The importance of culture in predicting environmental behavior in middle school students on Hawai‘i island

Researchers have investigated the factors that influence environmental behavior for decades. Two often-investigated phenomena, connectedness to nature and self-efficacy, often correlate with environmental behavior, yet researchers rarely analyze those correlations along with underlying cultural factors. We suggest that this is a substantial oversight and hypothesize that cultural factors affect environmental behavior, particularly through an interplay with the connectedness to nature and self-efficacy constructs. To test this hypothesis, we surveyed eighth-grade students on the island of Hawai‘i. The instrument included items to assess connectedness to nature and self-efficacy (both frequently measured in environmental behavior studies) and multiple measures of behavior. Most of the behavior measures are commonly used in studies of environmental behavior, and one was developed in collaboration with local partners to reflect more culturally specific modes of environmental behavior. With those partners, we also developed a construct reflecting the relevance of local culture. We explored the relative influence of the more commonly investigated constructs (connectedness to nature, behavioral variables) along with the newer construct (cultural relevance). We found that, when we took those considerations into account, cultural relevance significantly predicted connectedness to nature, self-efficacy, and a commonly used behavioral measure. Our results thus suggest that many models of environmental behavior may be misspecified when they omit critical culture- and ethnicity-related factors. This may be particularly important in contexts with high cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity or in contexts where mainstream Western environmental approaches are non-dominant. Our results emphasize the importance of addressing ethnicity and culture in environmental thought and action

Religion as independent variable. Revisiting the Weberian hypothesis

Studies in the sociology of religion generally assume "religion" to be causal with little or no attention paid to the theoretical justification or basis for such a claim. We argue in this paper that most such studies fail to satisfy the conditions for causal inference. Further, Weber, whom sociologists of religion often cite when theoretical claims are made, at worse never proposes religion as an independent variable and, at best is very ambiguous on the issue. We suggest that recent directions in cognitive psychology might form the basis for further research concerning the social significance of religion

Brokers of relevance in National Park Service urban collaborative networks

Conservation agencies are increasingly tasked with furthering their relevance with the public, in addition to protecting the natural and cultural resources in their care. Relevance is imperative to sustaining and diversifying invested stewards of these resources and support for their continued protection. Collaborative networks among organizations sharing similar goals and diverse audiences can facilitate relevance by connecting conservation agencies to new partners, ideas, and audiences. In particular, brokers, or organizations connecting other organizations in these networks, may be well positioned to enhance relevance. Brokers' diverse network connections may give them a unique function with regard to relevance. Their different roles connecting within, between, or among groups may also illuminate where relevance connections exist and can be forged. In this investigation, we examined different brokerage roles in U.S. National Park Service (NPS) collaborative networks and their potential implications for enhancing NPS relevance. The NPS' mission is centered on the dual goals of relevance and resource conservation. Recognizing the need for enhanced relevance and related supportive collaborative networks, the NPS recently established its Urban Agenda, specifically aimed toward building "relevancy for all Americans" and a "culture of collaboration." We conducted a quantitative network analysis in three sites with NPS Urban Agenda investment: Detroit, Tucson, and Boston. We compared the sites' current to desired networks, i.e., present to potential networks, to determine which brokerage roles have more or less opportunity for growth and what broker-specific measures and broader network attributes may mean for collaboratively striving toward greater NPS relevance. Our findings suggest that specific organizational categories may be current brokers of relevance as well as potential leverage points for further diversification of partners, ideas, and audiences. In examining these organizational categories and brokerage roles, the NPS and other conservation agencies can strategically, and with foresight, emphasize certain areas for relevance-related networking development

From Partnerships to Networks: New Approaches for Measuring U.S. National Heritage Area Effectiveness

National Heritage Areas (NHAs) are an alternative and increasingly popular form of protected area management in the United States. NHAs seek to integrate environmental objectives with community and economic objectives at regional or landscape scales. NHA designations have increased rapidly in the last 20 years, generating a substantial need for evaluative information about (a) how NHAs work; (b) outcomes associated with the NHA process; and (c) the costs and benefits of investing public moneys into the NHA approach. Qualitative evaluation studies recently conducted at three NHAs have identified the importance of understanding network structure and function in the context of evaluating NHA management effectiveness. This article extends these case studies by examining quantitative network data from each of the sites. The authors analyze these data using both a descriptive approach and a statistically more robust approach known as exponential random graph modeling. Study findings indicate the presence of transitive structures and the absence of three-cycle structures in each of these networks. This suggests that these networks are relatively ‘‘open,’’ which may be desirable, given the uncertainty of the environments in which they operate. These findings also suggest, at least at the sites reported here, that the NHA approach may be an effective way to activate and develop networks of intersectoral organizational partners. Finally, this study demonstrates the utility of using quantitative network analysis to better understand the effectiveness of protected area management models that rely on partnership networks to achieve their intended outcomes.national heritage areas; protected area management; landscape-scale conservation; evaluation; social network analysis