Browsing by Subject "nuoret"
Now showing items 1-4 of 4
-
(2022)The climate crisis is such major environmental threat that it has negative impacts on both nature and people. Recently, the effects of climate change on people’s mental health have also been noticed. Children and adolescents are especially vulnerable group in terms of climate anxiety. The amount of climate anxiety among youth has been found to be increasing, yet the studies on it are still scarce. It is important to find out how much climate anxiety there is among youth and does it influence their behavior. The objective of this master’s thesis is to find out how much climate anxiety there is and is climate anxiety interconnected with the pro-environmental behavior among youth. Also, its aim is to find out whether attending the climate course affects the amount of climate anxiety. In addition, the study focuses on whether gender, home country and parental education level are interconnected with the amount of climate anxiety. This study was conducted as part of the D.Game project which includes a climate course for youth aged 12–18 years. Data for this research was collected through a survey during the climate course. The schools and students participating in the D.Game climate course and the climate anxiety survey were selected through an open recruitment during autumn of 2021. The data consists of 48 students who responded to the pre survey and of 13 students who responded to the post survey. The participants were 15–17 years old. On the contrary to other research, there is not much climate anxiety among youth. There is also a strong positive correlation between climate anxiety and pro-environmental behavior, which differs from other research. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in climate anxiety between the groups divided by divided by gender, home country and parental education level, which was expected result. Based on the data, the climate course did not have statistically significant effect on the amount of climate anxiety among youth. Also, there is need for further research. Larger sample could provide more valid results. The causality of the correlation between climate anxiety and pro-environmental behavior would be interesting to resolve. Whether attending to a climate course affects the amount of climate anxiety could be found out by development of climate courses and comparing different courses.
-
(2021)Vuorovaikutus luonnonympäristöjen kanssa tukee ihmisen hyvinvointia ja vaikuttaa moninaisin mekanismein hyvinvoinnin eri osa-alueisiin. Kaupungistumisen ja modernisaation tuomat elämäntapojen muutokset ovat herättäneet huolta nuorten sukupolvien luontoyhteyden heikentymisestä, kun yhä harvemmat ihmiset viettävät päivittäin aikaa luonnossa. Nuorten luontosuhde on muihin ikäryhmiin verrattuna erityinen, sillä kiinnostus luonnonympäristöjä kohtaan on usein vähäisempää teini-ikäisenä kuin lapsena tai aikuisena. Luontokontakteilla on vaikutusta nuorten hyvinvointiin sekä mielenterveyteen, mutta kattavaa tutkimusta suomalaisten nuorten luonnossa virkistäytymisen tavoista ei ole aiemmin julkaistu. Tässä tutkielmassa tarkastellaan, miten nuoret kaupunkilaiset virkistäytyvät luonnossa, ja kuinka vuorovaikutus luonnon kanssa vaikuttaa nuorten koettuun hyvinvointiin. Tutkielma on toteutettu osana monitieteistä Luonnon virkistyskäytön terveys- ja hyvinvointivaikutukset - tutkimus kaupunkilaisnuorista (NATUREWELL) -projektia. Aineisto (N=1123) on kerätty syksyllä 2020 Lahden yläkouluissa. Nuorten luonnossa viettämää aikaa, luontoharrastuksia, luontosuhdetta ja heidän kokemuksiaan luonnon hyvinvointivaikutuksista analysoidaan kuvailevin kvantitatiivisin menetelmin. Tulosten perusteella huoli nuorten sukupolvien luonnosta vieraantumisesta ja luontosuhteen katkeamisesta näyttää Lahdessa enimmäkseen perusteettomalta. Suurin osa nuorista viettää viikoittain aikaa luonnonympäristöissä sekä kesä- että talviaikaan, ja erityisesti kodin lähiympäristön luontoalueet ovat nuorille merkityksellisiä. Tytöt viettävät aikaa luonnossa hiukan poikia useammin ja sukupuolten välillä on eroja luontoharrastuksissa. Myös sosioekonomisilla tekijöillä on selvästi yhteys nuorten luonnossa viettämään aikaan. Kiinnostus luontoa kohtaan vaikuttaa laskevan hiukan yläkoulun aikana, ja nuorten luontosuhteessa on havaittavissa polarisoitumista. Pieni osa nuorista ei juurikaan liiku luonnonympäristöissä tai koe yhteyttä luontoon. Valtaosa arvioi hyvinvointinsa kasvavan luonnonympäristössä käydessä, sekä kokevansa usein positiivisia ja harvoin negatiivisia tunteita luonnossa ollessaan. Tutkimus osoittaa, että luontokontakteilla on positiivista vaikutusta nuorten koettuun hyvinvointiin, mutta vaikutuksen voimakkuutta ei voida suoraan arvioida. Pienetkin hyödyt voivat joka tapauksessa olla yhteiskunnallisesti merkittäviä, jos niillä voidaan auttaa nuoria suhteellisen pienillä toimilla. Nuorten luontosuhteen polarisoitumiseen ja sosioekonomisten ryhmien välisiin eroihin luontosuhteessa voidaan puuttua poliittisin keinoin. Luonnonympäristöjen hyvinvointivaikutusten huomioiminen nuorten kannalta esimerkiksi kouluympäristöissä ja kaupunkipolitiikassa voivat olla merkittäviä keinoja nuorten kokonaisvaltaisen hyvinvoinnin lisäämisessä.
