Environmental studies have undergone great development and continue to arouse the interest of scholars and scientists. Faced with complex environmental problems, environmentalists try to organize human knowledge about the interactions that occur in nature, building scientific models that allow predicting what will happen in the future.
The environmental dimension is deeply and inseparably linked with other disciplines such as law, sociology, psychology, economics and statistics, etc. Some concepts that make up the environmental branch have emerged previously, sporadically and in isolation in the works of some scientists and naturalists such as:
- Anton van Leeuwenhoek (17th century) an ingenious builder of microscopes studied food chains and the regulation of populations Alexander von Humboltd (1769-1859) was the first to consider plants in relation to their environment Charles Darwin (1809-1882) in his work "The Origin of Species" considered the concepts of struggle for existence, survival of the fittest and evolution in habitat conditions. Wallace (1823-1913) is considered the founder of zoogeography based on evolution. Bates (1825-1882) introduced evolutionary concepts in biogeography and others such as Forbes, Hensen, Wegener, etc. They brought new ecological approaches to their respective studies.
Everything that surrounds us and that we must take care of is our Environment, to keep our city, school, home, etc. clean, in short everything where we can be, for this we have carried out the following research on the Environment.
But from another perspective from the perspective of knowledge.
Starting in 1972, with the World Conference on the Human Environment, the entire world experienced a turnaround when it became aware of the danger posed by the waste, misuse and depletion of renewable natural resources, the increasingly serious problems of pollution, and, in general, serious damage to the environment. The change was felt in all orders and, as a logical consequence, in many of the branches of knowledge, so many of them adopted the surname of "environmental". In the present work I want to expose some of it and its way of approaching the care and conservation of the environment they are: Environmental Law, Environmental Sociology, Environmental Psychology, Environmental Economics.
In this work I did not want to stop introducing the vision of religion; Regarding the subject, we will deal with “the care and conservation of the Environment”, that is, the main objective of this work is to demonstrate the holistic nature of the Environment.
ENVIRONMENT.
According to Chapter II article 8 of our Law 81 dated July 11, 1997, Environment is considered: a system of abiotic, biotic and socioeconomic elements with which man interacts, while adapting to, transforming and using it to satisfy your needs
Going deeper into the particularities of the Concept, we can define it as: the set of abiotic elements such as (solar energy, soil, water and air) and biotic (living organisms) that make up the thin layer of the Earth called the biosphere, sustenance and home of living things.
The expression environment can be replaced by other more specific or ambiguous expressions such as environment or environment. The word middle can be a noun and also an adjective, with the meaning of the middle.
IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH
During its long history, the Earth has slowly changed. Continental drift (the result of plate tectonics) separated the continental masses, the oceans invaded and retreated from the mainland, and mountains rose and eroded, depositing sediments along the coasts (see Geology). Climates warmed and cooled, and life forms appeared and disappeared as the environment changed.
The most recent of the important environmental events in Earth's history occurred in the Quaternary, during the Pleistocene (between 1.64 million and 10,000 years ago), also called the Ice Age. The subtropical climate disappeared and changed the face of the northern hemisphere. Large ice sheets advanced and retreated four times in North America and three times in Europe, oscillating the climate from cold to temperate, influencing plant and animal life, and ultimately giving rise to the climate we know today. Our era receives, interchangeably, the names of recent, postglacial and Holocene. During this time the planet's environment has remained more or less stable.
The atmosphere, which protects the Earth from excess ultraviolet radiation and allows life to exist, is a gaseous mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, other elements and compounds, and dust particles. Heated by the Sun and the radiant energy of the Earth, the atmosphere circulates around the planet and modifies the thermal differences. Regarding water, 97% is found in the oceans, 2% is ice and the remaining 1% is fresh water from rivers, lakes, groundwater and atmospheric and soil moisture.
Soil is the thin blanket of matter that sustains life on Earth. It is the product of the interaction of the climate and the rocky substrate or bedrock, such as glacial moraines and sedimentary rocks, and vegetation. Living organisms, including humans, depend on all of them. Plants use water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight to convert raw materials into carbohydrates through photosynthesis; animal life, in turn, depends on plants in a sequence of interconnected links known as a food web.
