SynEnergy Forum ICT & Environmental Attitudes

Learning About the Environment: The Role of Information Technology in Shaping Attitudes and Developing Solutions

Dr. John F. Dumont Ms. Franjeska-Nicole Brison-Chraniotis

University of Indianapolis SynEnergy Forum

2008

Dumont, J.F. & Brison-Chraniotis, F.N. (2008)

SynEnergy Forum ICT & Environmental Attitudes

Abstract

How do people learn about environmental issues, and how are their attitudes shaped? Has Information Technology including the Internet (for example, websites and blogs) and even the utilization of text messages on mobile phones had a profound effect on this process? What are the implications and the types of solutions generated through these channels of communication, and how can they be used to advance comprehensive strategies at a policy level? In view of the absence of substantial literature to correlate a relationship, if any, between the impact of Information Communication Technology on knowledge acquisition and attitude formation, on the one hand, and civic action on the other, this study references a framework patterned after the use of Information Communication Technology in politics. At present, the 2008 Democratic Presidential Primaries in the United States allow for a clear parallel to be drawn between the use of ICT to inform, convince, and ultimately secure voter engagement in the civic process, with the ways in which such efforts may be replicated to raise awareness and elicit individual participation on environmental issues at a policy level. This preliminary pilot study seeks to address these issues, employing a number of methods to examine the various aspects of such a process. In the first phase, a survey is conducted on a sample of approximately one hundred college students attending the University of Indianapolis-Athens Campus in Greece, to investigate ICT use and environmental awareness. In the second phase of the research, focus groups will assist in the development of a second questionnaire, which in conjunction with European Union

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data sets (for example, Eurobarometer and Eurostat) will allow for a more refined secondary data analysis. The findings of the first phase show that students rely on a variety of sources when developing their attitudes and understandings of environmental issues as well as the solutions they believe are viable. The design and implementation of environmental policy measures, in order to be effective, need to take into account these aspects. Any policy agenda is a social construction: whether it reaches its goals or not depends on the objectives set, the characteristics and the power relations of the groups involved, and the broader socioeconomic framework in which it is placed.

Dumont, J.F. & Brison-Chraniotis, F.N. (2008)

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Learning about the Environment: The Role of Information Technology in Shaping Attitudes and Developing Solutions

In recent years, the issue of the environment has risen to the fore of international concern as climate change, and in particular, global warming, have become the subjects of increasing scientific inquiry and debate. Although the veracity of these phenomena is still very much a point of contention in certain scientific circles, the problem is more appropriately located in socio-political and socio-economic frameworks that either fail, or refuse, to acknowledge the ramifications of human activity on the environment, and in so doing, impede the formation of comprehensive environmental strategies even as they obfuscate the need for concerted, responsible action.

There is an apparent disconnect in the manner in which such socio-economic and socio-political structures view their connection to the environment and thus the world or, put another way, the reference values of contemporary societies have overreached the adaptive limits of sustainability (Rappaport, 1979) of the ecosystems of which they are a part. Consequently, where the dichotomy between advocates and opponents of the environmental crisis in the scientific and political community has not succeeded in confounding the public, the intractability of a problem as overwhelming and vast as a global environmental crisis has disheartened those who are inclined to believe the problem is in fact, real. The end result is one of despair compounding cynicism, for where one might believe in the veracity of the crisis, one feels unable to do anything to prevent or reverse it.

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Thus the problem is manifold: in the absence of an international political consensus as to the actuality of a global environmental crisis, it has been difficult to achieve international commitment to environmental and energy policies in order to engage the problem. Subsequently, efforts to address the maladaptive model upon which communities relate to the environment have not only been subject to fragmentation, but have been increasingly relegated to the private sphere, where corporations and individuals alike endorse eco-friendly modes of operation or green ideologies as a matter of personal choice rather than a matter of public policy. Nevertheless, the multifaceted nature of this problem highlights the fact that at the heart of the environmental crisis are the critical issues of information acquisition and attitude formation, for it becomes clear that in the absence of information, one cannot formulate attitudes toward an issue, whether positive or negative in content. Information acquisition, therefore, lends itself seamlessly to attitude formation if one examines where individuals acquire their information regarding the environment, and how what they learn impacts their attitudinal stance toward the crisis. Ultimately, the only question of any consequence is how information may positively impact the attitudes of individuals in order to stimulate their engagement to environmental solutions that would lead to the development and implementation of comprehensive environmental strategies at a policy level.

