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1 – 10 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 3 February 2022

Britt Paris, Rebecca Reynolds and Gina Marcello

This paper aims to address some limitations in existing approaches to the study of mis- and dis-information and offers what the authors propose as a more comprehensive approach to…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address some limitations in existing approaches to the study of mis- and dis-information and offers what the authors propose as a more comprehensive approach to framing and studying these issues, geared toward the undergraduate level of learner. In doing so, the authors prioritize social shaping of technology and critical informatics perspectives as lenses for explicating and understanding complex mis- and dis-information phenomena. One purpose is to offer readers an understanding of the mis- and dis-information studies landscape, and advocate for the merit of taking the given approach the authors outline.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper builds upon design-based research (DBR) methods. In this paper, the authors present the actual curriculum that will be empirically researched in 2022 and beyond in a program of iterative DBR.

Findings

Findings of this conceptual paper comprise a fully articulated undergraduate syllabus for a course the authors entitled, “Disinformation Detox.” The authors will iterate upon this curriculum development in ongoing situated studies conducted in undergraduate classrooms.

Originality/value

The value and originality of this article is in its contribution of the ontological “innovation” of a way of framing the mis- and dis-information knowledge domain in terms of social shaping and critical informatics theories. The authors argue that the proposed approach offers students the opportunity to cultivate a complex form of what Milner and Phillips describe as “ecological literacy” that is in keeping with the mis- and dis-information problem domain.

Details

Information and Learning Sciences, vol. 123 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5348

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 June 2022

Songqing Li, Xuexi Huo, Ruishi Si, Xueqian Zhang, Yumeng Yao and Li Dong

Climatic changes caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are an urgent challenge for all regions around the globe while the livestock sector is an important source of GHGs…

1104

Abstract

Purpose

Climatic changes caused by greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are an urgent challenge for all regions around the globe while the livestock sector is an important source of GHGs emissions. The adoption of low-carbon manure treatment technology (LMTT) by farmers is emerging as an effective remedy to neutralize the carbon emissions of livestock. This paper aims to incorporate environmental literacy and social norms into the analysis framework, with the aim of exploring the impact of environmental literacy and social norms on farmers' adoption of LMTT and finally reduce GHGs emission and climate effects.

Design/methodology/approach

This research survey is conducted in Hebei, Henan and Hubei provinces of China. First, this research measures environmental literacy from environmental cognition, skill and responsibility and describes social norms from descriptive and imperative social norms. Second, this paper explores the influence of environmental literacy and social norms on the adoption of LMTT by farmers using the logit model. Third, Logit model's instrumental approach, i.e. IV-Logit, is applied to address the simultaneous biases between environmental skill and farmers’ LMTT adoption. Finally, the research used a moderating model to analyze feasible paths of environmental literacy and social norms that impact the adoption of LMTT by farmers.

Findings

The results showed that environmental literacy and social norms significantly and positively affect the adoption of LMTT by farmers. In particular, the effects of environmental literacy on the adoption of LMTT by farmers are mainly contributed by environmental skill and responsibility. The enhancement of social norms on the adoption of LMTT by farmers is mainly due to the leading role of imperative social norms. Meanwhile, if the endogeneity caused by the reverse effect between environmental skill and farmers’ LMTT adoption is dealt with, the role of environmental skill will be weakened. Additionally, LMTT technologies consist of energy and resource technologies. Compared to energy technology, social norms have a more substantial moderating effect on environmental literacy, affecting the adoption of farmer resource technology.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, a novel attempt is made to examine the effects of environmental literacy and social norms on the adoption of LMTT by farmers, with the objective of identifying more effective factors to increase the intensity of LMTT adoption by farmers.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 January 2024

Muhammad Yaseen Bhutto and Aušra Rūtelionė

This research examines consumer reluctance to purchase organic food using the theory of innovation resistance and also extends the theory by investigating the moderating…

Abstract

Purpose

This research examines consumer reluctance to purchase organic food using the theory of innovation resistance and also extends the theory by investigating the moderating influence of eco-literacy. In addition, the authors used a multigroup analysis to identify differences between consumer segments.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection used computer-assisted web interviewing and a prior screening process to confirm engagement. Through stratified quota sampling, 1,000 useable responses were obtained from 2,887 recipients.

Findings

The findings reveal barriers are significant inhibitors to adopting organic food. Among these barriers, usage, risk tradition and image barriers have a significant adverse influence on purchase intention. In contrast, the value barrier has a nonsignificant influence on the purchase intention of organic food. However, the study found that eco-literacy significantly reduces the negative influence of risk and tradition barriers on consumers' intentions. In addition, a multigroup analysis examines notable differences between consumer groups based on education, age and income.

Social implications

This research has significant social implications for boosting sustainable consumption in Lithuania. It identifies key barriers to organic food adoption, emphasizing the need for strategic interventions. The study highlights eco-literacy as an essential tool in diminishing resistance to organic food, advocating for targeted educational initiatives. Additionally, it reveals the importance of tailored marketing strategies based on different consumer demographics. Overall, this study provides important insights to promote environmentally conscious consumer behavior and overcome resistance to innovation in the organic food sector.

