3
duty or lifestyle approach and the participatory rights approach coming from both
the liberal and republican political theories. The liberal approach gives emphasis on
individual responsibility and on claiming rights to environmental goods, whilst the
republican approach gives emphasis on participatory rights in decision-making, on
deliberation, on civic participation and on the commitment to the common good.
There are also some other political approaches of Environmental Citizenship
such as feminist, multiculturalism (pluralism) as well as cosmopolitan and neoliberal (globalism). Pluralism theories are adding to the political dialogue, the universalism and the exclusion of difference (Cao 2015). Within globalism theories,
cosmopolitan Environmental Citizenship emphasises the interconnection and interdependence on a global scale beyond state boundaries (Beck 2010). Neoliberalism
considers citizens as consumers; it advocates for the importance of corporations as
agents of citizenship and is expressed mainly by the concepts of sustainable consumption, green consumerism and consumer-sensitive lifestyles.
These different political and philosophical approaches, which in many points
seem to be contradicted, make the fostering of Environmental Citizenship by educational perspectives very complex and with unstable focus in its practical implications or educational practice.
1.2 The Need for Conceptualisation of Environmental
Citizenship
To date, a set of similar environmental terms relevant to Environmental Citizenship
have been developed and described in the educational literature, which are used
each time with their own operational definition. Accordingly, concepts such as
Environmental Citizenship (e.g. Dobson 2007, 2010), green citizenship (e.g. Barry
2006), ecological citizenship (e.g. Jagers and Matti 2010) and sustainability citizenship (e.g. Barry 2006) have not been clearly distinguished. Additionally, from an
educational point of view, they are not clearly different in nature and they often have
overlapping areas of interest among them. Therefore, the conceptualisation of the
term Environmental Citizenship from an educational perspective seems to be an
imperative educational necessity.
Furthermore, Environmental Citizenship is not elucidated defined in relation to
other relevant concepts such as environmental education, environmental behaviour,
environmental attitudes, environmental literacy, environmental knowledge, awareness, sustainability and sustainability education. The domain of Environmental
Citizenship is complex. Environmental Evidence Australia’s review (2012) concluded that agreement on what constitutes Environmental Citizenship and the most
effective tools and approaches for implementing Environmental Citizenship are still
emerging. The fragmented nature of the research findings and information related to
Environmental Citizenship constrains their effective incorporation into good practices and policy frameworks in the educational context.
1 Introduction to the Conceptualisation of Environmental Citizenship…
duty or lifestyle approach and the participatory rights approach coming from both
the liberal and republican political theories. The liberal approach gives emphasis on
individual responsibility and on claiming rights to environmental goods, whilst the
republican approach gives emphasis on participatory rights in decision-making, on
deliberation, on civic participation and on the commitment to the common good.
There are also some other political approaches of Environmental Citizenship
such as feminist, multiculturalism (pluralism) as well as cosmopolitan and neoliberal (globalism). Pluralism theories are adding to the political dialogue, the universalism and the exclusion of difference (Cao 2015). Within globalism theories,
cosmopolitan Environmental Citizenship emphasises the interconnection and interdependence on a global scale beyond state boundaries (Beck 2010). Neoliberalism
considers citizens as consumers; it advocates for the importance of corporations as
agents of citizenship and is expressed mainly by the concepts of sustainable consumption, green consumerism and consumer-sensitive lifestyles.
These different political and philosophical approaches, which in many points
seem to be contradicted, make the fostering of Environmental Citizenship by educational perspectives very complex and with unstable focus in its practical implications or educational practice.
1.2 The Need for Conceptualisation of Environmental
Citizenship
To date, a set of similar environmental terms relevant to Environmental Citizenship
have been developed and described in the educational literature, which are used
each time with their own operational definition. Accordingly, concepts such as
Environmental Citizenship (e.g. Dobson 2007, 2010), green citizenship (e.g. Barry
2006), ecological citizenship (e.g. Jagers and Matti 2010) and sustainability citizenship (e.g. Barry 2006) have not been clearly distinguished. Additionally, from an
educational point of view, they are not clearly different in nature and they often have
overlapping areas of interest among them. Therefore, the conceptualisation of the
term Environmental Citizenship from an educational perspective seems to be an
imperative educational necessity.
Furthermore, Environmental Citizenship is not elucidated defined in relation to
other relevant concepts such as environmental education, environmental behaviour,
environmental attitudes, environmental literacy, environmental knowledge, awareness, sustainability and sustainability education. The domain of Environmental
Citizenship is complex. Environmental Evidence Australia’s review (2012) concluded that agreement on what constitutes Environmental Citizenship and the most
effective tools and approaches for implementing Environmental Citizenship are still
emerging. The fragmented nature of the research findings and information related to
Environmental Citizenship constrains their effective incorporation into good practices and policy frameworks in the educational context.
1 Introduction to the Conceptualisation of Environmental Citizenship…