A connection to nature is one of five strategies that can equip young people today to deal with the global challenges of the future according to a new multidisciplinary study created with contributions from DTU Aqua.
Professor Patrizio Mariani from DTU Aqua has contributed to the article Empowering young people with climate and ocean science: Five strategies for adults to consider, just published in the science magazine One Earth, with his views on the role of the connection to nature and the role of critical thinking. Both strategies considered important ways to improve the capacity of the young to discern between fake news and facts about ocean processes and the Earth system.
He points to the ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for scientists, educators and managers to work together to create and share the science needed to support the sustainable use of the ocean that the UN Ocean Decade presents:.
“I think schools could be inspired by those strategies to focus their educational programmes and advance our collective knowledge on the role of the ocean in balancing climate. But also to help explaining the complex interactions regulating the Earth system, hence driving the trajectory of future climate decisions” says Patrizio Mariani.
READ the article Empowering young people with climate and ocean science: Five strategies for adults to consider in One Earth
The paper is a collaboration between social, natural and climate scientists and initiated by Rachel Kelly at the University of Tasmania in Australia and Mary Wisz professor at the World Maritime University in Sweden, after exchanges they had during one of the UN Ocean Decade initiatives.
Pro-environmental behavior
The five strategies presented by the scientists that can help to transform youth engagement, and strengthen the agency needed to meet the global climate and ocean challenges they will inherit are:
1) inclusion of diverse voices, 2) active dialogue-based science learning, 3) connection to nature, 4) critical thinking skills, and 5) co-created visions of a sustainable future.
As for strategy number 3, Professor Patrizio Mariani from DTU Aqua as an ocean scientist with a focus on the role of nature, writes that “successful implementation of strategy #3 has the potential to foster pro-environmental behavior and stewardship - and improve mental health and resilience.”
“A body of research shows that positive experiences of nature in childhood are central to developing pro-environmental behaviours and attitudes. They also improve the ability to understand the interactions in complex systems, like our ecosystems. We should all make an effort as educators, scientists and managers to remove social and physical barriers to accessing nature and provide more opportunities for hands-on experiences to ocean exploration.”, says Patrizio Mariani
The scientists have done the published study to answer to the documented fact that young people are increasingly aware and anxious about climate and ocean change.
FOTO: Colourbox