29
Chapter 3
Economic Dimensions of Environmental
Citizenship
Vladislav Kaputa, Katharina Lapin, Florian Leregger, and Haris Gekic
3.1 Introduction
The concept of Environmental Citizenship requires a critical discussion on economic development. Generally, economics ‘enjoys’ a negative attitude among citizens around the globe in relation to its impact on the state of the environment.
Simply put, business is in a role of ‘bad guy’ responsible for the degradation of (not
only human) environment. The term ‘economics’ is derived from the Greek word
oikonomia composed of the words oikos (house, household) and ‘nomos’ (rule,
law). First mentioned in ancient Greece, Aristotle termed economics as a science of
‘household management’. Over the centuries (and especially after the Industrial
Revolution), economic relations rose to the extent which cross national borders
causing interdependence and influence the quality of life of citizens across the
V. Kaputa (*)
Department of Marketing, Trade and World Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen,
Zvolen, Slovakia
e-mail: kaputa@tuzvo.sk
K. Lapin
Austrian Federal Research Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape,
Vienna, Austria
e-mail: katharina.lapin@bfw.gv.at
F. Leregger
Institute for Environment, Peace and Development (IUFE), Vienna, Austria
e-mail: florian.leregger@iufe.at
H. Gekic
Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, University of Sarajevo,
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
e-mail: hgekic@gmail.com
© 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_3
Chapter 3
Economic Dimensions of Environmental
Citizenship
Vladislav Kaputa, Katharina Lapin, Florian Leregger, and Haris Gekic
3.1 Introduction
The concept of Environmental Citizenship requires a critical discussion on economic development. Generally, economics ‘enjoys’ a negative attitude among citizens around the globe in relation to its impact on the state of the environment.
Simply put, business is in a role of ‘bad guy’ responsible for the degradation of (not
only human) environment. The term ‘economics’ is derived from the Greek word
oikonomia composed of the words oikos (house, household) and ‘nomos’ (rule,
law). First mentioned in ancient Greece, Aristotle termed economics as a science of
‘household management’. Over the centuries (and especially after the Industrial
Revolution), economic relations rose to the extent which cross national borders
causing interdependence and influence the quality of life of citizens across the
V. Kaputa (*)
Department of Marketing, Trade and World Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen,
Zvolen, Slovakia
e-mail: kaputa@tuzvo.sk
K. Lapin
Austrian Federal Research Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards and Landscape,
Vienna, Austria
e-mail: katharina.lapin@bfw.gv.at
F. Leregger
Institute for Environment, Peace and Development (IUFE), Vienna, Austria
e-mail: florian.leregger@iufe.at
H. Gekic
Faculty of Science, Department of Geography, University of Sarajevo,
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
e-mail: hgekic@gmail.com
© 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_3