model selection resulted in two parsimonious models being identified, the Wellbeing model and the Pro-environmental Behaviour model. The Wellbeing model explained 16%, 13% and 3% of the variance in mental health, life satisfaction and physical health, respectively. Both the amount of neighbourhood vegetation and participation in the planting scheme were associated with the wellbeing measures. Neighbourhood Satisfaction (both nature and social), the use of nature for Psychological Restoration and Pro-environmental Behaviour were significant mediators. The Pro-environmental Behaviour model explained 38% of the variance in PEB. Participation in the planting scheme was associated with increases in PEB but the level of neighbourhood vegetation was not. Connection with Nature was the sole mediator of the relationship between participation in the planting scheme and PEB. Socio-demographic characterisations and the amount of time people spent outdoors were not necessary to explain wellbeing or PEB beyond the effect of neighbourhood vegetation or participating in the planting scheme. A final combined model, Wellbeing +Pro-environmental Behaviour, explained more of the variance in mental health (22%), satisfaction with life (16%) and PEB (45%) than the individual Wellbeing and Pro-environmental Behaviour models but did not explain physical health. Connection with Nature and Environmental Attitude were additional mediators and the amount of neighbourhood vegetation level influenced PEB. The strength of the effects of vegetation level and the planting scheme on the wellbeing measures were about the same as in the Wellbeing model. This was a less parsimonious model. I have demonstrated that the resources invested into greening Wellington City added significantly to the quality of residents’ lives, via their relationship with nature and increased wellbeing, and were associated with increases in PEB. I have identified mediators that synergistically facilitate the relationship between urban vegetation, a community planting scheme, PEB and human wellbeing and helped clarify the positive effect of vegetation in the immediate vicinity of residents’ homes on residents’ wellbeing. The effect of biologically depauperate neighbourhoods on residents’ quality of life requires further investigation. My findings suggest the promotion of time in nature and increases in the amount of urban planting, particularly trees, may be an effective public health intervention and also result in increased PEB. The demonstrated diversity of nature’s benefits and value may provide motivation for greater investment in urban greening and broader conservation initiatives by government.</p>

No man is an island: The sustainability awareness effect of geography on hedonic fashion consumption and connection with nature – evidence from Galápagos and Hawaiʻi

The demand for ever-accelerating fast fashion is unprecedented, while its supply chain burdens environmental systems. Hedonic fashion consumption is generally unfettered by sustainability concerns, but evidence suggests that island geographies–with dense boundaries between the built and the natural environment–have a heightening effect on eco-consciousness. A framework based on the contemporary condition of hyperconsumption is proposed: island geography heightens sustainability awareness; consequently, fashion consumers located on islands trade-off perceived hedonic benefits of fashion consumption against perceived moral benefits of connection with nature. The framework is supported by visual evidence collected on the Galápagos island Santa Cruz, indicating that male fashion consumers express connection with nature by means of tattoos, slogans on clothing and choice of eco-friendly materials. Quantitative tests with survey data from the United States and Ecuador show that residents in Hawaiʻi and the Galápagos have higher levels of connection with nature compared to residents on the associated continental areas. This effect is mediated by decreased perceived rewards of hedonic fashion consumption, but the effect is overall weaker in Ecuador compared to the United States due to differences in purchasing power and attitudes towards consumerism. Because of the stereotype that eco-friendly is unmanly, men are generally less likely to embrace environmentally friendly products and the findings of this research point to avenues to overcome this barrier.

Five Roles for Psychologists in Addressing Climate Change, and How They Are Informed by Responses to the COVID-19 Outbreak

This paper discusses five areas where psychologists have roles in helping to address climate change, its effects on the planet and human beings, these five areas are as follows: (1) Changing human behaviors that are causing climate change. (2) Increasing human connection with nature in positive ways to heal both the planet and human beings. (3) Advising and assisting on leadership for good governance to protect the planet. (4) Providing support and psychological interventions for those affected by climate change. (5) Preparing for bad outcomes and helping adaptation and survival should these occur. This paper considers the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and how responses to it give insights for responses to climate change.

