Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education

Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 2021 - Volume 17 Issue 1, Article No: e2229
https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/9156

Published Online: 13 Nov 2020

Views: 911 | Downloads: 485

From 62 semi-structured interviews carried out with young people ages 14–25 who are engaged in the defense of the environment, we explored in this article how the circulation of scientific knowledge on the social media plays a role in engaging young people in defense of the environment to identify how internet can help to support them. As a result, despite respect for science and scientists, young people’s processing of scientific knowledge does not always seem to respect the standards of objectification advocated by the scientific approach. This can be problematic because they can appear to be contradictory for their detractors. Helping them to be more efficient in their active role for promoting environmental issues means to support them for a more scientific and reflexive use of social media. Thus, the many debates around environmental education can be enriched by an increasingly precise analysis of the expression of the commitment of young ecologists on the Internet.

commitment digital era young people information science

• Allum, N., Sturgis, P., Tabourazi, D., & Brunton-Smith, I. (2008). Science knowledge and attitudes across cultures : A meta-analysis. Public Understanding of Science, 17(1), 3554. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662506070159
• Bader, B., Orellana, I., Sauvé, L., & Villemagne, C. (Éds.). (2017). Éducation, environnement, écocitoyenneté : Repères contemporains. Presses de l’Université du Québec.
• Bailey, A., Giangola, L., & Boykoff, M. T. (2014). How grammatical choice shapes media representations of climate (Un)certainty. Environmental Communication, 8(2), 197215. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2014.906481
• Berryman, T., & Sauvé, L. (2016). Ruling relationships in sustainable development and education for sustainable development. The Journal of Environmental Education, 47(2), 104117. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2015.1092934
• Boehmer-Christiansen, S. (1994). Global climate protection policy : The limits of scientific advice. Global Environmental Change, 4(3), 185200. https://doi.org/10.1016/0959-3780(94)90002-7
• Boulianne, S. (2009). Does internet use affect engagement? A meta-analysis of research. Political Communication, 26(2), 193211. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600902854363
• Boulianne, S. (2011). Stimulating or reinforcing political interest : Using panel data to examine reciprocal effects between news media and political interest. Political Communication, 28(2), 147162. https://doi.org/10.1080/10584609.2010.540305
• Boulianne, S. (2015). Social media use and participation : A meta-analysis of current research. Information, Communication & Society, 18(5), 524538. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1008542
• Busch, K. C. (2016). Polar bears or people? Exploring ways in which teachers frame climate change in the classroom. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 6(2), 137165. https://doi.org/10.1080/21548455.2015.1027320
• Chailleux, S. (2019). Strategic ignorance and politics of time : How expert knowledge framed shale gas policies. Critical Policy Studies, 119. https://doi.org/10.1080/19460171.2018.1563556
• Chawla, L. (1998). Significant life experiences revisited : A review of research on sources of environmental sensitivity. The Journal of Environmental Education, 29(3), 1121. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958969809599114
• Chawla, L., & Cushing, D. F. (2007). Education for strategic environmental behavior. Environmental Education Research, 13(4), 437452. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504620701581539
• Comfort, S. E., & Park, Y. E. (2018). On the field of environmental communication : a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature. Environmental Communication, 12(7), 862875. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2018.1514315
• Conroy, M., Feezell, J. T., & Guerrero, M. (2012). Facebook and political engagement : A study of online political group membership and offline political engagement. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(5), 15351546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.03.012
• Corner, A., Whitmarsh, L., & Xenias, D. (2012). Uncertainty, scepticism and attitudes towards climate change : Biased assimilation and attitude polarisation. Climatic Change, 114(34), 463478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0424-6
• Davenport, T., & Prusak, L. (1998). Working Knowledge (Harvard Business School). Harvard Business School.
• Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (2009). The discovery of grounded theory : Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine.
• Kim, Y., Hsu, S.-H., & de Zúñiga, H. G. (2013). Influence of social media use on discussion network heterogeneity and civic engagement : The moderating role of personality traits: social media & personality traits. Journal of Communication, 63(3), 498516. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12034
• Koteyko, N., Jaspal, R., & Nerlich, B. (2013). Climate change and ‘climategate’ in online reader comments : A mixed methods study: Climate change and ‘climategate’ in online reader comments. The Geographical Journal, 179(1), 7486. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4959.2012.00479.x
• Mcleod, J. M., Scheufele, D. A., & Moy, P. (1999). Community, communication, and participation : The role of mass media and interpersonal discussion in local political participation. Political Communication, 16(3), 315336. https://doi.org/10.1080/105846099198659
• Musick, M. A., & Wilson, J. (2008). Volunteers : A social profile. Indiana University Press.
• Pleyers, G. (2010). Alter-globalization : Becoming actors in the global age. Polity.
• Roser-Renouf, C., Maibach, E. W., Leiserowitz, A., & Zhao, X. (2014). The genesis of climate change activism : From key beliefs to political action. Climatic Change, 125(2), 163178. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-014-1173-5
• Sezen-Barrie, A., Miller-Rushing, A., & Hufnagel, E. (2020). ‘It’s a gassy world’ : Starting with students’ wondering questions to inform climate change education. Environmental Education Research, 26(4), 555576. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2019.1610158
• Shepardson, D. P., Niyogi, D., Choi, S., & Charusombat, U. (2011). Students’ conceptions about the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. Climatic Change, 104(34), 481507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9786-9
• Stern, P. C. (2011). Contributions of psychology to limiting climate change. American Psychologist, 66(4), 303314. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023235
• Taber, F., & Taylor, N. (2009). Climate of Concern—A Search for Effective Strategies for Teaching Children about Global Warming. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 4(2), 97-116.
• Valenzuela, S., Arriagada, A., & Scherman, A. (2012). The social media basis of youth protest behavior : The case of Chile. Journal of Communication, 62(2), 299‑314. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01635.x
• Vitak, J., Zube, P., Smock, A., Carr, C. T., Ellison, N., & Lampe, C. (2011). It’s complicated : Facebook users’ political participation in the 2008 election. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 14(3), 107114. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2009.0226
• Wilks, L., & Harris, N. (2016). Examining the conflict and interconnectedness of young people’s ideas about environmental issues, responsibility and action. Environmental Education Research, 22(5), 683696. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2015.1054261
• Zeyer, A., & Kelsey, E. (s. d.). Environmental education in a cultural context. In International Handbook of Research on Environmental Education (Routledge, p. 206212).

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.