Experiences in Nature and Environmental Attitudes and Behaviors: Setting the Ground for Future Research.

There is empirical evidence suggesting a positive link between direct experiences in nature and people's environmental attitudes (EA) and behaviors (EB). This has led researchers to encourage more frequent contact with nature, especially during childhood, as a way of increasing pro-environmentalism (i.e., pro-EA and pro-EB). However, the association between experiences in nature and EA/EB is complex, and specific guidelines for people's everyday contact with nature cannot be provided. This article offers an overview of the research conducted until know about the relation between experiences in nature and pro-environmentalism, and opens up new inquiries for future research. We begin with an introduction to people's current tendency toward an alienation from the natural world and set out the objectives of the article. It is followed by three main sections. The first one reports on what experiences in nature refer to, how and where they occur. The second section describes the different approaches used to investigate and interpret the experiences in nature-EA and EB relation. The last section provides suggestions for future research. We close by making some final remarks about the importance of (re)stablishing a greater interaction with nature for people's pro-EA and EB.

Educación ambiental: itinerario en la naturaleza y su relación con conectividad, preocupaciones ambientales y conducta / Environmental education: itineraries in nature and their relationship with connectedness, environmental concerns and behavior

Resumen Las excursiones e itinerarios a través de entornos naturales son frecuentes en la educación ambiental, pero existe poca evidencia empírica de investigaciones que aporten resultados que permitan comprender mejor los efectos de las experiencias de contacto directo con ambientes naturales, y menos aún acerca de su relación con la conectividad con la naturaleza, las preocupaciones ambientales y el comportamiento proambiental. Se llevan a cabo dos estudios, en el primero participan 286 estudiantes de psicología, quienes completan un cuestionario que mide conectividad, preocupación ambiental, conducta y variables sociodemográficas y socioculturales. En el segundo estudio, 40 alumnos participan en una excursión por un ambiente natural, completando medidas pre y post de conectividad. Los resultados indican que la preocupación ambiental está relacionada con variables sociodemográficas y socioculturales como el género, la ideología política y la religiosidad; no así la conectividad con la naturaleza, que solo aumenta tras el contacto con un ambiente natural. Se discuten los alcances de los resultados del estudio para la educación ambiental.

Abstract Albeit there is research about basic concepts involved in environmental education, enough evidence is lacking about the experiences of contact with natural environments, so common in this field, and even less about his relationship with Connectedness with Nature, Environmental Concerns and Pro-environmental Behavior. We report results of two studies; the first involving 286 psychology students who completed a questionnaire measuring Connectedness, Concerns, Behavior and Socio-demographic and Sociocultural variables. In the second study, 40 students participated in an excursion across a natural environment, completing pre and post measures of Connectedness. The main results show that the concerns are related to demographic and socio-cultural variables such as gender, political ideology and religiosity, but not to Connectedness with Nature, which only increases after contact with a natural environment. We discuss the implications of the findings for environmental education.