Potential conflicts between ownership rights and environmental protection: Swedish undergraduate students’ views

Abstract

This study examines the perspectives of Swedish undergraduate students regarding potential conflicts between ownership rights and environmental protection. Conceptions of 'ownership' are relevant in relation to the environment and environmental protection as they can highlight a more transboundary relationship between the individual/society and nature. Students studying economics, law and political science were chosen because of their potential future transformative roles as decision makers and policy makers. Content analysis was employed to examine the written responses of 747 students from seven different universities to the open-ended survey question: Can ownership rights and environmental protection come into conflict? Students' responses were measured twice: at the very beginning of the first semester and then again at the end of the semester. The results show that students expressed a dominant view of ownership in terms of individual ownership, and associations to collective ownership were largely absent. In regards to the potential conflict between ownership rights and environmental protection, most students perceived such a conflict, and it was more common for the environment to be conceptualised as the losing party rather than the landowner. More research is needed regarding how teaching and instruction can deal with the potential conflicts between ownership (private/corporate/governmental) and environmental protection.

Coupling coordination between higher education and environmental governance: Evidence of western China

“…Higher education also influences environmental governance negatively. The teaching schemes, curriculums, and textbooks accompanied by higher education development are usually relatively lagging compared with the social reality, which to some degree impede the current requirement and the actual performances of environmental governance [ 25 , 26 ]. Besides, online teaching and learning in higher education sectors are relatively less effective, which decreases the local higher education quality, and makes the students less competitive and skillful in environmental governance practice; thus, environmental governance is negatively affected [ 27 , 28 ].…”

Sustainability of Wetlands in the Eyes of the New Generation of Environmental Engineering Students

“…In turn, this scientific-social consolidation is believed to be capable of broadening the effectiveness and power of these modern systems (e.g., satellite remote sensing) [12]. In particular, younger generations and teenagers must be equipped with the skills to tackle multifaceted global challenges (e.g., "knowledge on climate change" [13]; "multi-level governance of climate change" [14]; "ownership rights and environmental protection" [15]; "fossil fuels and climate justice" [16]). This fact is even more apparent for those younger generations and teenagers who intend to train and be involved professionally in an environment-related academic field.…”

“…"Coding is the process whereby raw data are systematically transformed and aggregated into units which permit a precise description of relevant content characteristics" (Holsti, cited by [15]). Here, each answering sheet was assigned a code to ease referencing and to eliminate the probable subjectivity.…”

“…. the participants' views" ( [15], p. 7). This research extracted relevant words/statements based on each part of the question (Box 3).…”

Where to look and what to do? Blank and bright spots in research on environmental and climate change education

“…There is emerging evidence on the role of social science knowledge, and knowledge of the relation between the individual and the collective, influencing pro environmental behaviour such as support of polices (climate taxation). In Sweden, for example, I have been involved in various research programmes and projects focusing on the social sciences and environmental protection (Harring and Jagers 2017;Harring, Lundholm, and Torbj€ ornsson 2017;Harring, Davies, and Lundholm 2017;Harring, Jagers, and Matti 2019;Lundholm 2017, 2019a;Stern€ ang and Lundholm 2012;Torbj€ ornsson and Lundholm 2019). Social science knowledge allows students to understand environmental problems and solutions -why do they exist and how can they be solved?…”