Environmental Action as Asset and Contribution of Positive Youth Development

  1. Diego Gomez-Baya
  2. Gina Tomé
  3. Cátia Branquinho
  4. Margarida Gaspar de Matos
Journal:
Erebea: Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales

ISSN: 0214-0691 2530-8254

Year of publication: 2020

Issue: 10

Pages: 53-68

Type: Article

DOI: 10.33776/EREBEA.V10I0.4953 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openArias Montano editor

More publications in: Erebea: Revista de Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales

Abstract

Positive Youth Development theory (PYD) presents a strength-based conception of transition to adulthood in which positive outcomes appear as consequence of the alignment of youth individual skills and contextual developmental assets. PYD may emerge from environmental action because it allows for developing reasoning skills, decision-making skills, self-efficacy, optimism, good relationships and civic engagement, among other thriving outcomes. Moreover, because values, attitudes and behaviors formed in this life stage influences those in later life stages, youth environmental education deserves greater attention. Developing youth as active citizens creates positive environmental and social change that provides the basis for more sustainable communities. Considering environmental action as a context for PYD, educators or program managers should consider young people as contributors, letting them participate in shared decision making, critical reflection and possibility to inquiry, as well as providing meaningful participation, sense of belongness and authentic care. Some experiences in youth environmental action are reviewed and some recommendations are provided in order to design and implement programs to jointly promote sustainable communities and PYD.

