Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Eva Rocke
Faculty Mentor’s Department
UM Sustainability Coordinator
Abstract / Artist's Statement
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our era. In order to mitigate the effects of the global crisis, a transformation of attitudes and behaviors around environmental sustainability is required. Literature indicates that one of the best ways to change one person's attitudes and beliefs is through leadership and group action. Given that we are situated at the University of Montana, the easiest groups to focus on are ASUM student groups. These groups are not only accessible but they already possess the structure that is needed in order to effectively mobilize change in the individual. Working with established student groups, we distributed a survey that determined a baseline of environmental attitudes and knowledge that the student group had for environmental sustainability. Using that information we created a customized environmental curriculum to present to each student group in order to give them more information and influence their attitudes towards environmental sustainability. Finally, we will distribute an additional survey and compared the two to see determine if there was a difference between environmental attitudes and knowledge from the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester to the end. Our goal is to change the attitudes and behaviors of the individual so that they will be more likely to continue using sustainable practices in the future. This will create a domino effect that will effectively create change in the global crisis that we face today.
Category
Interdisciplinary (GLI)
Can One Person Impact Climate Change?
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our era. In order to mitigate the effects of the global crisis, a transformation of attitudes and behaviors around environmental sustainability is required. Literature indicates that one of the best ways to change one person's attitudes and beliefs is through leadership and group action. Given that we are situated at the University of Montana, the easiest groups to focus on are ASUM student groups. These groups are not only accessible but they already possess the structure that is needed in order to effectively mobilize change in the individual. Working with established student groups, we distributed a survey that determined a baseline of environmental attitudes and knowledge that the student group had for environmental sustainability. Using that information we created a customized environmental curriculum to present to each student group in order to give them more information and influence their attitudes towards environmental sustainability. Finally, we will distribute an additional survey and compared the two to see determine if there was a difference between environmental attitudes and knowledge from the beginning of the Spring 2020 semester to the end. Our goal is to change the attitudes and behaviors of the individual so that they will be more likely to continue using sustainable practices in the future. This will create a domino effect that will effectively create change in the global crisis that we face today.