Countryside within the City: A Motivating Vision behind Civic Green Area Stewardship in Warsaw, Poland

Exploring the role of nature-based typologies and stewardship schemes in enhancing urban green spaces: Citizen perceptions of landscape design scenarios and ecosystem services

This research investigates the UK citizens' perceptions of the ecosystem services (ES) created using a range of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in urban green spaces (UGS). The longevity of the ES derived from UGS is dependent on the effective on-going maintenance of urban landscapes, therefore this paper also gathers data on direct UGS participation specifically through the lens of civic stewardship to assess the impact of such schemes upon ES. NBS typologies were created and used, in the mixed methods study, to gauge perceptions of and preferences for alternative urban landscape design. The UGS survey collected data from 345 respondents on ES and the NBS typologies. Twelve semi-structured interviews provide qualitative data on NBS typology preferences, perceptions, and understanding of ES as well as motivations behind civic engagement in UGS in the UK. Stewardship programmes were found to increase community resilience by providing additional ES. The results showed a preference for integrating complex, multifunctional UGS into the fabric of urban centres to ensure accessibility and to maximise engagement. More complex NBS typologies were perceived to provide additional ES when compared with traditional monoculture mown grass and shrub amenity planting. Mixed native planting and Tiny Forest NBS typologies were perceived as providing more provisioning, cultural, regulating, and supporting ES. Considering both UK citizens' perceptions of the ES gained from alternative NBS and stewardship schemes in UGS represents a holistic approach that can improve the design and management of NBS in cities. This study is the first to explore both concepts in the UK and suggests a holistic UGS approach to address urban challenges, including those related to Climate Change.

Expanding current definitions of environmental stewardship through organizational mission statement analysis

In recent years, environmental stewardship has been emphasized as one solution to social-ecological sustainability concerns, especially at the local scale. The Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP) is a national research program developed by the USDA Forest Service that has been implemented at numerous locations in the United States and internationally. This study compared the mission statements of environmental stewardship groups in the Los Angeles River Watershed to previously proposed definitions and frameworks of organizational environmental stewardship to see how well they were reflected. A thematic analysis of the mission statements was also carried out to identify locally important themes and priorities. Results show that, although often consistent, the mission statements do not always reflect existing concepts around environmental stewardship. Additionally, environmental stewardship is not always explicit in the mission statements of organizations that are known to conduct these activities. We suggest that non-traditional groups that engage in stewardship work (i.e., research institutions) as well as groups focused on social issues are overlooked actors in sustainable city goals. A more comprehensive definition of environmental stewardship may be needed to bridge the gap between research and practice.

The mediating effect of geospatial thinking on the relationship between family capital and sense of place

Few studies have examined how family capital affects the sense of place, and the effect of spatial thinking on the relationship between the two is unclear. This study constructs a mediation model to examine the impact of family capital on sense of place and the mediation effect of geospatial thinking. A total of 1,004 upper-secondary-school students were surveyed using the Family Capital Questionnaire, the Geospatial Thinking Test, and the Sense of Place Scale. The correlation analysis showed that family capital has a positive effect on both sense of place and geospatial thinking. Moreover, there is also a significant positive correlation between geospatial thinking and sense of place. The results of mediation analysis indicated that geospatial thinking plays mediating and buffering roles in the relationship between family capital and sense of place after controlling for gender and residential address. The direct and indirect effects accounted for 73.31 and 26.69% of the total effect, respectively. Specifically, family capital is a significant positive predictor of both sense of place and geospatial thinking, and geospatial thinking partially mediates the relationship between family capital and sense of place. Students from better family backgrounds are more likely to have a better geospatial thinking and sense of place, as well as geospatial thinking promotes the development of a sense of place. Therefore, both family capital and geospatial thinking should be considered when we want to examine and develop individuals’ level of sense of place.