Bibliographic References

  • Agans, J. P., Champine, R. B., DeSouza, L. M., Mueller, M. K., Johnson, S. K., & Lerner, R. M. (2014). Activity involvement as an ecological asset: Profiles of participation and youth outcomes. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(6), 919-932.
  • Arnold, H. E., Cohen, F. G., & Warner, A. (2009). Youth and environmental action: Perspectives of young environmental leaders on their formative influences. The Journal of environmental education, 40(3), 27-36.
  • Atkiss, K., Moyer, M., Desai, M., & Roland, M. (2011). Positive youth development: An integration of the developmental assets theory and the socio-ecological model. American Journal of Health Education, 42(3), 171-180.
  • Benson, P.L., Scales, P.C., & Syvertsen, A.K. (2011). The contribution of the developmental assets framework to positive youth development theory and practice. In: R.M. Lerner, J.V. Lerner, & J.B. Benson (eds.), Advances in Child Development and Behavior, 41, 195–228.
  • Boeve-de Pauw, J., & Van Petegem, P. (2010). A cross-national perspective on youth environmental attitudes. The Environmentalist, 30(2), 133-144.
  • Branquinho, C., & de Matos, M. G. (2019). The “Dream Teens” project: after a two-year participatory action-research program. Child Indicators Research, 12(4), 1243-1257.
  • Branquinho, C., Tomé, G., Grothausen, T., & Gaspar de Matos, M. (2020). Community?based Youth Participatory Action Research studies with a focus on youth health and well?being: A systematic review. Journal of Community Psychology.
  • Browne, L. P., Garst, B. A., & Bialeschki, D. (2011). Engaging youth in environmental sustainability: Impact of the Camp 2 Grow Program. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 29(3), 70–85.
  • Buttigieg, K., & Pace, P. (2013). Positive youth action towards climate change. Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability, 15(1), 15-47.
  • Byrka, K., Hartig, T., & Kaiser, F. G. (2010). Environmental attitude as a mediator of the relationship between psychological restoration in nature and self-reported ecological behavior. Psychological Reports, 107(3), 847-859.
  • Chepesiuk, R. (2007). Environmental literacy: Knowledge for a healthier public. Environmental Health Perspectives. 115 (10), 494-499.
  • Christens, B. D., & Peterson, N. A. (2012). The role of empowerment in youth development: A study of sociopolitical control as mediator of ecological systems’ influence on developmental outcomes. Journal of youth and adolescence, 41(5), 623-635.
  • Delia, J., & Krasny, M. E. (2018). Cultivating positive youth development, critical consciousness, and authentic care in urban environmental education. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 2340.
  • Duerden, M.D., & Witt, P.A. (2010). An ecological systems theory perspective on youth programming. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 28, 108-120.
  • Frasquilho, D., Ozer, E. J., Ozer, E. M., Branquinho, C., Camacho, I., Reis, M., ... & Ramiro, L. (2018). Dream teens: adolescents-led participatory project in Portugal in the context of the economic recession. Health promotion practice, 19(1), 51-59.
  • Geldhof, G. J., Bowers, E. P., & Lerner, R. M. (2013). Special section introduction: Thriving in context: Findings from the 4-H study of positive youth development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 42, 1-5.
  • Johnson, L. R., Johnson-Pynn, J. S., & Pynn, T. M. (2007). Youth civic engagement in China: Results from a program promoting environmental activism. Journal of Adolescent Research, 22(4), 355-386.
  • Kaiser, F. G., Ranney, M., Hartig, T., & Bowler, P. A. (1999). Ecological behavior, environmental attitude, and feelings of responsibility for the environment. European psychologist, 4(2), 59-74.
  • Kudryavtsev, A., Krasny, M. E., & Stedman, R. C. (2012). The impact of environmental education on sense of place among urban youth. Ecosphere, 3(4), 1-15.
  • Hickman, G., Riemer, M., & YLEC Collaborative. (2016). A theory of engagement for fostering collective action in Youth Leading Environmental Change. Ecopsychology, 8(3), 167-173.
  • Lerner , R. M. ( 2005 , September). Promoting positive youth development: Theoretical and empirical bases . White paper prepared for the Workshop on the Science of Adolescent Health and Development, National Research Council/Institute of Medicine . Washington, DC: National Academies of Science.
  • Lerner, R. M., Bowers, E. P., Geldhof, G. J., Gestsdóttir, S., & DeSouza, L. (2012). Promoting positive youth development in the face of contextual changes and challenges: The roles of individual strengths and ecological assets. New directions for youth development, 2012(135), 119-128.
  • Lerner, R. M., Dowling, E. M., & Anderson, P. M. (2003). Positive youth development: Thriving as the basis of personhood and civil society. Applied Developmental Science, 7(3), 172-180.
  • Lewin-Bizan, S., Bowers, E. P., & Lerner, R. M. (2010). One good thing leads to another: Cascades of positive youth development among American adolescents. Development and psychopathology, 22(4), 759-770.
  • Mifsud, M. C. (2012). A Meta-Analysis of Global Youth Environmental Knowledge, Attitude and Behavior Studies. US-China Education Review, 3, 259- 277
  • Mueller, M. K., Phelps, E., Bowers, E. P., Agans, J. P., Urban, J. B., & Lerner, R. M. (2011). Youth development program participation and intentional self-regulation skills: Contextual and individual bases of pathways to positive youth development. Journal of adolescence, 34(6), 1115-1125.
  • Riemer, M., Lynes, J., & Hickman, G. (2014). A model for developing and assessing youth-based environmental engagement programmes. Environmental Education Research, 20(4), 552-574.
  • Riemer, M., Voorhees, C., Dittmer, L., Alisat, S., Alam, N., Sayal, R., ... & Mugagga, F. (2016). The Youth Leading Environmental Change project: A mixed-method longitudinal study across six countries. Ecopsychology, 8(3), 174-187.
  • Schusler, T. M. (2013). Environmental Action and Positive Youth Development. In M. C. Monroe & M. E. Krasny (Eds.), Across the Spectrum: Resources for environmental educators (pp. 92-115). Cornell: North American Association for Environmental Education.
  • Schusler, T., & Krasny, M. (2007). Youth participation in local environmental action: An avenue for science and civic learning? In A. Reid, B. Jensen, J. Nikel, & V. Simovska (Eds.), Participation and learning: perspectives on education and the environment, health and sustainability (pp. 268–284). Dordrecht: Springer.
  • Schusler, T. M., & Krasny, M. E. (2010). Environmental action as context for youth development. The Journal of Environmental Education, 41(4), 208-223.
  • Schusler, T. M., Krasny, M. E., & Decker, D. J. (2017). The autonomy-authority duality of shared decision-making in youth environmental action. Environmental Education Research, 23(4), 533-552.
  • Schusler, T. M., Krasny, M. E., Peters, S. J., & Decker, D. J. (2009). Developing citizens and communities through youth environmental action. Environmental Education Research, 15(1), 111-127.
  • Schusler, T., Krings, A., & Hernández, M. (2019). Integrating youth participation and ecosocial work: new possibilities to advance environmental and social justice. Journal of Community Practice, 27(3-4), 460-475.
  • Sherrod, L. (2007). Civic engagement as an expression of positive youth development. Approaches to positive youth development, 1, 59-74.
  • Umholtz, J. (2013). Re-engaging Youth through Environmental- based Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Sustainability Education, 154?169.
  • Wray-Lake, L., Flanagan, C. A., & Osgood, D. W. (2010). Examining trends in adolescent environmental attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors across three decades. Environment and behavior, 42(1), 61-85.