Significant Ideas
Historical events, among other influences, affect the development of environmental value systems (EVSs) and environmental movements.
There is a wide spectrum of EVSs, each with its own premises and implications.
Knowledge and Understanding
Significant historical influences on the development of the environmental movement have come from literature, the media, major environmental disasters, international agreements and technological developments.
An EVS is a worldview or paradigm that shapes the way an individual, or group of people, perceives and evaluates environmental issues, influenced by cultural, religious, economic and socio-political contexts.
An EVS might be considered as a system in the sense that it may be influenced by education, experience, culture and media (inputs), and involves a set of interrelated premises, values and arguments that can generate consistent decisions and evaluations (outputs).
There is a spectrum of EVSs, from ecocentric through anthropocentric to technocentric value systems.
An ecocentric viewpoint integrates social, spiritual and environmental dimensions into a holistic ideal. It puts ecology and nature as central to humanity and emphasizes a less materialistic approach to life with greater self-sufficiency of societies. An ecocentric viewpoint prioritizes biorights, emphasizes the importance of education and encourages self-restraint in human behaviour.
An anthropocentric viewpoint argues that humans must sustainably manage the global system. This might be through the use of taxes, environmental regulation and legislation. Debate would be encouraged to reach a consensual, pragmatic approach to solving environmental problems.
A technocentric viewpoint argues that technological developments can provide solutions to environmental problems. This is a consequence of a largely optimistic view of the role humans can play in improving the lot of humanity. Scientific research is encouraged in order to form policies and to understand how systems can be controlled, manipulated or changed to solve resource depletion. A pro-growth agenda is deemed necessary for society’s improvement.
There are extremes at either end of this spectrum (for example, deep ecologists– ecocentric to cornucopian–technocentric), but in practice, EVSs vary greatly depending on cultures and time periods, and they rarely fit simply or perfectly into any classification.
Different EVSs ascribe different intrinsic value to components of the biosphere.
Applications and Skills
Discuss the view that the environment can have its own intrinsic value.
Evaluate the implications of two contrasting EVSs in the context of given environmental issues.
Justify, using examples and evidence, how historical influences have shaped the development of the modern environmental movement.
Guidance
A society is an arbitrary group of individuals who share some common characteristics, such as geographical location, cultural background, historical timeframe, religious perspective, value system and so on.
A variety of significant historical influences could be covered, but with a minimum of three in-depth examples. Possible examples could include: James Lovelock’s development of the Gaia hypothesis; Minamata disaster; Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring (1962);, Davis Guggenheim’s documentary An Inconvenient Truth (2006); Chernobyl disaster of 1986; Fukushima Daiihi nuclear disaster of 2011; whaling; Bhopal disaster of 1984; Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010; Chipko movement; Rio Earth Summit 2012 (Rio+20); Earth Day; Green Revolution; Copenhagen Accord; recent or local events of student interest.
In the range of historical influences selected, it is beneficial to have both local and global examples.
EVSs are individual; there is no “wrong” EVS.
During the ESS course students should be encouraged to develop their own EVS and to be able to justify their decisions on environmental issues based on their EVSs.
Key Vocabulary
Here
Textbook Reading and/or Activities
Pages 283-299
Case Study (p.284)
Figure 7.1 (p.285)
Exercises (p.289)
Exercise (p.293)
Case Study (p.293-294)
Exercises (p.298)
Practice Questions (p.298-299)
Notes
i-Biology Notes (Not available)
A detailed set of notes, created by Stephen Taylor, examining UX - UY and AX - AY.
i-Biology Study Questions (Not available)
A series of questions, created by Stephen Taylor, to help check your understanding of the IB learning expectations. This is VERY GOOD practice.
Bioknowledgy Notes (Not available)
A detailed set of notes, created by Chris Paine, examining all of the IB learning expectations.
Bioknowledgy Study Questions (Not available)
A series of questions, created by Chris Paine, to help check your understanding of the IB learning expectations. This is VERY GOOD practice.
Learning Activities
Resource
Description
Supplemental Reading
Resource
Description
This video outlines concepts K&U 1-9 and A&S 1-3.
Should Watch Videos
Must Watch Videos