Topic 1.1 environmental value systems for the IB ESS Course. What is an Environmental Value System? What influence your EVS? How are Environmental Values a System? Spectrum of EVS Historical Influences on the environmental movement Case study: Zakouma National Park shifting Environmental Values

1. Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Topic 1: Foundations of
environmental systems
and societies

2. Environmental Value systems (EVS) : Have been affected by events through history
as the environmental movement has developed
Environmental Value systems (EVS) : Exist as a spectrum of ideas and values that
depend on many factors and influences. (ToK - this sets EVS in the terms of personal
and shared knowledge)
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Main ideas
?
Do
you have an EVS?
What has made it?

3. A World View or Paradigm
Its how you perceive or evaluate environmental issues
as an individual or as part of a group
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
What is an EVS?
What is thisWorld View?

4. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
What influence your EVS?
Culture
Religion
Education
Experience
Economics

5. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Can you describe different EVS?
Culture
Religion
Education
Experience
Economics
O”Riordan (1981,1989) categorised a spectrum
of EVS from ecocentric through anthropocentric
to technocentric
O’Riordan T. (1981) Environmentalism. 2nd edn. London: Prion
O’Riordan, T. (1989) The challenge for environmentalism. In R. Peet and N. Thrift (eds) New Models in Geography (pp. 77–102). London: Unwin Hyman.
Anthropocentric
Ecocentric
Technocentric

6. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
How are Environmental Values a System?
Culture
Religion
Education
Experience
Economics Anthropocentric
Ecocentric
Technocentric
INPUTS PROCESS OUTPUTS

7. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Spectrum of EVS?
O’Riordan T. (1981) Environmentalism. 2nd edn. London: Prion
O’Riordan, T. (1989) The challenge for environmentalism. In R. Peet and N. Thrift (eds) New Models in Geography (pp. 77–102). London: Unwin Hyman.
Holistic world view. Minimum
disturbance of natural processes.
Integration of spiritual, social and
environmental dimensions.
Sustainability for the whole Earth.
Self-reliant communities within a
framework of global citizenship. Self-
imposed restraint on resource use.
People as environmental
managers of sustainable global
systems. Population control given
equal weight to resource use. Strong
regulation by independent
authorities required.
Technology can keep pace with
and provide solutions to
environmental problems. Resource
replacement solves resource
depletion. Need
to understand natural processes
in order to control them. Strong
emphasis on scientific analysis and
prediction prior to policy-making.
Importance of market, and economic
growth.
Ecocentrism Anthropocentrism Technocentrism
Nature People Technology

8. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Spectrum of EVS?
O’Riordan T. (1981) Environmentalism. 2nd edn. London: Prion
O’Riordan, T. (1989) The challenge for environmentalism. In R. Peet and N. Thrift (eds) New Models in Geography (pp. 77–102). London: Unwin Hyman.
Ecocentrism Anthropocentrism Technocentrism
Nature People Technology
Deep Ecologists Environmental Managers Cornucopians
Self-reliance Soft Ecologists
Intrinsic
importance of
nature for the
humanity of man.
Emphasis on
smallness of scale
and hence
community identity in
settlement, work and
leisure.
Belief that economic
growth and resource
exploitation can
continue under
controlled conditions
Belief that man can
always find a way
out of any difficulties,
either political,
scientific or
technological.

9. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
To what extend does the environment
have it’s own intrinsic value?
What is intrinsic value?
To what extent do all parts of the environment have equal
value?
Why does it matter if the environment has intrinsic value?
ToK
question
Will everyone in the room have
the same answer?

10. Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge
ANWR
ANWR Coastal Plain
Proposed development
area
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
One issue two EVS
Adapted from: Brown A: Extended Essay - Can the reasons for drilling in ANWR Section 1002 outweigh the costs?, 2010, unpublished
In 2005 the US government under George W Bush
voted to allow oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge

11. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
One issue two EVS - ANWR
The proposed drilling areas:
Home to the indigenous Gwich’in people and the inhabitants of the
small city of Kaktovik
Supports both Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) and Porcupine
Caribou (Rangifer tarandus granti)
The Gwich’in people depend on caribou as their main food source
The area is estimated to have has much as 13,000,000 barrels of
oil
Kaktovik
Adapted from: Brown A: Extended Essay - Can the reasons for drilling in ANWR Section 1002 outweigh the costs?, 2010, unpublished

12. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
One issue two EVS - ANWR
"For us this is a human rights issue and it's a basic Aboriginal
human rights issue,"
"the sacred place where life begins.”
"unacceptable that another nation is allowed to be destroyed [for
oil]."
Luci Beach, a representative of the Gwich’in Steering Committee
“our need to protect these sacred places because of our spiritual
connection between the land, the animals and our people”
Lorraine Peter, Gwich’in
“We have carefully studied and taken a position on petroleum
development. We have reached a consensus that we have held
now for over two decades. That consensus is not what most
people think, it is much more complex. The essence of the
Kaktovik position is that we would support oil exploration and
development of the coastal plain provided we are given the
authority and the resources to ensure that it is done properly and
safely. Without the necessary provisions to ensure this
protection, we would not”
Gwich’in People City of Kaktovik
Which Environmental Value Systems are these? How do you know?
Adapted from: Brown A: Extended Essay - Can the reasons for drilling in ANWR Section 1002 outweigh the costs?, 2010, unpublished

13. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Be careful with EVSs
It is very easy to view subsistence societies as ecocentric.
But as O’Riordan (1989, p84), Paavola and Lowe (2005)
points out:
North American and Australian first peoples as well as post
ice age man did not develop environmentally exploitive
technology
They did however alter their environment through fire and
depleted game through over hunting
Nomadic herders in Africa are causing overgrazing in the
Sahel region
O’Riordan, T. (1989) The challenge for environmentalism. In R. Peet and N. Thrift (eds) New
Models in Geography (pp. 77–102). London: Unwin Hyman.
Paavola J; Lowe I (2005) Environmental Values in a Globalising World: Nature, Justice and
Governance, Routledge
Fire being used by subsistence farmers on Malapascua Island
in the Philippines

14. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Growth of the environmental movement
Growth of environmental pressure groups in
the late 20th Century. (Paavola and Lowe
2005)
Emphasised a shift in view point
e.g. During the Cold War nuclear power was
seen as clean and safe. This view changed
after Chernobyl and more recently Fukushima
Paavola J; Lowe I (2005) Environmental Values in a Globalising World: Nature, Justice and
Governance, Routledge
https://flic.kr/p/6qxrsq
Reactor Building Chernobyl: Timm Suess

15. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Historical Influences on the environmental movement
While influences on the way we engage with nature can be traced back throughout history, the
modern environmental movement grew rapidly in the late 20th Century (each tile is a link)
Minimata Bay (1956)
Mercury released from a
factory accumulate along the
food chain and causes
mercury poisoning in the
local population
Silent Spring (1962)
Rachel Carson publishes
Silent Spring which argues
the link between excessive
use of pesticides and its
environmental implications
for ecosystems and food
chains
DDT and Egg Shells
(1970)
Derek Ratcliffe showed the
link between decline in
peregrine falcon numbers
and the effect of DDT on
eggshell thickness in falcons
Greenpeace (1971)
The environmental
campaign group was
established in Canada and
has since grown into an
international organisation
Gaia hypothesis (1972)
James lovelock proposes
the idea that the planet and
its organisms have
developed together as a
symbiotic system
Bhopal (1985)
Release of chemicals from
the Union Carbide plant kills
unto 25000 people in Bhopal
India
Chernobyl (1996)
Failure of the nuclear reactor
at Chernobyl causes the
relocation of over 300000
people in Ukraine (then
Russia) and with fall out
contaminating land as far
away as the UK

16. Case study: Zakouma National Park
shifting Environmental Values
Topic1: Foundations of
Environmental Systems and
Societies

17. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Zakouma National Park
The Zakouma National Park is a 3000km2 area
created in 1963 in Chad, central Africa.
To make way for the park 6 local villages were cleared
and the villagers relocated
Chad
C.A.R
Sudan
Chad
C.A.R
Sudan
Zakouma
National Park

18. Chad
C.A.R
Sudan
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Zakouma National Park
Zakouma is home to one of Africa’s largest remaining
elephant herds
Because of the civil war and poaching by raiders from
Sudan between 2002 and 2010 the number fell from
4000 to about 400
Civil war in Sudan and the surrounding regions means
that trade in illegal ivory is a big business.
In 2005 it was estimated 75% of this ivory went to
China. (What EVS does this demonstrate?)

19. Chad
C.A.R
Sudan
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Zakouma National Park
The attitude of the villagers displaced to create Zakouma
depends on its economic value. If there is tourism and
Government support in terms of money - local villagers
support the park.
Education of local rangers in the park has helped develop a
stronger link between local community and the park
Luxury ecocamping will provide additional jobs and bring in an
estimated $250000 dollars to the parks budget
One of the camps will be free for locals who, even though they
have lived along side the elephants and other animal may
have never seen them - a total of around 5000 in the first year

20. Chad
C.A.R
Sudan
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
Zakouma National Park
The Players in the story
Conservationists Locals Poachers
Which Environmental Value System?
Fay J.M: Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma (Chad), National Geographic Magazine, March 2007
“The Rare African Park Where Elephants Are Thriving.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 30
Jan. 2017, news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/01/wildlife-watch-chad-zakouma-elephants-poaching/.

21. Work cited:
Brown A: Extended Essay - Can the reasons for drilling in ANWR Section 1002 outweigh the costs?, 2010, unpublished
Fay J.M: Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma (Chad), National Geographic Magazine, March 2007
O’Riordan T. (1981) Environmentalism. 2nd edn. London: Prion
O’Riordan, T. (1989) The challenge for environmentalism. In R. Peet and N. Thrift (eds) New Models in Geography (pp. 77–102). London:
Unwin Hyman.
Paavola J; Lowe I (2005) Environmental Values in a Globalising World: Nature, Justice and Governance, Rutledge
“The Rare African Park Where Elephants Are Thriving.” National Geographic, National Geographic Society, 30 Jan. 2017,
news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/01/wildlife-watch-chad-zakouma-elephants-poaching/.
NB* Unless stated in the presentation all illustrations, figures and images are the property and copyright of N Gardner. sciencebitz.com
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems

22. Extended resources and further reading
Environmental History Timeline: http://environmentalhistory.org
A Journal article about EVS: Dietz, Thomas & Fitzgerald, Amy & Shwom, Rachael. (2005). Environmental Values.
Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour. 30. 335-72. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228624754_Environmental_Values
A research paper evaluating the believe that the Amish culture of Lancaster County reject technology per se https://
kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/59685/1/JAPAS_Reschly_vol2-issue1_pp125-146.pdf
Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems

23. Topic1: Foundations
Topic 1.1: Environmental value systems
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