Environmental Systems & Societies - Unit 1 Notes
1.1 – Foundations of Environmental Systems & Societies
Significant Ideas:
Historical events, among other influences, affect the development of environmental value
systems (EVSs) and environmental movements.
There is a wide spectrum of EVSs, each with its own premises and implications.
Knowledge and Understanding:
Significant historical influences on the development of the environmental movement have
come from literature, the media, major environmental disasters, international agreements
and technological developments.
An EVS is a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual, or group of people,
perceives and evaluates environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic
and socio-political contexts.
An EVS might be considered as a system in the sense that it may be influenced by education,
experience, culture and media (inputs), and involves a set of interrelated premises, values
and arguments that can generate consistent decisions and evaluations (outputs).
There is a spectrum of EVSs, from ecocentric through anthropocentric to technocentric.
An ecocentric viewpoint integrates social, spiritual and environmental dimensions into a
holistic ideal. It puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizes a less
materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies. An ecocentric
viewpoint prioritizes biorights, emphasizes the importance of education and encourages
self-restraint in human behaviour.
An anthropocentric viewpoint argues that humans must sustainably manage the global
system. This might be through the use of taxes, environmental regulation and legislation.
Debate would be encouraged to reach a consensual, pragmatic approach to solving
environmental problems.
A technocentric viewpoint argues that technological developments can provide solutions to
environmental problems. This is a consequence of a largely optimistic view of the role
humans can play in improving the lot of humanity. Scientific research is encouraged in order
to form policies and to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed
to solve resource depletion. A pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society’s
improvement.
There are extremes at either end of this spectrum (for example, deep ecologists– ecocentric
to cornucopian–technocentric), but in practice, EVSs vary greatly depending on cultures and
time periods, and they rarely fit simply or perfectly into any classification.
A society is an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristics, such
as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective,
value system and so on.
Environmental Value Systems
environmental value system (EVS) - a particular world view that influences the way an
individual or group of people recognize and evaluate environmental issues.
, An environmental value system (EVS) is influenced by cultural factors. An EVS is also influenced by
economic and socio-political context, such as whether the society is more economically developed
or less economically developed, or from a democratic or authoritarian society.
EVS inputs include education, cultural influences, religious texts and the media, whereas the outputs
are perspectives and our courses of action regarding environmental issues.
An environmental value system has transfers and transformations. Flows of information into
individuals within societies can undergo transformations into changed awareness of the
environment and changed decisions about how best to act on environmental issues.
Ecosystem Social System
Flows energy and matter information, ideas, people
Storage biomass, atmosphere, soils, lakes, rivers environmental value systems
Levels trophic levels social levels
Producers plants, algae, and some bacteria authors, directors, theorists
Consumers consume other organisms absorb and process new input
The Range of Environmental Philosophies
environmental philosophy - a world view determined by an environmental value system.
cornucopian - a technocentrist who believes that continued progress and providing material
items for humanity can be met by continued advances in technology.
environmental manager - an anthropocentrist who believes that humans should manage
natural systems for economic profit.
self-reliance soft ecologist - an anthropocentrist who believes that communities should play
an active role in environmental issues.
There are problems associated with the use of fossil fuels, such as global warming. A technocentrist
in this situation would:
use science to find a useful alternative, such as hydrogen fuel cells; technocentrists see this
as a good example of resource replacement, where an environmentally damaging industry
can be replaced by an alternative one.
develop technology to reduce the output of carbon dioxide from fuel use rather than change
lifestyles to reduce the use of fuel.
say that economic systems have a vested interest in being efficient so the existing problems
will self-correct given enough time.
believe that a technology-centred environmental philosophy would predict that market
pressure would eventually result in lowering of carbon dioxide emission levels.
believe that scientific efforts should be focused on removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere rather than slowing economic growth.
An ecocentrist’s approach to the same problem would:
call for the reduction of greenhouse gases through limiting existing gas-emitting industry,
even if this restricts economic growth.
say that people should change their lifestyle to reduce fossil fuel use; reduction in energy
consumption and lower consumption overall would reduce fossil fuel use.
