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Mark White, University of VirginiaDan Abel, Coastal Carolina University

Amy Predmore, Charlottesville

Erin Webb, Commerce/ETP ’12Sarah Peterson, Politics ’11

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Sustainability at Sea:Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Version 2-0

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the margin for action narrows

you are here

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26,000 miles109 days

15 ports in 10 countries

580 students / 32 faculty90 classes250 field practica/trips

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One Earth, One Future

Sustainability is the theme of the Spring 2010 voyage of Semester at Sea. We define sustainability as a “society of permanence” – a world in which humanity ensures its well-being across the generations by improving the stability of ecological and sociocultural systems ...

SOURCE: SAS Voyage Theme, Spring 2010

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DOMINANTSOCIAL PARADIGM

• Support for free enterprise

• Belief in unlimited growth• Commitment to limited

government

• Devotion to private property rights

• Emphasis on individualism

• Faith in science and technology

• Faith in future material abundance and prosperity

• Support for the status quo

NEWECOLOGICAL PARADIGM

• Recognition of limited resources

• Awareness of the fragility of nature’s balance

• Rejection of human exemptionalism

• Ecocentric vs. anthropocentric point of view

• Belief in the probability of an eco-crisis

aka “Spaceship Earth”

Dunlap and van Liere (1978); Dunlap et al. (2000)

6What Did We Do?

Empirical StudySustainability on the Voyage

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field practica

“walking the talk”co-curricular activities

global studies elective courses

evening programs

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Empirical StudyNew Ecological Paradigm (NEP) ScaleDunlap and Van Liere (1978); Dunlap et al. (2000)

Research Questions

1. Are our results comparable with other studies? (validity)

2. How is ecological worldview related to various demographic characteristics?

3. Did participation in the voyage shift students’ ecological worldview and/or environmental attitudes?

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Characteristics of theSample Population• n = 215

• 71% female

• 68% juniors

• variety of disciplines26% business/economics

• diversity of geographic regions,institutional sizes,Sustainability Report Card scores

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50.86 - 57.08 USA studentsHawcroft and Milfont, 2010

Comparisons with Other Studies

56.88 Pre-Survey

57.14 Post-Survey

Range = +15 (weak ecological worldview) to +75 (strong ecological worldview)

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NEP Scoresand Demographic Characteristics

Females Males BusinessMajors

Non-BusinessMajors

WesternRegions

Non-WesternRegions

NEP

Sco

re

15

25

35

45

55

65

75

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Human ingenuity will insure that we do NOT make the earth

unlivable (4)

Humans will eventually learn enough about how nature works

to control it (14)

Human have the right to modify the natural world to suit their

needs (2)

The so-called “ecological crisis” facing humankind has been

greatly exaggerated (10)

The earth has plenty of natural resources if we just learn how to

develop them (6)

1 = Strongly agree, 2 = Mildly agree, 3 = Unsure, 4 = Mildly disagree, 5 = strongly disagree. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.Greater disagreement with even-numbered items indicates greater acceptance of the NEP.

Shifts in Pre- and Post-SurveyEnvironmental Attitudes

0 1 2 3 4 5

Pre-SurveyPost-Survey

Anti-ExemptionAnti-Anthropomorphism

Eco-Crisis

Limits

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Change in NEP Scoresand Report Card Grades

Mea

n Ch

ange

in N

EP

Scor

e

-6.00

-4.00

-2.00

0.00

2.00

4.00

6.00

Below Average Average Above Average

Sustainability Report Card Grades

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SummaryAround-the-world sustainability-themed voyage

Learning objective = changed worldview

Integrated curricular and co-curricular activities

Survey evidence

Behavioral evidence

Anecdotal evidence

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“Now, let me share with you one word, “sustainability” … I cannot possibly share with you all that I have learned about our environmentally twisted planet from these past four months but I can give you a summary. We’re on the wrong track. The state of

this planet both environmentally andsocially is heading down a road thatwe probably shouldn’t be on …Environmentally, the planet is heating up. Like a bowl of microwaveable Easy-Mac,bad things happen when you let it gettoo hot. To identify only a few concerns from the extensive list of issues, watersare rising, extinction is becoming toocommon, and many lives, both humanand not, are at risk.

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“Each day in the classroom we were pummeled and overwhelmed with information regarding the unstable conditions of our planet. We

saw current problems, potential future ones, and learned of catastrophic possibilities. I won’t lie to you -- we didn’t stop global

warming. We didn’t eradicate hunger or end poverty. In fact, we may have only shot one tiny bullet in this battle for the improvement of our planet. But as the old saying goes, “knowledge is power!” It is.

Trust me. What we learned from this program was all the weapons and coat of arms we need to have a chance in winning this fight. By

arming us with knowledge for both now and the future, 586 students disembarked yesterday with a firm grasp on what needs to be

done to support the soil we stand on.”

-- Chris Constantinehttp://chrisconstantinesas.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html

Environmental Attitudesin Germany and the USA

•US business students will be less likely to support the NEP than German business students; neither group will strongly support the NEP

•American students will express more support for the DSP tenets of human exemptionalism, exaggeration of ecocrises, and anthropocentrism

•The difference between the two groups on the issue of limits to human growth will be less distinct

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are needed to see this picture.

John Locke, 1632-1704

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are needed to see this picture.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778

Sarah Peterson, Harrison Award (2010-11)

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White, M. A., Abel, D. & A. Predmore (2011). Transformative Sustainability Education in a Shipboard Living-learning Community. Forthcoming in World Trends in Education for Sustainable Development, W. Leal, Ed., Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

White, M. A., Predmore, A. and D. Abel. (2011). Effectiveness of a Seagoing Global Immersion Program in Fostering Ecological Awareness. Working paper. Under review at the Journal of Environmental Education

Dunlap, R. E., & van Liere, K. D. (1978). The ‘New Environmental Paradigm’: A Proposed Measuring Instrument and Preliminary Results. Journal of Environmental Education, 9, 10-19.

Dunlap, R. E., van Liere, K. D., Mertig, A. G., & Jones, R. E. (2000). Measuring Endorsement of the New Ecological Paradigm: A Revised NEP Scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425-442.

Hawcroft, L. J., & Milfont, T. L. (2010). The Use (and Abuse) of the New Environmental Paradigm Scale over the Last 30 years: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 143-158.

If You’d Like to Learn More ...

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Mark White, University of VirginiaDan Abel, Coastal Carolina University

Amy Predmore, Charlottesville

Erin Webb, Commerce/ETP ’12Sarah Peterson, Politics ’11

23

Sustainability at Sea:Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes

Version 1-8