With regard to this particular query, it is patent that insofar as the contemporary period is characterized as an information society or digital society, the role of information technology is unmistakably clear in the widespread dissemination of

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information; furthermore, there is a growing theoretical impetus to make the case for a network society(Castells, 2004), one in which technological infrastructure, like the Internet, has revolutionized the human capability for social networking, and has consequently linked the dissemination of information to digital platforms of public discourse, both occurring over time and across space previously not possible. Thus the significance of technology for information and communication is readily apparent, and the potential for social communication, or networking, to stimulate individuals to action cannot be overlooked; it is precisely within such a scope that this study will treat the question: how may Information Communication Technology (ICT), the Environment, and Policy be meaningfully connected in a manner that will address the current environmental crisis?

Framing such a question has proven difficult, not for lack of sensitivity or awareness on this over-arching global concern, but for lack of consensus on how collaborative action may be developed, nurtured, and applied to the problem at hand. This lack of consensus is, in part, driven by the vast diversification within and without these subject areas; each topic is multifaceted and either approached in a specialized viewpoint from within a particular academic discipline, or is examined from a business standpoint that frames the information in terms of a consumer economy, the upshot being that there exists an overwhelming amount of research that focuses on one or more aspects of the ICTEnvironmentPolicy triptych, but virtually none that makes the significant link between the three.

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In view of this absence of information, a meaningful connection between these three areas can only be rendered if one borrows from other theoretical platforms that highlight a significant association between ICT usage and collaborative action for particular results, and then speculate as to the potential value of these examples for generating solutions to the environmental crisis. The most effective way to present this argument, therefore, is to draw on the interesting connections between ICT usage, voter turnout, and civic engagement that have been markedly visible in American politics since the turn of the century.

The Internet in politics, the youth vote, and civic engagement. The Internet has long been utilized in the sphere of politics, which is, of course, nothing new; from the 1990s politicians were quick to capitalize on the incredible potential of the Internet to advance their campaigns. At the close of the 1990s, however, the foremost criticism of politico-websites was that they were mired in brochure-ware mode (Booth, 1998), accomplishing the strict goal of disseminating information to the wired voter, but doing little to cultivate actual communication and by extension dynamic interaction between candidates and the audiences they sought to engage. Even so, from Robert Doles announcement of his campaign website in 1994, to Howard Deans blog approach in 2004, the use of web-strategies for political capital have undergone a significant overhaul from the brochure-ware of the previous decade to the participatory web-strategies that potential voters experience today, and with good reason.

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2004 was the year that voter turnout in the United States reached record heights since the presidential election of 1968 (Patterson, 2004:1) with almost 61% of the eligible population casting their vote, in contrast to the 54% total turnout rate of the 2000 election (McDonald, 2004). The cause for this surge of 16 million (McDonald, 2000) new voters in just one election cycle has been the subject of much spirited debate, and though scholars have been careful to avoid grand statements that would attribute voter turnout to the Internet, it is difficult to overlook the fact that the Internet contributed significantly to their involvement with the electoral process. To illustrate, the Vanishing Voter Final Report of the John F. Kennedy School of Government noted that within this voter increase it was young people, ages 18-29, who had a record turnout of over 50%, compared to the 42% of young voters in 2000, (Patterson, 2004:6) where the traditional get-the-vote-out efforts combined with internet-based initiatives were cited as explanations of the phenomenon.

Interestingly, 2004 was also that year in which the Internet became an essential part of American Politics(Rainie, et.al., 2005:i), according to the 2004 Pew Internet & American Life Project Report, which noted that 75 million Americans got their information and news about the campaigns from the Internet. The report highlighted that these online political news consumers represented an 83% increase from the 34.5 million Americans (Rainie, et.al., 2005:ii) who consulted the Internet in the 2000 presidential election, and who also used the internet to become more politically active in terms of fundraising, event participation, candidate fact-checking, and online discussions.

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This exciting surge in voter turnout in 2004 prompted speculation on whether or not such a high streak would last through the next election cycle, and more importantly if young people would continue this trend of active participation in 2008. The 14th Biannual Youth Survey on Politics and Public Service, released by the Harvard Institute of Politics in April 2008, confirms that this is indeed the case; data from the presidential primaries reveal that not only has the overall political engagement of the eligible voting population remained strong, it has also demonstrated that 18-29 year-olds have turned out in numbers that surpass the 2004 record. Of the 29.5 million eligible young voters almost 64% indicated that they will participate in the general election in November (Leach, et.al., 2008:3). Not only are young people exhibiting more political interest, they are also demonstrating a stronger sense of civic engagement: 73% of young people under 30 consider voting to be their civic duty (Leach, et.al., 2008:3), and 56% reported being very interested in contributing their volunteer efforts to the campaign they support, where opportunities are available. In this 2008 report, the Internet again figures prominently in the equation; a quarter of Americans act as regular online news consumers and young people are an important aspect of this equation with 42% regularly gathering information on the campaign from the internet the highest record of any news source (Kohut, 2008). Still, this is not the only record with regard to young voters: a full 2/3 of individuals 18-29 years of age use social networking sites, compared to the 22% of the general population that does the same; young people report using Facebook, MySpace and even Youtube not only as alternative sources of political information but also as forums for political dialogue, a trend that is seemingly exclusive to their age bracket.

