IB Environmental systems and societies 1.1B Environmental Value System Notes

Environmental Value Systems: A Model of How We Decide

1. An environmental value system (EVS) is a model of how a person's or group's environmental perspectives and actions are shaped by different influences.
2. It works as a system of inputs, processes and outputs.

Inputs, Processes and Outputs

1. Inputs
   1. The information, beliefs and experiences that shape environmental understanding.
   2. Common sources are education and science, media, culture, economic priorities, political ideology and religion.
2. Processes
   1. Inputs are interpreted through personal and cultural filters such as values, assumptions and moral beliefs.
   2. These filters decide how a person makes sense of environmental information.
3. Outputs
   1. The judgements, positions, choices and actions that result, such as policy-making, activism or consumption habits.

An EVS Behaves Like Any Other System

1. Like an ecosystem, an EVS has inputs, outputs and feedback loops.
2. Instead of energy and nutrients, it circulates ideas, information and values through society.
3. Every EVS sits inside a wider social system, such as a capitalist or communist economy, or a secular or religious community.
4. A worked example runs input to output: a student reads about deforestation, evaluates it through an ecocentric filter, and then advocates for reforestation and cuts paper use.

Classifying Perspectives: The Value Spectrum

1. Environmental perspectives fall into three broad types: technocentric, anthropocentric and ecocentric.
2. They form a spectrum, not rigid boxes, because people hold complex positions that change over time and context.

Ecocentric: Nature at the Centre

1. Values the intrinsic worth of nature, independent of its usefulness to humans.
2. Sees humans as part of the biosphere, not its masters.
3. Encourages self-restraint, small-scale community living and education for sustainability.
4. Supports the right of species and ecosystems to exist.
5. Deep ecologists
   1. Believe nature's value surpasses humanity's and call for radical cuts to population, consumption and industry.
6. Soft ecologists
   1. Favour small-scale, community-based living, local participation and sustainability over materialism.

Anthropocentric: People at the Centre

1. Sees humans as managers of the planet, responsible for sustainable management through laws, taxes and regulation.
2. Prefers debate, consensus and reform over radical change.
3. Treats environmental protection as necessary for human survival and economic stability.
4. Uses legislation, policy and education to guide behaviour.

Technocentric: Technology at the Centre

1. Places faith in technology and innovation to solve environmental problems.
2. Believes human ingenuity can overcome natural limits.
3. Where an ecocentrist sees overconsumption, a technocentrist sees an opportunity for innovation.
4. Cornucopians
   1. Optimistic that science, innovation and free markets can solve any problem and sustain endless growth.
5. Environmental managers
   1. Accept that growth can continue if impacts are mitigated with tools like carbon capture, desalination or renewables.

How and Why Perspectives Evolve

1. Environmental beliefs shift over time for several reasons:
   1. Education and awareness campaigns by governments and NGOs.
   2. Scientific discoveries, such as the evidence for climate change.
   3. Socio-economic transitions like industrialisation and urbanisation.
   4. Demographic shifts, as younger generations often hold stronger pro-environmental views.
   5. Cultural globalisation through media and the internet.

Generational Change

1. Millennials and Gen Z show stronger engagement with climate, sustainability and ethical consumption.
2. Older generations often prioritise stability and economic development.
3. Surveys show younger cohorts are increasingly willing to volunteer, donate and advocate for the environment.

Reading Behaviour-Over-Time Graphs

1. A behaviour-over-time graph (BoTG) shows how a behaviour or attitude changes, with time on the x-axis and the behaviour on the y-axis.
2. Identify the variable that is changing.
3. Describe the trend as increasing, decreasing or fluctuating.
4. Explain the causes driving the change.
5. Discuss the implications or significance.
6. For example, a BoTG of smoking rates falling from 40% in the 1960s to 14% by 2020 shows how education and law can shift a society's values.