97
Chapter 7
Attitudes and Environmental Citizenship
Nicole Bauer, Boldizsár Megyesi, Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir,
and Cristina Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir
7.1 Discourses on Environmental Citizenship
Environmental Citizenship (EC) is usually defined as a citizenship driven by green
ideas which result in environmentally friendly actions (see, e.g. Dobson and Bell
2006:23–24). Green political theory sees Environmental Citizenship as an important element in transition to sustainability (Barry 2002). In this context, an expanded
view on citizenship is needed to achieve positive outcomes for the environment by
way of personal lifestyle changes and/or citizen participation in environmental
decision- making (Schild 2016), and some researchers see environmental education
(EE) as a way to cultivate Environmental Citizenship.
The personal duty approach or lifestyle approach argues that each individual has
the responsibility to take actions that protect the environment while also claiming
rights to environmental goods (Schild 2016). Another approach claims that both
individual and collective actions are needed to achieve Environmental Citizenship
N. Bauer (*)
Economics and Social Sciences, Social Sciences in Landscape Research, Swiss Federal
Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
e-mail: nicole.bauer@wsl.ch
B. Megyesi
Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
e-mail: Megyesi.Boldizsar@tk.mta.hu
R. Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir
Department of Terrestrial Communication Ways, Foundations and Cadastre, Politehnica
University Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
C. Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir
Career Guidance and Counselling Office, Politehnica University Timisoara,
Timisoara, Romania
© The Author(s) 2020
A. Ch. Hadjichambis et al. (eds.), Conceptualizing Environmental Citizenship
for 21st Century Education, Environmental Discourses in Science Education 4,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20249-1_7
Chapter 7
Attitudes and Environmental Citizenship
Nicole Bauer, Boldizsár Megyesi, Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir,
and Cristina Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir
7.1 Discourses on Environmental Citizenship
Environmental Citizenship (EC) is usually defined as a citizenship driven by green
ideas which result in environmentally friendly actions (see, e.g. Dobson and Bell
2006:23–24). Green political theory sees Environmental Citizenship as an important element in transition to sustainability (Barry 2002). In this context, an expanded
view on citizenship is needed to achieve positive outcomes for the environment by
way of personal lifestyle changes and/or citizen participation in environmental
decision- making (Schild 2016), and some researchers see environmental education
(EE) as a way to cultivate Environmental Citizenship.
The personal duty approach or lifestyle approach argues that each individual has
the responsibility to take actions that protect the environment while also claiming
rights to environmental goods (Schild 2016). Another approach claims that both
individual and collective actions are needed to achieve Environmental Citizenship
N. Bauer (*)
Economics and Social Sciences, Social Sciences in Landscape Research, Swiss Federal
Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland
e-mail: nicole.bauer@wsl.ch
B. Megyesi
Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
e-mail: Megyesi.Boldizsar@tk.mta.hu
R. Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir
Department of Terrestrial Communication Ways, Foundations and Cadastre, Politehnica
University Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania
C. Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir
Career Guidance and Counselling Office, Politehnica University Timisoara,
Timisoara, Romania
© The Author(s) 2020
A. Ch. Hadjichambis et al. (eds.), Conceptualizing Environmental Citizenship
for 21st Century Education, Environmental Discourses in Science Education 4,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20249-1_7