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Social media and the Millennial Generation. One candidate in the 2008 US Presidential Primaries who has perceived the importance of this connection between ICT usage and the turning tide in civicmindedness amongst youth is Barrack Obama, who has striven to tap into this well-spring of social media users, and has done so successfully, with more than 70% of young, wired voters preferring him to Senator Clinton (Kohut, et.al., 2008). The evidence suggests that Senator Obama has the lead in young voter preference in the United States, and while his ability to energize the youth vote (Kohut, et.al.,2008) has largely been attributed to his personal charisma and political platform, an overwhelmingly significant basis for his success is his ability to access the socio-cultural space in which the current young generation resides, and to tailor his approach of it accordingly. To illustrate, the Obama strategy has opted for a personal communication approach to target the voter audience, characterized as micro-targeting (Newton-Small, 2007), in which campaign advocates approach their peers in order to establish a more substantial rapport with potential supporters. This strategy signifies, to a degree, a return to grass-roots campaigning techniques that are more personable and effective. This particular approach resonates strongly with social media (Lenhart, 2007:17) youth, who, according to the historian William Strauss, are incredibly media-savvy and yet are distrustful of the media (Strauss, 2000:232), individuals that clearly favor their own social network ties, and especially [their] conversations with one another (Strauss, 2000:233) with regard to how they form or express their political attitudes. This links neatly with the findings of the 2007 Pew Internet and American Life Project Report on Teens and Social Media, which noted that while more than half of all American teens use

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some form of social media to communicate with their peers, standard face-to-face encounters still matter (Lenhart, 2007:17) and represent the communication activity between teens that has changed the least in frequency. It is not surprising then, that by employing this peer-to-peer communication approach the Obama campaign has managed to establish a strong rapport with young voters and in so doing, has not merely secured the lead in the nations youth vote, but has also harnessed the far-reaching and readily available infrastructure of the social media that young supporters use daily, to his advantage. One may ask, however, why so much concern for the 18-29 year age bracket? Quite simply, because those individuals are the now generation or what Strauss termed, the Millennial Generation, and they are exhibiting certain characteristics that will not only come to bear upon the upcoming presidential election, but may herald the beginning of a general attitudinal shift with regard to civic engagement. In his book Generations, Strauss posited that a generational cycle exists that is patterned after four basic archetypal categories, and in this particular generation, he identified the Hero archetype that likens this generation to the GI generation of the post-WWII era. Much as the GI generation inherited a world on the brink of collapse, the Millennial Generation also inherits the world, as it were, in a time of crisis that requires reconstruction, effective collaboration, citizen mobilization, and change, if any solutions are to be found to contemporary problems. Whether or not this millennial generation is indeed patterned after a heroic archetype that will magically drive change, is not the point in question; rather, the crucial point is how to utilize the enormous potential of ICT in a way that will develop and nurture the social capital that human networking on the internet portends.

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Brief summary of findings. The exploratory research conducted in the first phase of this study seeks to explore internet usage in the Millennial age bracket in relation to the formation and/or development of positive attitudes toward the environment. For the preliminary pilot survey, a questionnaire was developed for a sample population of one hundred (100) undergraduate and graduate students attending the University of Indianapolis-Athens Campus, in Athens, Greece. The final sample yielded eighty (80) respondents, after missing values were eliminated.

The demographic profile was comprised mostly of women, who constituted 60 percent of the sample (as opposed to men, who constituted 40 percent), while the average age of the respondents was 23 years of age. Interestingly, though a little more than half of the respondents were employed (55 percent), two-thirds continued to live with their parents. With regard to ICT and internet use, the survey found that all respondents had mobile phones, while 30 percent had received a political text message (SMS) on their mobile phones, indicating that mobile phones are already being used in a political context in order to elicit voter participation and/or response. Internet use was widespread both at home and at work: 90 percent of the respondents reported internet access at home, with 70 percent enjoying broadband speed (ADSL), while of the 55 percent that is employed, 40 percent reported having internet access at work. Actual use of the internet revealed that young people spend considerable time online: 60 percent of the respondents reported using the internet 1-3 hours per day, 30