In a sociological sense, human beings must live in society in order to develop their physical, intellectual and spiritual capacities to the maximum and to be able to become part of the universal historical culture. However, the undeniable human selfishness, born of the animal tendency to survive, gives rise to an inclination to 'manage' others for the achievement of personal well-being, thus originating a conflict within the community. The conflict must be subject to a norm, to a social order, the teaching of which begins from childhood through the socialization process, which guides and conditions the person towards the performance of a social role or function.
This process leads to an internalization of the social norm, by which the external order becomes its own and the regulations become intimate needs. Therefore, in the face of the repeated aggressions that man carries out on the environment, it is necessary for states to resort to the coercive and coercive means par excellence of social control, the Law to prevent it from continuing to deteriorate, hence the emergence of Environmental Law as an autonomous branch that is still in formation
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Law can be defined as: the normative and institutional order of human behavior in society inspired by postulates of justice, whose basis is the existing social relations that determine its content and character. In other words, it is the set of rules that regulate social coexistence and allow resolving interpersonal conflicts.
The previous definition gives an account of effective law, but does not explain its foundation; For this reason, jurists, philosophers and legal theorists have proposed various alternative definitions throughout history, and different legal theories without, to date, consensus on their validity. The study of the concept of Law is carried out by one of its branches, the Philosophy of Law. However, the initially proposed definition gracefully solves the problem of "validity" of the foundation of Law, by integrating the value of Justice in its concept.
From the objective point of view, it is said of the set of laws, regulations and other resolutions, of a permanent and obligatory nature, created by the State for the preservation of social order. This regardless of whether or not it is fair; In other words, if the proper procedure for its creation has been carried out, the rule exists, whether it is fair or not
Environmental Law consists of a group of rules that solve problems related to the conservation and protection of the natural environment and the fight against pollution.
At present it is discussed whether Environmental Law is an autonomous branch of law if it has a transversal character to the classic branches of law
According to the Environmental Law writer Raúl Brañes, it is the set of legal norms that regulate human behaviors that can influence in a relevant way the interaction processes that take place between systems of living organisms and their environmental systems through the generation of effects. of which a significant modification of the conditions of existence of said organisms is expected.
For the Spanish jurist Javier Junceda, it can be defined as the set of preserving rules and principles of nature and its basic or essential constituent elements for its complex balance: air, protected spaces and species, landscape, flora and fauna, waters, mountains, soils and subsoils and natural resources.
On the other hand, the dimensions of the protection of the environment towards the XXI century and the new millennium are incalculable. For this reason, the protection, conservation and improvement of natural resources and the general environment constitute a subject of study that has greatly concerned specialists for approximately twenty years, which has allowed the birth of Environmental Law as a branch of Law.
Environmental Law is a field of legal precepts of a multidisciplinary nature, whose mission is to protect and conserve renewable and non-renewable natural resources, scenic beauties and the human environment, establishes environmental policies for productive activities and services, and prevents and mitigates risks and natural disasters. In order to carry out such a complex task, Environmental Law exercises coercive action, without which the law does not work, and establishes environmental legal norms and the corresponding sanctions for their violation.
The social structure behaves as an organism that generates alterations in natural ecosystems and, at the same time, as a receiver of the consequences of said alterations. These are substantially the result of the nature of the appropriation relationships of nature, which are defined according to the development models applied, the development indices achieved, the productive practices, the socio-structural inequalities, the cultural elements of identity and the particularities of sociopolitical conflicts. The production of material goods constitutes the essence of the dialectical interaction between society and nature and, coincidentally, technological development applied to increased productivity has become the main cause of the current environmental crisis.From the foregoing it follows that a branch of knowledge as important as Sociology that is dedicated to the systematic study of society, social action, the social relationship and the groups that comprise it, decides to be interested in the study of the Environment, giving rise to to what today we call Environmental Sociology.
ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIOLOGY
We can define sociology as the social science that is dedicated to the systematic study of society, social action, the social relationship and the groups that comprise it. It studies how the organizations and institutions that make up the social structure are created, maintained or changed, the effect they have on individual and social behavior, and the changes in these, as a result of social interaction or social relationship. It is a relatively new science that developed in the mid-1800s.
Concepts or important phenomena studied in sociology are social norms, socialization, social interaction, social relationship, power, ideology, social classes, work, and in general: social groups and social control, Social institutions (State and Family), social stratification (social class and inequalities), change in the social order (population and urban planning).
The creation of sociology as a discipline is associated with the names of:
- Henri de Saint-Simon, Auguste Comte, Karl Marx, Herbert Spencer, Émile Durkheim, George Simmel, Ferdinand Tönnies, Talcott Parsons, Vilfredo Pareto and Max Weber
The deepening of the world economic crisis, in the last decade, has accelerated the process of maturation of the collective conscience about global environmental problems, which has repercussions in the current contradiction between the generalized vocation of modernity, sustained in anthropocentric philosophical conceptions, and the ideology of environmentalism.
The evolution of environmentalism is established, in general, parallel to the approach of development theories (see: Pichs, 1997). The first period is located in the 1950s with the appearance of the term sustained development of resources, a paradigm associated with liberalism that acquires an apparently new expression with neoliberalism. This paradigm considers nature as a set of goods that produce profit and that man has the right to exploit for his individual benefit, promoting consumerism. The transformation of the future is based on permanent innovation and the construction of social order is part of the process of adaptation - replacement of the natural environment.
A second stage can be placed in the 1960s, determined by the proliferation of the environmental movement mainly in the United States, Canada and the most developed countries of Europe, manifesting the social will to stop the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources. Such movements assumed the conception of nature conservation as the essence of a universal value system with express biocentric influences. In contradiction to the aspirations of ecologists, the conservationist paradigm evolved towards extreme positions that contain, in an implicit way, the risk of accentuating the significance of other species with respect to the human species, generating segregationist theories and exacerbating extreme conservationist attitudes such as eco-fascism.,authoritarian environmentalism or deep ecology. We can say that this period went through different stages such as:
- The 1970s were characterized by a more flexible environmental approach, backed by the UN, which promoted, mainly in the developed countries of Western Europe and the United States, the emergence of new spaces for social participation and the emergence of political demands sustained by the Green parties. In 1972 the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) was created, providing an official international framework for concerted actions towards the environment. In 1975, UNESCO, through UNEP, launched the International Environmental Education Program in order to extend knowledge about the environment to underdeveloped countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America,using didactic materials with multiplier effect. Later, at the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education in Tbilisi, USSR, 1977, the method and objectives of environmental education were defined, which from this moment became a primary instrument in the maturation process of environmental thinking. Some specialists identify this stage as the beginning of the professionalization of environmental management.The environmental catastrophes produced by the accidents at the Three Miles Island -Pennsylvania- and Chernobyl -Ukraine- nuclear plants, in 1979 and 1986, respectively, generated qualitative changes in the social perception of environmental problems.The method and objectives of environmental education were defined, which from this moment became a primary instrument in the maturation process of environmental thought. Some specialists identify this stage as the beginning of the professionalization of environmental management.The environmental catastrophes produced by the accidents at the Three Miles Island -Pennsylvania- and Chernobyl -Ukraine- nuclear plants, in 1979 and 1986, respectively, generated qualitative changes in the social perception of environmental problems.The method and objectives of environmental education were defined, which from this moment became a primary instrument in the maturation process of environmental thought. Some specialists identify this stage as the beginning of the professionalization of environmental management.The environmental catastrophes produced by the accidents at the Three Miles Island -Pennsylvania- and Chernobyl -Ukraine- nuclear plants, in 1979 and 1986, respectively, generated qualitative changes in the social perception of environmental problems.The environmental catastrophes produced by the accidents at the Three Miles Island -Pennsylvania- and Chernobyl -Ukraine- nuclear plants, in 1979 and 1986, respectively, generated qualitative changes in the social perception of environmental problems.The environmental catastrophes produced by the accidents at the Three Miles Island -Pennsylvania- and Chernobyl -Ukraine- nuclear plants, in 1979 and 1986, respectively, generated qualitative changes in the social perception of environmental problems.
