example, coastal regions proffer the opportunity for fish stocks but also present
hazards to human life and property.
Do we fear the right things? Communications about danger signals from the
environment and risk assessment were useful historically and are still useful, even if
only a small proportion of disaster forecasts become reality. Additionally, we are
able to forecast dramatic events from very small danger signals by using a combination of fantasy and logic. As a consequence, humans are sometimes overcautious
and sometimes heedless. Thus, behaviour has always been adjusted in relation to our
knowledge and readiness to evaluate the probability of a risk. Therefore, the answer
is clearly Yes: in many cases we fear the right things. And, again, Yes: nothing is
wrong with the fact that we are sometimes overcautious. And, also, No: sometimes
we do not forecast and instead reap the catastrophe.
In general, the focus of the awareness of humans is directed towards survival and
the avoidance of pain. Thus, the state of ecosystems, the survival of natural habitats,
and maintaining high species diversity on Earth are not the central goals of our
environmental consciousness. This is true even if further species decline limits
sociocultural perspectives and the well-being of humans. The subtle pressure of a
growing human population on ecosystems and biodiversity does not receive the
same attention and fear-response as do catastrophic events involving humans.
3.3 Communication and Environmental Education
Communication about nature and the environment has always been important
throughout the history of humankind. We assume that humans learned about their
environment by walking around, making observations, engaging in trial and error,
and trying to overcome unfavourable conditions by practical solutions or migration.
Knowledge was passed from generation to generation through experience, practice
and narratives, often in the form of myths or legends, which helped explain the
relation of people to their environment and environmental disasters. However, this
assumption is justified by theories and plausibility rather than hard empirical facts,
since we do not know much about learning and education before humans created
documents and other media to communicate complex matters.
The exchange of information developed from oral to written, from local to
global, and during the last century to digital. It is arguable that much of the
traditional ecological knowledge handed down orally in the past has been lost—
indigenous peoples were tied more strongly to their environment and the need to
maintain that environment for their own well-being, while urbanization has led to the
opposite. Thus, scientific communication considered the lack of knowledge to be the
barrier for implementing policy, but such a deficit-model communication has proven
ineffective. Indeed, with the digital age, the amount of information has simply
exploded and overwhelmed public debates around conservation.
The development of environmental education represents a chronological
sequence over a long time-period and can be divided in different phases:
458
C. Hobohm et al.
hazards to human life and property.
Do we fear the right things? Communications about danger signals from the
environment and risk assessment were useful historically and are still useful, even if
only a small proportion of disaster forecasts become reality. Additionally, we are
able to forecast dramatic events from very small danger signals by using a combination of fantasy and logic. As a consequence, humans are sometimes overcautious
and sometimes heedless. Thus, behaviour has always been adjusted in relation to our
knowledge and readiness to evaluate the probability of a risk. Therefore, the answer
is clearly Yes: in many cases we fear the right things. And, again, Yes: nothing is
wrong with the fact that we are sometimes overcautious. And, also, No: sometimes
we do not forecast and instead reap the catastrophe.
In general, the focus of the awareness of humans is directed towards survival and
the avoidance of pain. Thus, the state of ecosystems, the survival of natural habitats,
and maintaining high species diversity on Earth are not the central goals of our
environmental consciousness. This is true even if further species decline limits
sociocultural perspectives and the well-being of humans. The subtle pressure of a
growing human population on ecosystems and biodiversity does not receive the
same attention and fear-response as do catastrophic events involving humans.
3.3 Communication and Environmental Education
Communication about nature and the environment has always been important
throughout the history of humankind. We assume that humans learned about their
environment by walking around, making observations, engaging in trial and error,
and trying to overcome unfavourable conditions by practical solutions or migration.
Knowledge was passed from generation to generation through experience, practice
and narratives, often in the form of myths or legends, which helped explain the
relation of people to their environment and environmental disasters. However, this
assumption is justified by theories and plausibility rather than hard empirical facts,
since we do not know much about learning and education before humans created
documents and other media to communicate complex matters.
The exchange of information developed from oral to written, from local to
global, and during the last century to digital. It is arguable that much of the
traditional ecological knowledge handed down orally in the past has been lost—
indigenous peoples were tied more strongly to their environment and the need to
maintain that environment for their own well-being, while urbanization has led to the
opposite. Thus, scientific communication considered the lack of knowledge to be the
barrier for implementing policy, but such a deficit-model communication has proven
ineffective. Indeed, with the digital age, the amount of information has simply
exploded and overwhelmed public debates around conservation.
The development of environmental education represents a chronological
sequence over a long time-period and can be divided in different phases:
458
C. Hobohm et al.