-
(2020)Previous studies have shown that involving citizens, especially young people, in environmental decision making, increases the ability to participate in environmental action (e.g. Riemer et al. 2014, Paloniemi and Koskinen 2005). There have been various school and after school projects to promote the engagement of young people in societal environmental action. Many youth engagement projects in the third sector have succeeded in achieving positive results in promoting environmental citizenship. This thesis evaluates the involvement of young people and young adults in environmental action at WWF Finland. The theoretical framework of this thesis is based on the model by Paloniemi and Koskinen (2005) of environmental policy action as a social learning process. According to the model, positive experiences of involvement can strengthen environmental action competence and encourage participants to take environmentally responsible action. In the spiral model, the context is taken into account in the results. The data for this thesis is from a survey of 30 young people at WWF, who took part in the project. The survey mapped the effects of the project on the participants' self-empowerment, social empowerment, and environmental citizenship. It also examined skills in environmental action, and the effects of the context on the results. These results were processed using a mix of qualitative content analysis and statistical analysis methods. In the content analysis, the open-question-answers were themed. The differences between numerical answers of those who suspended the project, and those who were involved until the end were compared, for example using a T-test. In addition, narrative inquiry was developed based on the answers to describe comprehensive profile of respondents. There were no statistically significant differences between those who discontinued the project and those who participated until the end. However, the content analysis of the study provided evidence that the activities succeeded to empower participants and strengthen their environmental citizenship and environmental action competence. According to the results, 26 out of 30 respondents received more information about environmental problems, and 24 received information about their own opportunities on environmentally responsible action. Almost everyone also learned other skills that support environmental citizenship. The project had a positive effect on self-empowerment and social empowerment for 21 respondents. More than half of the respondents also reported an increase in societal engagement, or encouragement to work in the field of environmental or sustainable development. The results of this thesis conclude that the context of WWF’s project was overall successful, as the desired results were achieved. Motivating and engaging factors that contributed to the goals of the operation were also identified. The results of the thesis are in line with previous research, which indicates that environmental participation in the third sector plays an important role in promoting environmental citizenship. However, more long-term research on the topic is needed, as well as research with different control groups.
-
(2021)Interest in the ecosystem services and the well-being provided by nature has grown while the urbanized way of life has reduced contact between humans and nature. Studies have found that nature supports well-being and health in several ways: spending time in nature relieves stress, lifts mood and improves concentration, among other things. Natural environments encourage physical activity and provide opportunities for both social interaction and self-reflection. Nature experiences during childhood and adolescence help to build an empathetic relationship with nature and may promote environmentally responsible behavior. In adolescence, however, contact with nature often decreases. To facilitate positive nature experiences to adolescents, understanding how they experience spending time in nature can help. This thesis examines how adolescents describe their memorable nature experiences and the well-being impacts they associate with these experiences. The thesis is part of the multidisciplinary research project NATUREWELL (The health and well-being impacts of outdoor recreation – study on urban youth). The research data consists of pictures and writings (n=21) by adolescents aged 15-16 years, in which they describe their memorable nature experiences. The data was collected from a secondary school in Lahti, Finland in spring 2020. The research material has been analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results show that memorable nature experiences arise in a wide range of situations, but almost all participants highlighted the effects of nature on their well-being. The most common themes of the experiences were calming down in nature and uplifted moods, while several of the participants also highlighted the beauty of nature. Nature served both as a refuge and as a source of recreation for them. Half of the experiences had taken place in the nearby nature of the participants, half on trips elsewhere in Finland, abroad or at summer cottages. Photographs, paintings, drawings and collages by the participants often highlighted the visual aspect of the experience by depicting vast landscapes unfolding from the viewer's perspective. The described environments were forests, beaches, lakes, mountains and swamps. Based on the results, all the participants of the study have positive experiences of nature. They perceive psychological, physical, social and mental well-being effects in nature and often refer to them when justifying why they like to spend time in nature. The results of the study can be used in the planning of nature activities, environmental education and well-being interventions for adolescents. The nature experiences of adolescents with a negative attitude towards nature are an important subject for further research.
Now showing items 1-4 of 4