These stages are characterized by the generalization of a conception that proposes the protection of nature as a sine qua non condition for human life, a fact that contributed to the adoption of an environmentalist discourse that emphasizes the role of the subject of participation in the processes of social transformation, determining the political reorganization of environmental movements.
With the aim of creating an international political scenario conducive to the settlement of conflicts between the industrialized North and the underdeveloped South, the conclusions of the World Commission on Environment and Development appeared in 1987, known as the Brundtland Report or Our Common Future, where The concept of sustainable development was defined as "a process that allows meeting the needs of the current population without compromising the ability to serve future generations." The adoption of an official definition of sustainable development that recognizes the nature of economic relations as the essence of the links between society and nature, created the bases for the social legitimation of environmental discourse,but it did not manage to attenuate the existing contrast between the main cultural tendencies that determine attitudes towards the environment.
Despite good intentions, this concept lacks a theoretical foundation that reflects the historical, economic and cultural conditioning of the structural problems that characterize the relations between society and nature, and a design that allows the analysis of environmental conflicts according to the context of its spatial and temporal manifestations. Nor does it define the specific responsibilities that countries must assume according to the magnitude of the impacts they cause to the environment. -As for the use of the term sustainable or sustainable development, which is a rethinking of the concept of sustained development of resources of the 1950s, there is much controversy among specialists.
For this work, the term sustainable development is adopted since it is thus defined in the National Program for Environment and Development, 1993 (CITMA, 1993), Cuban adaptation of Agenda 21, and in Law No. 81 of the Environment, 1997 (Gaceta, 1997).
These ambiguities constitute the cause that, when applying this definition to particular development models, political and economic interests are imposed, turning the principles of sustainable development into a market regulation mechanism through which the greening of production processes makes more profitable investment costs and higher financial benefits.
With the intention of overcoming the ambivalences of this concept, the United Nations Conference for Environment and Development was convened, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, in which the evasive intentions of the governments of the most important countries were evidenced. industrialized regarding their responsibilities in the face of the global environmental crisis. Despite the consensus reached on this occasion, expressed with the signing of the World Environment and Development Program, or Agenda 21, the United States openly spoke out against the postulates of the document, and other developed countries have also delayed compliance with the Commitments assumed.
The new environmentalist thought acts, in this geographical context, as a barrier of cultural resistance that promotes its discourse starting from the criticism of the ambiguities present in the official definition of sustainable development and proposing new concepts of social and productive rationality. From this perspective, the environmental issue is raised as a social, critical and transdisciplinary construction of paradigms from pre-existing disciplines and knowledge that is not built on absolute conclusions or triumphalist programs.
It is essential to know that the behavior of people and the environment are elements that influence each other. Various disciplines such as architecture, urban planning, education and biology, whose role has to do with human behavior. As well as changes in attitudes and values, learning and education, personal development, community action. The search preferably in research methods, actively involve people in the design and care of the environment. The way a green area influences us, the construction of a building, the design of spaces, the walls of a room, a new street a few meters from our home, are concerns of environmental psychology.
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Going into the concept of psychology we can appreciate that it comes (from the Greek psyche, soul and logos, study) is the science that studies the mind and behavior, the discipline covers all aspects of human experience, from the functions of the brain to the children's development, how humans and animals feel, think and learn to adapt to the environment around them
Modern psychology has been dedicated to collecting facts about behavior and experience, and organizing them systematically, developing theories for their understanding. These theories help to know and explain the behavior of human beings and sometimes even to predict their future actions, being able to intervene on them
Environmental psychology is a relatively young and not yet consolidated discipline, so it is difficult to find a definition that does not lend itself to discussion. Environmental psychology arises as a result of the need of the human being and of the social sciences to conceptualize the man - environment relationship.
