Environmental Literacy In Science And Society

In an era where humans affect virtually all of the earth's processes, questions arise about whether we have sufficient knowledge of human-environment interactions. How can we sustain the Earth's ecosystems to prevent collapses and what roles should practitioners and scientists play in this process? These are the issues central to the concept of environmental literacy. This unique book provides a comprehensive review and analysis of environmental literacy within the context of environmental science and sustainable development. Approaching the topic from multiple perspectives, it explores the development of human understanding of the environment and human-environment interactions in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, economics and industrial ecology. The discussion emphasises the importance of knowledge integration and transdisciplinary processes as key strategies for understanding complex human-environment systems (HES). In addition, the author defines the HES framework as a template for investigating sustainably coupled human-environment systems in the 21st century.

In an era where humans affect virtually all of the earth's processes, questions arise about whether we have sufficient knowledge of human-environment interactions. How can we sustain the Earth's ecosystems to prevent collapses and what roles should practitioners and scientists play in this process? These are the issues central to the concept of environmental literacy. This unique book provides a comprehensive review and analysis of environmental literacy within the context of environmental science and sustainable development. Approaching the topic from multiple perspectives, it explores the development of human understanding of the environment and human-environment interactions in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, economics and industrial ecology. The discussion emphasises the importance of knowledge integration and transdisciplinary processes as key strategies for understanding complex human-environment systems (HES). In addition, the author defines the HES framework as a template for investigating sustainably coupled human-environment systems in the 21st century.

Science is a way of knowing about the world. At once a process, a product, and an institution, science enables people to both engage in the construction of new knowledge as well as use information to achieve desired ends. Access to scienceâ€"whether using knowledge or creating itâ€"necessitates some level of familiarity with the enterprise and practice of science: we refer to this as science literacy. Science literacy is desirable not only for individuals, but also for the health and well- being of communities and society. More than just basic knowledge of science facts, contemporary definitions of science literacy have expanded to include understandings of scientific processes and practices, familiarity with how science and scientists work, a capacity to weigh and evaluate the products of science, and an ability to engage in civic decisions about the value of science. Although science literacy has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of individuals, individuals are nested within communities that are nested within societiesâ€"and, as a result, individual science literacy is limited or enhanced by the circumstances of that nesting. Science Literacy studies the role of science literacy in public support of science. This report synthesizes the available research literature on science literacy, makes recommendations on the need to improve the understanding of science and scientific research in the United States, and considers the relationship between scientific literacy and support for and use of science and research.

This book provides a fascinating insight into the on-going process of self- reflection in the Science|Environment|Health (S|E|H) community. The basic vision of a new S|E|H pedagogy is to establish a transdisciplinary dialogue between the three educational fields of science education, environmental education, and health education. This approach finds growing interest among science educators. Since 2014, the ESERA special interest group S|E|H has united both experienced and junior researchers all over Europe in a burgeoning research community. This book presents a selection of results of these vibrant activities. Systems theory has turned out to be a stimulating theoretical framework for S|E|H. The limits of predictability in complex living systems result in structural uncertainty for decision-making, and they ask for emphasising and rethinking the role of pedagogical concepts like informed citizenship and scientific literacy. They challenge crude scientific determinism in environmental and health education, which all too often ends up with students’ eco- and health depression. Instead, S|E|H conceives coping with uncertainty in terms of an interplay between cognitive and affective factors. The horizon of the future remains always open. Hope must never die in a new S|E|H pedagogy. Chapter 3 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book bridges the gap between two critical issues—environmental literacy and social norms – and explores various topics and case studies from Sinophone and Taiwanese perspectives. Each chapter includes extensive information on pro-environmental behaviors, and on people with working experiences, home experiences, and actual philosophies in their daily lives. In keeping with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this book highlights our potential to contribute to social inclusion and environmental protection, and offers a comprehensive guide for scholars, students, practitioners, and entrepreneurs in environmental education and related disciplines.

As the role of science and technology in everyday life grows both more pervasive and more complex, it has become ever more difficult for a scientifically "illiterate" public to make informed judgments. In Science, Nonscience, and Nonsense, Michael Zimmerman takes on a wide range of falsifiers, disinformation specialists, and charlatans to provide readers with the scientific background necessary to evaluate environmental and other current issues that increasingly may be a matter of life and death. Zimmerman begins by showing just what science is - and how the criteria of skepticism and falsifiability distinguish it from pseudoscience and mysticism. He offers intelligent, entertaining, and sometimes scathing analyses of bad science - from lottery "systems" and creationism to graphologists and homeopaths, from food and product safety scams to outright scientific fraud. In each case he shows exactly what to watch for - how the most outrageously false claims often contain a grain of truth, and how valid scientific findings may be distorted or selectively quoted to serve the ends of government, business, or special interest groups.

This book brings together ecologists, environmental philosophers and educators to address concerns over advocacy in environmental education.