National calendar, some historical days, our traditions and spiritual values

It is the people who make the history live, the people is the living history. The ancient inhabitants of the universe, our ancestors, our great ancestors created separate calendars on the basis of their experimental knowledge about the change of the year, month and day. The folk calendar, the lunar calendar, the solar calendar, and the lunar-solar calendar are the meanings that human beings have discovered by studying the mysteries of nature. As a result of man's connection with nature in every field, his observation and comparison, a folk calendar was formed. According to the folk calendar, our ancient ancestors, depending on the movement of celestial bodies, falling leaves from above or below in autumn, the position of clouds in the sky, the redness of the horizon in the morning or evening, the behavior of animals, birds flying close to the ground, weather, rain or snow predicted hurricanes and storms, earthquakes, hot and dry summers, and harsh winters.

Attitude toward Nature in School and University Students from Megalopolis

The problem of attitude to nature and especially to plants, despite a large number of works, remains still actual. This paper describes the study of gender and age aspects of the attitude towards nature among modern teenagers and youth living in a megapolis. An assumption was made that college students as compared with schoolchildren, as well as girls compared with boys, may have a more positive attitude to nature, and their connection with nature is stronger. The study used «Naturaphil» (S.D. Deryabo, V.A. Yаsvin) method and the questionnaire «People and plants» (S.K. Nartova-Bochaver, E.A. Mukhortova). 144 respondents were surveyed, 102 females and 42 males, including 72 collegestudents (Mage=20.56) and 72 eighth grade school students (Mage=14.0). The age- and gender-related characteristics are described of the attitude to nature, the structure of the attitude to nature and plants in teenagers and students is presented. The leading component in the structure of relations to nature in the entire sample is the perceptual-affective component; the less in intensity were the scales actional, practical, and cognitive. The results obtained indicate that in youth, the strength of connection with nature may appear higher than in adolescence. Certain gender differences were also established: the indicators of the questionnaire «People and plants» are significantly higher in the female group. Girls were characterized by a more positive attitude to the plant world: they obtained a higher overall score, as well as on the scales of Aesthetics, Connection with nature and Ecology.

Runaway beauty as a cultural reality and empatic experience

The aesthetic foundations of culture are in the constant focus not only of humanitarian knowledge, but also serve as an actual subject of interdisciplinary research. The article argues the view of beauty as an imperative of culture and the experience of aestheticе trial. Beauty understanding is not shown to consist of the punctual detailing of beauty. The beauty of the object is higher than the object itself the beauty is a specific cultural phenomenon. Gaining the freedom through the beauty, a person restores his lost connection with nature and expands the boundaries of his being, his desires and opportunities. In beauty, the world is filled with meaning and assembled in harmony. Beauty has always remained a desirable, but elusive phenomenon for a person. In the aesthetic imagination of the drama of being, human nature finds the ability to overcome unbearable pain from its anthropological insufficiency and ontological alienation from the world that surrounds it and which it creates.

Analysing the Relationship between University Students’ Ecological Footprint and Their Connection with Nature and Pro-Environmental Attitude

In the last decade, universities worldwide have adopted various measures intended to promote sustainability in higher education and include it in the curriculum. However, although this paradigm shift appears to be contributing to students’ acquisition of the knowledge, skills and values necessary to fight for a more sustainable world, serious global crises such as the present SARS-CoV-2 pandemic oblige us to rethink our behaviour and spur us to accelerate the move towards a deep-seated commitment to the environment and people. Therefore, the aims of this study were (a) to explore consumption habits in students at four Spanish universities by analysing their individual ecological footprint (EF); (b) to develop indices of connection with nature and a pro-environmental attitude and to determine relationships between these indices and students’ consumption. Among other factors, our results showed that private university students have a higher EF than public university students; that food consumption has the greatest impact on individuals’ EF; and that those who consume more sustainably do not show a more pro-environmental attitude or feel a greater connection with nature. Therefore, we conclude that there was no apparent direct relationship between study participants’ convictions and their daily behaviour. There is a pressing need in education to demonstrate the connection between our actions and their environmental impact.