Originality/value

This study expressively advances the understanding of intentional behavior by exploring organic food within Lithuania's Baltic economy. It authenticates the innovation resistance theory's applicability to organic food behavior in the region while emphasizing the moderating impact of eco-literacy in the link between barriers and purchase intention concerning organic food. Furthermore, using advanced methods such as partial least squares statistical modeling and multi-group analysis, the research reveals how barriers affect the purchase intention of organic food among different groups of consumers.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2015

Tom L. Green

The purpose of this article is to explore sustainability commitments’ potential implications for the curriculum of introductory economics courses. Universities have signed the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to explore sustainability commitments’ potential implications for the curriculum of introductory economics courses. Universities have signed the Talloires Declaration, committing themselves to promoting students’ environmental literacy and ecological citizenship, thereby creating pressure to integrate sustainability across the curriculum.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach involving qualitative research methods and the three largest public universities in British Columbia, Canada, was used. As one component of a larger study, 11 of the 19 economists who delivered the course over the study period were interviewed. The theoretical framework was informed by ecological economics scholarship on how mainstream economic thought represents environment-economy linkages.

Findings

Findings suggest that universities’ sustainability commitments have not influenced principles of economics curriculum. Sustainability is not salient to lecturers; prospects that mainstream economics departments will integrate sustainability into curriculum in a timely manner without external pressure appear limited.

Practical implications

While institutions often enthusiastically report on courses that contribute to students’ ecological literacy, identifying curriculum that may confound student understanding of sustainability receives less emphasis. Introductory economics courses appear to merit scrutiny from this perspective.

Originality/value

About 40 per cent of North American university students take an introductory economics course, relatively few take more advanced economics courses. This course, thus, teaches many students economic theory and the economics profession’s approach to evaluating public policy, and has potential to contribute to knowledge of sustainability. Few studies examine how undergraduate economics curriculum addresses sustainability.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 16 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 20 October 2023

Manuel Vallée

This study aims to assess the spread of environmental literacy graduation requirements at public universities in the USA, and to highlight factors that mediate the adoption of…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess the spread of environmental literacy graduation requirements at public universities in the USA, and to highlight factors that mediate the adoption of this curriculum innovation.

Design/methodology/approach

The author analyzed the undergraduate general education curriculum requirements at all 549 public BA-granting higher education institutions in the USA between 2020 and 2022.

Findings

The study found that only 27 US public universities out of 540 have an environmental literacy graduation requirement, which represents 5% of universities and is substantially lower than previous estimates.

Originality/value

First, this study provides a more complete, more reliable and more current assessment of the graduation requirement’s presence at US tertiary institutions, and shows the number of universities that have implemented this innovation is lower than was estimated a decade ago. Second, it draws from the scholarship on the infusion of sustainability into the university curriculum to provide a comprehensive discussion of factors that mediate the pursuit and implementation of the graduation requirement. As well, it identifies factors that played a key role in one pertinent case.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 25 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2002

Tarah S.A. Wright

This paper reviews definitions and frameworks for sustainability in higher education by examining a set of major national and international declarations and institutional policies…

9704

Abstract

This paper reviews definitions and frameworks for sustainability in higher education by examining a set of major national and international declarations and institutional policies related to environmental sustainability in universities. It identifies emerging themes and priorities, and discusses how these declarations and policies are affecting various institutions in how they frame the central task of becoming sustainable and how they perceive their own commitment to sustainability.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2017

Kanupriya Gupta and Rajat Agrawal

The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between sustainable development (SD) and spirituality. Bhutan, a country believing deeply in Buddhist spiritual values…

1033

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between sustainable development (SD) and spirituality. Bhutan, a country believing deeply in Buddhist spiritual values has created a model of Gross National Happiness (GNH) where it is believed that the holistic evolution of human being can take place with a balance of material as well as non-material aspects of spiritual, cultural, societal and environmental. The paper critically analyzes GNH to establish the role of spirituality in SD.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyses the GNH concept using literature review. Further, personal meetings with authorities in Bhutan and interaction with citizens of Bhutan used to gather primary data. A critical approach has been applied to understand the practical implication of the concept.

Findings

Good governance, sustainable socioeconomic development, cultural preservation and environmental conservation formed the four basic pillars of the GNH index, further elaborated into 9 domains and 33 clustered indicators. The concept has been commendable in giving new direction to the understanding of SD. Nevertheless, certain discrepancies create ambiguity and limitations around the validity of adoption of the concept in other countries.

Research limitations/implications

A balanced and holistic, yet practical model of SD is necessitated. Bhutan has been a pioneer to suggest the different dimensions that can be acted upon to produce a more honest and sustainable path of being in concord with nature, community and other-related surroundings.