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percent reported using the internet 4-6 hours per day, and 10 percent reported using the internet more than 6 hours per day. Of this usage, 95 percent of the respondents reported using the internet for general information and/or educational purposes, as well as communication, while 85 percent reported using the internet for entertainment purposes. In general, the respondents ranked the internet as their primary source for general information, followed by television, family, and friends. With regard to the communication aspects of internet usage, the survey found that all respondents used email, and that on average, the respondents sent 3-4 emails per day and received 4-5 emails per day. Half of the sample (50 percent) used some type of instant messaging program daily; similarly, half of the sample (50 percent) read blogs daily, while 15 percent wrote in blogs every day. On the subject of social networking, the survey found that on average, the respondents used 1-2 social networks in their daily communication with others, while more than half of the sample (60 percent) reported using Facebook. Overall, the section on ICT and Internet Use demonstrated that information communication technologies are prevalent in the sample, with more than half of the respondents engaging in some type of information exchange, communication, or social networking activity on a daily basis. The environmental attitudes section of the survey also yielded interesting results: overall, environmental concern was high, with 90 percent of the respondents acknowledging global warming as a real event, 80 percent of which stated they felt global warming will have real consequences within their own lifetime. Half of the respondents (50 percent) felt that the environment was as important as the economy, while the environment was ranked second, after war, as the most pressing global concern. When

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asked to rank the most pressing environmental problems, respondents listed global warming second, after air pollution. In examining environmental behaviors, the survey found that less than half of the respondents (44 percent) use energy efficient light bulbs, while 65 percent of the sample recycles, as opposed to 35 percent that does not, of which, 22 percent reported never having thought about recycling at all. Interestingly, the data indicate that an important amount of waste producing behaviors persist, with 60 percent of respondents owning an SUV, while the car remained the most dominant form of transportation amongst the respondents, followed by the metro, walking, and the bus. In terms of general knowledge about environmental issues, only 20 percent of the sample knew the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner, although more than half of the sample (66 percent) had heard of Al Gore; on average, respondents were familiar with 3-4 environmental advocacy groups, yet this information came to them primarily through television, which ranked first as the medium through which respondents got most of their information on the environment, the internet ranking second. Similarly, the internet came second, after television, as the medium through which respondents got most of their information on global warming.

Although the rudimentary data from the pilot survey does not allow for complex analysis, and though the second phase of the study will necessarily address instrument development for the second survey, certain interesting correlations arise even at this initial stage of investigation. There appears to be a relationship between gender and ICT usage with a correlation of 0.25, men apparently using the internet more than women, as

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there is also a correlation of 0.2 between gender and environmental attitudes, with women demonstrating more positive attitudes toward the environment than men. There also appears to be a correlation between age and acceptance of global warming as a real event (0.2), as there is a strong correlation of 0.44 between acknowledgement of global warming and expectations to see real consequences in ones lifetime; the data would suggest that the older respondents are, the more aware they are of the environmental problem in its full dimension, and subsequently the more willing to expect real consequences during their own lifetime. Interestingly there is a negative correlation of -0.22 between television use and environmental attitudes, indicating that television does not affect, promote, or stimulate (positive) environmental attitudes. Further study will be necessary to determine if television continues to be the primary medium of information acquisition for 18-29 year olds, and to confirm whether or not such a negative correlation indeed exists between television use and environmental attitudes. Perhaps the most telling correlation of all, which holds the most interest with regard to the direction of this study, and which goes to the heart of the ICT-EnvironmentPolicy triptych, is the correlation between time spent on social networks and environmental attitudes (0.22); the data indicate that further investigation is warranted to determine whether or not technologically mediated social communication may act as a heuristic device for the development of positive environmental attitudes capable of driving policy formation.

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Conclusion. To conclude, the preliminary findings of the pilot survey confirm the overall trend that has been noted with regard to ICT usage and the significance of social networking, and demonstrate, in however a rudimentary manner that the necessary tools for effecting solutions that require the mobilization of individuals to action are readily available both in terms of the technology and the participation in social networks that are already in place. To be certain, if political actors have long recognized these tools and have attempted to utilize the power of the Internet to strategically elicit voter support for political gain, then perhaps there is information to be gleaned from the political template for using ICT to stimulate collective action via the social media that may prove successful in combating the global environmental crisis.