A simple definition of environmental psychology is the "Study of the interaction between behavior and the natural and built environment" (Bell, Fisher & Loomis 1978). To which Chiang (1997) adds "both physically and socially."
Environmental psychologists, rather than defining the discipline, describe some characteristics, the most representative of which are:
A. Interdisciplinary nature, converging human ecology, sociology, architecture and geography, among others.
B. Lack of comprehensive theory.
C. Methodological eclecticism.
D. Close union between theory and practice.
E. Importance of perceived control over the environment as a factor of human well-being.
F. Ecological perspective in the study of behavior, conceptualizing the environment in general in molar terms, although physical variables are also isolated, such as noise, temperatures, etc.
G. Assumption of axiological and normative problems, being an end-oriented science.
H. Lack of institutionalization and defined professional practice.
I. Importance of the concept of congruence between behavior and environment, analyzing which environments are more or less enablers of individuals' activities.
J. Non-deterministic: man is not considered a passive product of the environment, but rather maintains a dynamic exchange with it.
K. Concern for the ecological validity of their research, examining whether what is valid in one situation can be generalized to different ones.
Some relevant issues and concerns within environmental psychology are the following:
- Definition, theoretical models and research techniques in environmental psychology Cognitive representation of the environment Assessment of the environment Personality traits and environment Attitudes towards the environment Environmental perception Influences of the urban environment Influences of the natural physical environment Influences of the built environment Human spatial behavior. Intimacy and territoriality Responsible ecological behavior Overcrowding and behavior Stress and the environment Environmental decision-making Ecological psychology and scenario analysis Responses to the landscape
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
All members of society, at all stages of their training and whatever their activity or profession, must face an educational context, be it school, university, institutes, etc. It is precisely in these contexts where environmental education is inserted. This not only is concerned with transmitting ecological content, but also addresses issues that have to do with environmental attitude. of the subjects in certain spaces. For this the environmental educator. It is essential, this educator, who can be anyone such as a teacher or a monitor in charge, must through his grounded discourse achieve that the listener is motivated to act on his environment.
Basic-level schoolchildren are one of the groups where it is necessary to start with this education about the environment, because at this level children are in an adequate stage of development for the formation of habits and attitudes that contribute to the achievement and conservation of natural resources and protection of the environment. In order to train adults with a greater degree of understanding about environmental problems. and how to prevent or solve it. Also environmental education. of schoolchildren is not only absorbed by the students but they in turn have a great bond with their relatives, where what they learn at school can be shared with the people with whom they interact, that is, from activities at school can involve the community.
The description and analysis of the school environment has been influenced by a current of research that has occupied the interest of environmental psychologists. The study of the so-called open classrooms. This current of research defines the school environment using the term isomorphism (similarity in form). This term refers to the eco-behavioral unit that implies a congruence between the shape of the physical environment and the shape of the behavior, for example: a class in which students and teacher sit in a circle to read aloud and then discuss a topic.
Isomorphism is an environmental unit, which has a specific time and place; when this is modified, the limitations and possibilities of student behavior also change. The definition of school environment, according to this psychological perspective, implies the description of different school environments generated from the interaction between educational programs and physical settings where they take place; however, students subject to the same physical environment and educational program may show different behaviors.
The environments generated by the physical settings and the educational programs of the different educational stages can be called macro isomorphisms or environments within the general educational system. The distinction of school environments based on the cognitive, social and emotional level of the students, as well as their needs and possibilities, and the educational programs developed has allowed identifying characteristics of the environments. The research carried out focuses on the analysis of the effects that different school designs produce on the cognitive and social development of children. The development of cognitive and social capacities has been measured through the socialization, autonomy and exploratory behavior of children.
Attitudes and Environmental Education.
