Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- International praise for Environmental Literacy in Science and Society
- Preamble
- Overview: roadmap to environmental literacy
- I Invention of the environment: origins, transdisciplinarity, and theory of science perspectives
- 1 What knowledge about what environment?
- 2 From environmental literacy to transdisciplinarity
- 3 Basic epistemological assumptions
- II History of mind of biological knowledge
- III Contributions of psychology
- IV Contributions of sociology
- V Contributions of economics
- VI Contributions of industrial ecology
- VII Beyond disciplines and sciences
- VIII A framework for investigating human–environment systems (HES)
- IX Perspectives for environmental literacy
- Glossary
- References
- Index
1 - What knowledge about what environment?
from I - Invention of the environment: origins, transdisciplinarity, and theory of science perspectives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Boxes
- Acknowledgments
- International praise for Environmental Literacy in Science and Society
- Preamble
- Overview: roadmap to environmental literacy
- I Invention of the environment: origins, transdisciplinarity, and theory of science perspectives
- 1 What knowledge about what environment?
- 2 From environmental literacy to transdisciplinarity
- 3 Basic epistemological assumptions
- II History of mind of biological knowledge
- III Contributions of psychology
- IV Contributions of sociology
- V Contributions of economics
- VI Contributions of industrial ecology
- VII Beyond disciplines and sciences
- VIII A framework for investigating human–environment systems (HES)
- IX Perspectives for environmental literacy
- Glossary
- References
- Index
Summary
Chapter overview
Humans’ concerns about and interactions with the environment, from navigating the seas to managing a farm or operating a nuclear power plant, have emerged from the core need to survive by using environmental information and resources. This chapter explores the emerging awareness of the environment as a prelude to understanding human interactions with the environment. Central to this discussion is environmental literacy – the human aptitude for appropriately reading and using environmental information to use environmental resources properly and to adapt effectively to environmental dynamics. This chapter reveals what knowledge about the environment is relevant, what environmental literacy means, and introduces the drivers and rationales underlying environmental awareness.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Environmental Literacy in Science and SocietyFrom Knowledge to Decisions, pp. 3 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011