Practical implications

The paper provides insights to researchers and practitioners in understanding the basic essentials required for the SD agenda. The paper derives the learnings from the GNH model which can help in understanding the areas where the western three-pillar model of development needs more refinement. At the same time, the paper also helps in creating the insights for Bhutanese practitioners and policymakers about the areas where the GNH model still needs to be worked upon to improve its efficacy.

Originality/value

The paper proposes that SD can only be achieved through spirituality.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 44 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 November 2016

Cosette M. Joyner Armstrong, Gwendolyn Hustvedt, Melody L.A. LeHew, Barbara G. Anderson and Kim Y. Hiller Connell

The purpose of this project is to provide an account of the student experience at a higher education institution known for its holistic approach to sustainability education.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to provide an account of the student experience at a higher education institution known for its holistic approach to sustainability education.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study was conducted at Green Mountain College (GMC), an environmental liberal arts school in Poultney, VT; 55 students participated in focus group interviews.

Findings

Students articulate that the most valuable gains that manifest at GMA are a variety of new capacities for science literacy, anthropological appreciation, the triple bottom line, a sense of place, systems, empathic decision-making and reasoning, interdisciplinary collaboration, and practical techniques supporting self-sufficiency. Prompting these emergent outcomes was a philosophy of practice at Green Mountain College, which included place-based techniques, empowerment, personalization, community ecology and charting polarity. Many students described their seeming metamorphosis as uncomfortable, and some felt isolated from the outside paradigm.

Research limitations/implications

A key implication of the study’s findings is that in a holistic setting, the line between the informal and formal curriculum are significantly blurred and what is implicitly communicated through university practices and values is what most transforms the students’ explicit understanding of sustainability.

Practical implications

Sustainability education is far more than technique, far more than what a lone instructor can manifest in students. While the persistence of individual faculty members is important, this evidence suggests that the fertile conditions for transformation may be more fruitful when faculty members work together with a collective sense of responsibility and a well-articulated paradigm.

Originality/value

The advantage of the present study is that it examines the perceived impact of a focus on sustainability across curricula and school by considering the educational environment as a whole. The experiences of students from many different majors who are involved in a holistic, sustainability-infused curriculum at a university with a history of successful post-graduation job placements in the sustainability field are explored here.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 17 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 August 2021

Ambra Burls and Julian Ashton

Drawing on experience of working in the area of mental health and the environment, key issues are examined, and the theoretical framework is explained, including the benefits to…

311

Abstract

Purpose

Drawing on experience of working in the area of mental health and the environment, key issues are examined, and the theoretical framework is explained, including the benefits to communities and to the local environment of working with nature.

Design/methodology/approach

The interview gave an opportunity for development of ideas underlying concepts including the natural health service, green health literacy and changes in behaviour during the pandemic.

Findings

The ways in which people and the environment benefit from interaction with nature are becoming well understood; in a sustainable model, the value of the local environment is appreciated and will benefit from the care of those involved in relevant activities. There is a need for targeted training for health professionals, environment agencies’ staff and the voluntary sectors.

Research limitations/implications

The economic value of nature as a contributing factor in to mental health is an area for research which could have major influence in policymaking. A meeting of a number of disciplines could further bring together social capital, health economics and ecology.

Practical implications

Projects that are sustainable in every sense are those which are long term, whose value can be measured in environmental and economic terms.

Social implications

Working models have been developed that involve people on the fringes of society and people with disabilities; they often become the movers in local organisations.

Originality/value

This is an extremely wide-ranging assessment of developments in the relationship between mental health and nature.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 20 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 June 2022

Ayca Nilufer Calikusu, Aysem Berrin Cakmakli and Ipek Gursel Dino

Since architectural design studio education has critical importance on the students' knowledge, skills, and awareness of sustainability, this study presents a point of view about…

Abstract

Purpose

Since architectural design studio education has critical importance on the students' knowledge, skills, and awareness of sustainability, this study presents a point of view about relations between architectural education and social, economic, environmental sustainability perception of students within the scope of design studios. The primary purpose is to investigate the role of design studio education in the context of sustainability.

Design/methodology/approach

In the study, the Department of Architecture in Middle East Technical University (METU) was selected as a case study. The impact of design studio education on the understanding of sustainability of architecture students was investigated by conducting a survey with students and in depth-interviews with volunteer lecturers. In quantitative research after formulating four hypotheses, the questionnaire was carried out with 237 architecture students from different years. Then by using the thematic analysis method, the qualitative part of the study was conducted with 11 lecturers.

Findings

Findings reveal that the design studio education and theoretical lectures on sustainability are effective in improving students' sustainability understanding.

Originality/value

Architectural education supports the students about comprehensive understanding and knowledge of national and global issues. This article conducted a case study to investigate the impact of the design studio on the perception of sustainability. Data were collected from architecture students and volunteer lecturers of METU between November 2018 and February 2019. The research is original examining the importance of architectural studio education in the development of knowledge, skills, and awareness of sustainability.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000