1.1 – Foundations of Environmental Systems & Societies
Significant Ideas:
Historical events, among other influences, affect the development of environmental value
systems (EVSs) and environmental movements.
There is a wide spectrum of EVSs, each with its own premises and implications.
Knowledge and Understanding:
Significant historical influences on the development of the environmental movement have
come from literature, the media, major environmental disasters, international agreements
and technological developments.
An EVS is a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual, or group of people,
perceives and evaluates environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic
and socio-political contexts.
An EVS might be considered as a system in the sense that it may be influenced by education,
experience, culture and media (inputs), and involves a set of interrelated premises, values
and arguments that can generate consistent decisions and evaluations (outputs).
There is a spectrum of EVSs, from ecocentric through anthropocentric to technocentric.
An ecocentric viewpoint integrates social, spiritual and environmental dimensions into a
holistic ideal. It puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizes a less
materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies. An ecocentric
viewpoint prioritizes biorights, emphasizes the importance of education and encourages
self-restraint in human behaviour.
An anthropocentric viewpoint argues that humans must sustainably manage the global
system. This might be through the use of taxes, environmental regulation and legislation.
Debate would be encouraged to reach a consensual, pragmatic approach to solving
environmental problems.
A technocentric viewpoint argues that technological developments can provide solutions to
environmental problems. This is a consequence of a largely optimistic view of the role
humans can play in improving the lot of humanity. Scientific research is encouraged in order
to form policies and to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed
to solve resource depletion. A pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society’s
improvement.
There are extremes at either end of this spectrum (for example, deep ecologists– ecocentric
to cornucopian–technocentric), but in practice, EVSs vary greatly depending on cultures and
time periods, and they rarely fit simply or perfectly into any classification.
A society is an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristics, such
as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective,
value system and so on.
Environmental Value Systems
environmental value system (EVS) - a particular world view that influences the way an
individual or group of people recognize and evaluate environmental issues.
, An environmental value system (EVS) is influenced by cultural factors. An EVS is also influenced by
economic and socio-political context, such as whether the society is more economically developed
or less economically developed, or from a democratic or authoritarian society.
EVS inputs include education, cultural influences, religious texts and the media, whereas the outputs
are perspectives and our courses of action regarding environmental issues.
An environmental value system has transfers and transformations. Flows of information into
individuals within societies can undergo transformations into changed awareness of the
environment and changed decisions about how best to act on environmental issues.
Ecosystem Social System
Flows energy and matter information, ideas, people
Storage biomass, atmosphere, soils, lakes, rivers environmental value systems
Levels trophic levels social levels
Producers plants, algae, and some bacteria authors, directors, theorists
Consumers consume other organisms absorb and process new input
The Range of Environmental Philosophies
environmental philosophy - a world view determined by an environmental value system.
cornucopian - a technocentrist who believes that continued progress and providing material
items for humanity can be met by continued advances in technology.
environmental manager - an anthropocentrist who believes that humans should manage
natural systems for economic profit.
self-reliance soft ecologist - an anthropocentrist who believes that communities should play
an active role in environmental issues.
There are problems associated with the use of fossil fuels, such as global warming. A technocentrist
in this situation would:
use science to find a useful alternative, such as hydrogen fuel cells; technocentrists see this
as a good example of resource replacement, where an environmentally damaging industry
can be replaced by an alternative one.
develop technology to reduce the output of carbon dioxide from fuel use rather than change
lifestyles to reduce the use of fuel.
say that economic systems have a vested interest in being efficient so the existing problems
will self-correct given enough time.
believe that a technology-centred environmental philosophy would predict that market
pressure would eventually result in lowering of carbon dioxide emission levels.
believe that scientific efforts should be focused on removing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere rather than slowing economic growth.
An ecocentrist’s approach to the same problem would:
call for the reduction of greenhouse gases through limiting existing gas-emitting industry,
even if this restricts economic growth.
say that people should change their lifestyle to reduce fossil fuel use; reduction in energy
consumption and lower consumption overall would reduce fossil fuel use.
