University of Victoria

Environmental Sociology I

This omnibus session brings together presentations with a focus on Environmental Sociology.

Session Chair: David Tindall, University of British Columbia

Session Discussant: Emily Huddart Kennedy, University of Alberta

Session Organizer: David Tindall, University of British Columbia, tindall@mail.ubc.ca

Ethical, Sustainable, Profitable: Investigating Canadian Corporations’ Climate Change Strategies

Natasha Ayton, University of Victoria, eyles@uvic.ca

As a cultural problem, climate change is contentious. There is widespread disagreement regarding what must be done to solve the problem, and who should pay the heaviest costs. Corporate voices are some of the strongest in the climate change debate, particularly given increasing reliance on private forms of environmental governance in Canada and internationally. Using content analysis of the websites of three of Canada’s largest corporations – Suncor, Bell and Royal Bank – this study investigates corporate communication and strategies regarding climate change. The content analysis is complimented by network analysis that traces links between these corporations and sustainability indexes, international reporting frameworks, and environmental organizations. The results of the study reveal what types of action Canadian corporations are taking to address climate change, how they are engaging in the climate change debate, and how they are positioning themselves in environmental decision-making both nationally and internationally.

Thursday June 6, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-060

Challenging Experts, Transcending Science? Discourses of Sustainability, Science and Expert-Lay Participation in Rural Ireland

Lisa Moran, UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, National University of Ireland Galway; School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway and BA Dept, St Angela's College, Sligo, Ireland, lisa.moran@nuigalway.ie

Abstract

This paper focuses on lay knowledge forms and discourses of sustainability and participation in Connemara, a rural area in the West of Ireland. Throughout this paper, it is contended that these interpretations of sustainability, which are culture-specific to the study region to some degree, both compare and conflict, with discourses of EU and national policy-makers and shape public reactions to environmental policy implementation.

Despite the emergence of various policy initiatives in Ireland and the EU, particularly more recently, which aim to advance participation with citizenries on environmental matters, lay knowledge forms are frequently negated from policy-making in this context. This relates (at least in part) to patterns of enculturation in EU and Irish policy forums and definitions of the ‘knowledge society’ which were expounded by government actors and guided economic and social policies during the ‘Celtic Tiger’ era, Ireland’s ‘boom years’ (1995-2008).

Drawing on an exceptionally rich bank of mixed-method data (qualitative and quantitative materials and ethnography), the author argues that these discourses of sustainability and ways of seeing the environment challenge concepts of expertise and science which prevail in Irish social discourse. This raises questions about the prevalence that should be accorded to lay public knowledge on an (inter)-national scale and how such knowledge can be ‘incorporated’ or ‘integrated’ into legislation, and what this means to government officials. The paper also questions the impact that these knowledge forms can exert on policies and discourses to do with climate change in the European and international contexts.

Thursday June 6, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-060

Help Save the Earth: Attitudes toward the Environment and Engagement in Pro-environmental Behaviour among University Students in a Western Canadian City

Henry Chow, University of Regina, henry.chow@uregina.ca

Human behaviour is altering the physical environment at a rapid pace. Global climate change, air and water pollution, land-use practices, and biodiversity loss are among the most pressing issues. In fact, it is believed that ecological knowledge alone is not sufficient to solve these problems. Social sciences must play a crucial role in helping to reverse human caused environmental damage (Mascia et al. 2003). The transition to sustainable behaviour will require change in human values, attitudes, and behaviors (Saunders et al. 2006). Understanding young people's environmental attitude and behavior is therefore of critical importance as they will be affected by and will have to provide solutions to the environmental problems.

Based on a questionnaire survey of over 400 university students in a western Canadian city, this paper explores students’ (a) attitudes toward the environment using Dunlap et al.’s (2000) New Ecological Paradigm Scale and (b) pro-environmental behaviour. Multiple regression analysis will also be conducted to explore the major factors contributing to students’ engagement in pro-environment behavior.

References

Dunlap, R.E., Van Liere, K.D., Mertig, A.G., & Jones, R.E. (2000). Measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: A revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425-442.

Mascia, M.B.; Brosius, J.P.; Dobson, T.A.; Forbes, B.C.; Horowitz, L.; McKean, M.A. & N.J. Turner. 2003. Conservation and the social sciences. Conservation Biology 17: 649–50.

Saunders, C., Brook, A.T., & Myers, O.E. (2006). Using psychology to save biodiversity and human wellbeing. Conservation Biology 203:702-5.

Thursday June 6, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-060

Environmental responsibility practices of major Russian companies

Konstantin Petukhov, Perm State National Research University, c.petoukhov@gmail.com

Environmental initiatives are an integral part of the CSR of modern corporations. Studying sites Russia's largest corporations allowed to identify the main areas of their activity in this field.

Sites of 500 major Russian companies were analyzed. As part of the content analysis was allocated 25,353 unique word dedicated to social responsibility.

As it was found, that 14.9% of companies had placed on their websites information about environmental initiatives. Only 2.5% of companies were issued environmental reports. Probably, the practices of Russian business in most cases are not supported by formal mechanisms, are pulsed and depend on the will of the business leaders. More often the concerns about the environment were shown by mining corporations, public business entities and b2b sector.

Descriptions of the environment actions primarily devoted to reducing the negative impact on the environment and reduce the amount of emissions. In the descriptions of environmental initiatives are widely used words with negative connotation, "ejection", "pollution", "spillage", etc. At the same time, companies are trying to demonstrate a systematic approach to solving environmental problems.

In study it was found that the most common environmental practice of Russian companies is to monitor the level of pollution of the environment. Resource conservation is the second most common environmental practice. Attention to the activities of companies to restore natural systems is low. In general, it was found that the practice of environmental activities of Russian companies is not consistent with international recommendations.

Thursday June 6, 2013 01:30 PM - 03:00 PM Building: Elliott Building, Room: E-060