Pro-environmental habits: An underexplored research agenda in sustainability science

Habits are the fundamental basis for many of our daily actions and can be powerful barriers to behavioural change. Still, habits are not included in most narratives, theories, and interventions applied to sustainable behaviour. One reason societies struggle to reach policy goals and people fail to change towards more pro-environmental lifestyles might be that many behaviours are now bound by strong habits that override knowledge and intentions to act. In this perspective article, we provide three arguments for why pro-environmental habits are a needed research agenda in sustainability science: (1) habit theory highlights how behaviour is heavily reliant on automatic processes, (2) the environmental context sets boundary conditions for behaviour, shape habits, and cues action responses, and (3) our habits and past behaviour shape our values and self-identity. These arguments highlight the transformative potential of looking at sustainable behaviours through a habit lens. We believe a research agenda on pro-environmental habits could generate a more holistic understanding of sustainable behaviours and complement today's dominating approaches which emphasize reasoned decisions and intrinsic motivations such as values, norms, and intentions to understand and predict pro-environmental behaviour. We highlight evident knowledge gaps and practical benefits of considering habit theory to promote pro-environmental behaviours, and how habit architecture could be utilized as a strong leverage point when designing, modifying, and building urban environments.

The role of volunteering in supporting well-being - What might this mean for social prescribing? A best-fit framework synthesis of qualitative research

Volunteering for an organisation, charity or group enables people to make connections with others and to be involved in interesting, worthwhile and/or enjoyable pursuits. Engaging in volunteering can form part of a social prescribing action plan developed between a patient and link worker. Greater understanding of the processes through which volunteering can improve people's well-being as part of social prescribing will help to support link workers in their role. We conducted a best-fit framework synthesis of qualitative literature on volunteering and well-being. Our search of eight electronic databases, complemented by a Google search, conducted in June 2020, resulted in the location of 2210 potentially relevant references. After screening, 335 papers were read in full and 54 drawn upon within the review. They were published between 1993 and 2020. We used the New Economics Foundation's Five Ways to Well-Being model to guide data extraction and synthesis. From this, we developed a conceptual framework that highlights how volunteering can contribute to identity validation and modification leading to the establishment of an acceptable sense of self. Our findings have implications for: (a) the use of volunteering as part of a link worker's toolkit as they seek to support people with varying psychosocial needs and (b) requirements of organisations accepting referrals to volunteering as part of social prescribing.

Social and Ecological High Influential Factors in Community Gardens Innovation: An Empirical Survey in Italy

In 2015, The United Nations adopted an agenda for sustainable development in order to obtain “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and for the world now and in the future (United Nations). The United Nations has defined 17 main goals, such as ending poverty, improving health, preserving the ocean, and tackling the climate change, in order to achieve worldwide sustainable development. Sustainable development is a crucial worldwide topic that encompasses three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Nowadays, social ecological innovation has envisaged a new prominent business model focusing on social and environmental goals to achieve sustainable development. The intent of this paper is to propose the community garden framework as a social and ecological innovation tool in order to boost sustainable development in urban areas as well as rural areas. For this purpose, an empirical analysis based on a structured interview was conducted in the area of Naples on a sample of 150 gardeners. The results of the interviews have been aggregated by using a variance and correlation analysis in order to explore to what extent the social and environmental dimensions are linked to the community gardens and to identify a pattern between community gardens and social ecological innovation. Two attributes of community gardens, that is, urbanization effects mitigation and wellness and community, were identified as having the ability to influence other community garden attributes. Thus, the paper suggests using these highly influential factors to define a social and ecological innovation strategy based on a community gardens framework.

Enabling Relationships with Nature in Cities

Limited exposure to direct nature experiences is a worrying sign of urbanization, particularly for children. Experiencing nature during childhood shapes aspects of a personal relationship with nature, crucial for sustainable decision-making processes in adulthood. Scholars often stress the need to ‘reconnect’ urban dwellers with nature; however, few elaborate on how this can be achieved. Here, we argue that nature reconnection requires urban ecosystems, with a capacity to enable environmental learning in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, i.e., learning that occurs in the head, heart and hands of individuals. Drawing on environmental psychology, urban ecology, institutional analysis and urban planning, we present a theoretical framework for Human–Nature Connection (HNC), discuss the importance of nurturing HNC for children, elaborate on the role of property-rights and the importance of creating collective action arenas in cities for the promotion of urban resilience building. As values and environmental preconceptions underly environmental behavior, there are limits to achieving HNC in cities, as presumptive sentiments toward nature not always are positive. We end by discussing the role of new digital technologies in relation to HNC, and conclude by summarizing the major points brought forward herein, offering policy recommendations for HNC as a resilience strategy that can be adopted in cities throughout the world.