In the end, there is an obverse side to this cyber coin of political utilization of the social media and that is increased and dynamic voter participation in an unregulated dialogue and the free communication of ideas each one a foundational cornerstone of the participatory ethos of civic life. Ultimately, however, the most important word is

participation; for as sociologist Howard Rheingold puts it, the early stages of a network society are already apparent one in which the structure and dynamics of technical networks such as the Internet facilitate communication and social bonds among geographically dispersed populations whose social networking capabilities are, at the same time, being amplified, augmented, extended, and transformed (Rheingold, 2008). It is patent, therefore, that the very principles that make possible and drive civic

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engagement in the political process, ought also to apply to collective action on the environment, for the simple reason that it is the human being who socially constructs and maintains both processes.

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REFERENCES

Booth, William (11/17/1998). More Politicians Use Web as Campaign Tool. Washington Post: A01.
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Castells, Manuel (2004). Why Networks Matter, Network Logic: Who Governs in an Interconnected World? London: Demos.

John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Institute of Politics (2005). Beyond Voting: College Students and Political Engagement. Forum Transcript.

Kohut, Andrew et.al., (2008). Social Networking and Online Videos Take Off: INTERNETS BROADER ROLE IN CAMPAIGN 2008. The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Lenhart, Amanda, et.al., (2007). Teens and Social Media. The Pew Internet and American Life Project Leach, James, et.al. (April 2008). Executive Summary: The 14th Biannual Youth Survey on Politics and Public Service. Harvard Institute of Politics.
http://www.iop.harvard.edu/Research-Publications/Polling/Spring-2008-Survey/Executive-Summary

McDonald, Michael (2000). 2000 Voting-Age and Voting-Eligible Population Estimates and Voter Turnout. United States Elections Project, George Mason University, Department of Public and International Affairs.
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McDonald, Michael (2004). 2004 Voting-Age and Voting-Eligible Population Estimates and Voter Turnout. United States Elections Project, George Mason University, Department of Public and International Affairs.
http://elections.gmu.edu/Voter_Turnout_2004.htm

Newton-Small, Jay (12/12/07). Inside Obama's Iowa Ground Game. TIME Magazine,
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Nie, Norman H., and Erbring, Lutz (2002). Internet and Society: A Preliminary Report. In IT & SOCIETY, Volume 1, Issue 1, Summer 2002. Stanford University.
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Patterson, Thomas E. (2004). Young Voters and the 2004 Election. In The Vanishing Voter Project, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
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Rainie, Lee; Cornfield, Michael; Horrigan, John. (2005). The Internet and Campaign 2004. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Pew Research Center for The People & The Press. http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_2004_Campaign.pdf

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Rappaport, Ray (1979). Ecology, Meaning and Religion. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.

Rheingold, Howard (2008). Virtual Communities/Social Media. University of California, Berkeley, Department of Sociology Syllabus: Session 6.
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Strauss, William & Howe, Neil (1991). Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069. William Morrow & Company, New York, NY.

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Table 1: Summary Findings

Demographic Profile: 60 percent female; 40 percent male; Average age, 23 years old; 2/3 lives with parents; 55 percent employed; IT & Internet Use profile: 100 percent have mobile phone; 30 percent have received a political SMS (text message) on mobile; 40 percent have internet at work; 90 percent have internet at home; 70 percent have ADSL broadband (6mbps) at home; 60 percent use the internet 1-3 hours; 30 percent use internet 4-6 hours; 10 percent use internet more than 6 hours; Average number of emails received per day: 4-5; Average number of emails sent per day: 3-4; 50 percent read blogs daily; 15 percent write blogs daily; 50 percent use some kind of instant messaging program daily; 60 percent use Facebook; Average number of social networks used: 1-2; Most general information acquired from 1) internet; 2) television, 3) family/friends; 95% use internet for information/education; 95% use internet for communication; 85 percent use internet for entertainment; Environmental information & attitudes profile: 60 percent own an SUV; 40 percent need an SUV in snowy weather; Rank order of transportation means: Car; Metro; Walking; Bus; 65 percent recycle, 35 percent do not recycle; Of the 35 percent that do not recycle, 22 percent have never thought about it; 44 percent use energy efficient light bulbs; 50 percent feel that the environment and the economy are equally important; 90 percent believe global warming is a real event; 80 percent believe global warming will have consequences in their own lifetime; Rank order of most important social problems: War; Environment; Poverty; Food; Social Values; Rank order of most important environmental problems: Air pollution; Global Warming; Water pollution; Threats to biodiversity; 20 percent knew who won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize; 66 percent have heard of Al Gore; Average number of environmental groups recognized: 3-4; Rank order of mediums for most information on the environment: television, internet, newspaper; Rank order of mediums that shaped attitudes most on global warming: television first, internet and newspapers equal influence.

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