In recent decades there has been a gradual increase in social sensitivity towards the conservation and improvement of the environment. This improvement in environmental quality is related to the ability of the person to modify and intervene in the environment and to the specific behaviors that they maintain with respect to the elements that compose it. These behaviors are influenced by culture and depend directly on the educational process in which individuals are faced throughout their lives. For this reason, environmental education can play an important role in solving the environmental crisis through awareness and social sensitization.
For this, the necessary concepts and experiences must be transmitted to individuals that allow them to develop and acquire more responsible attitudes about the implications of the different behaviors of man in front of the environment, both natural and built.
Normally when we refer to the attitudes of a subject we describe a series of dimensions that determine their way of thinking, thinking and acting. These components are three: the cognitive, affective and conative component.
The cognitive component comprises the individual's belief system, ideas and knowledge on which their behavior is based. This component is one of the most accessible in terms of modification, since cognitions can be changed through the delivery of information regarding environmental issues which are transformed into knowledge that the subject can use to face different problems. that are presented referring to the problem in general. Secondly, the affective component can be found, which refers to the dimension of values that the individual possesses, in the sense that the individual can positively and negatively evaluate the stimuli that they receive from their environment. It is usually considered the fundamental aspect,since many attitudes are oriented in an affirmative or negative sense with respect to their objects.
For this reason, attitudes are difficult to modify if only rational methods based on objective knowledge of things are used; An affective bond with the student (understood within the normal parameters of the teacher / student relationship) can be much more beneficial for modifying a negative or pernicious attitude to study or assigned tasks. The conative component is that related to behavior guided by attitude. It can be very important in attitudes of negativity or social marginality, potential generators of violent attitudes in the subjects.
Stopping the conative plane of the attitude by stimulating the emotional plane is usually the most used and effective technique for the school treatment of this type of cases, and to achieve a certain modification. Modified the emotional plane, one has better access to the cognitive, emotional and conative planes. In accordance with the above, we can classify environmental attitudes as follows:
Anthropocentrism is characterized by attitudes that privilege the interests and well-being of humanity over others. It manifests itself in different ways: A position that holds that the physical, economic and social well-being of the human being is of primary importance, and takes precedence over all other environmental values. It maintains that man is superior to all other organisms, and that everything in the environment has been created for his use and enjoyment. Another view is that the world and all its components exist regardless of whether they were created by a supreme power and the human species has the right to use them. In this way, anthropocentric postures can take two forms:
A. The first is defined as the use of something for profit or to selfishly satisfy one's own ends. This attitude is promoted by the lack of awareness or the indifference of the population regarding the use of natural resources.
B. This position is supported by beliefs in the limitlessness of natural resources, in the absurdity of their depletion, in the disappearance of any negative effects of their use, and in the desire to achieve immediate satisfaction or profit.
C. Management is based on the fundamental principle that the environment with its resources can be used by man, but man must not destroy or damage it. You must take care of it and pass it on to future generations.
D. On the other hand, ecocentrism considers that man is just one of the creatures that inhabit the earth and that he must share it and live in harmony with all other forms of life.
E. The fundamental principle of this philosophy is the conviction that the physical and spiritual well-being of humanity depends on keeping the earth in the least altered state possible, conserving the natural ecosystems that have evolved over countless millions. of years.
F. To carry out a modification of environmental attitudes, the three-stage model developed by Bell gives us a fairly practical guide to achieve this change, it consists of three processes to carry out. The first of them is awareness where the objective is to provoke an emotional reaction that raises the level of alert in relation to a shocking event.
G. The second process is that of information; which implies a recommendation in order to avoid adverse consequences. Finally, the three-stage model ends by means of a reaffirmation process in which the subjects are promoted how positive it is to follow the recommendations given in the previous stage, emphasizing the behaviors that can be carried out. For example; Keeping the classroom clean and orderly implies at the beginning that the student generates a basic behavior of not dirtying or contaminating it, by becoming aware of the negative consequences that this has for the environment that surrounds them, as well as for themselves in what regarding mental health and school performance emphasizing the behavior of throwing papers in the places established for it.
Work environment
The individual spends most of the time either in companies, educational centers, in organizations; therefore the interest is given in detailing which are those environmental factors that are important in the work environment. Among the elements that stand out we can find temperature, light, noise, music, color, space, and specify how working conditions affect performance, health, etc. At the same time, take knowledge of how the environment influences the relationships between the people who are in the establishment, and in what way the interaction given between the groups or departments is affected.
On the other hand, the effects caused by environmental factors on the climate and work culture must be considered, taking into account how these two characteristics influence the processes that occur within the organizational environment. Before delving into the topics mentioned above, it is a priority to consider some terms for a better understanding; being these:
Organization: From the breadth of definitions found throughout the history of organizational psychology, it is appropriate to emphasize the role of people, groups, norms, values, etc., related to the organization. The organization must be conceptualized as an organism of multiple and plural social character, which is composed of people and groups that build a system of roles; this social system being coordinated through communication networks, at the same time that it forms part of a broader network, articulating itself through a system of norms, values and beliefs underlying the activities of its members. The activities are directed towards the achievement of previously established purposes.
Ergonomics: This concept analyzes the system formed by the person and the machine with which they interact. Two aspects should be considered; on the one hand, how machines are designed, and on the other, how it is and what capabilities the person who interacts with them has. In other words, Ergonomics is the application of scientific information that relates human beings to project problems. It is the science that matches the work to the worker and the product to the user.
Quality of Work: It is worth highlighting the participatory aspect, where the objective is given in the search for the well-being of the person. It is of real importance to attend to the quality of life and the health of the people who work seeking the maximum of physical and psychological well-being, avoiding possible occupational accidents, monotony at work.
After defining the necessary concepts for a better understanding of the subject to be discussed, it is necessary to refer to the role that the physical environment plays in the organizational aspect; rather, in how different environmental factors influence the health and performance of people in their workplace; Among the elements to consider include:
Temperature: There is no systematic and direct relationship between temperature levels and the performance of environmental work tasks. To establish a connection, the complex nature of work contexts and the multiple relationships that occur therein must be taken into account.
Light: It should be mentioned that the intensity of illumination depends on the work to be done. In principle, the intensity requirement increases as the work imposes more visual demands, but it is difficult to find the optimal intensity because it depends on what is considered effective vision. Lighting factors such as: glare, spectrum composition, etc. must be taken into account at the same time. And factors of the characteristics of the visual tasks: nature of the work, contrast between the work mirror and the background in which it stands out and the physical, social, personal factors that affect the employees in the execution of their work.
Sound: It is one of the possible determinants of behavior. When it comes to work environments, noise differs from music.
Regarding noise, it is not clear whether it has a negative or positive impact on the production of organizations. At first, the possibility of noise is considered as an element contrary to satisfaction; that is, job satisfaction decreases in noisy environments, but an effort to reduce noise is not necessarily followed by a corresponding increase in job satisfaction.
On the other hand, music is considered noise only if you don't like it; This can help to create favorable work environments and in others it can be a reason for distraction, abandonment of tasks, and a decrease in performance.
Color: There is not much knowledge about the effect this factor has on performance. However, collecting some contributions, it is indicated that a great contrast of colors in work environments can directly affect visual performance when they differ, at the same time they can influence the mood of people; However, if it is related to performance, it can have negative effects on the performance of the task.
Space: This factor is one of the most limited; because it only refers to open plan offices. Among the effects that we can find through this distribution, we have: loss of identity, loss of privacy and loss of control of personal space; on the contrary, there is an increase in social contact, a more fluid communication; which is perceived as more attractive.
Citizen participation
Citizen participation within environmental psychology is fundamental and necessary to develop and encourage the involvement of different members of the community in the care and preservation of spaces.
Citizen participation is a continuous process where a two-way communication develops between the parties involved, with the purpose of conciliating and developing human actions in favor of sustainable development and quality of life of the members of a community. This allows the community to be strengthened to enforce its duties and rights, incorporate the community in decision-making, improve and validate initiatives, provide credibility and transparency to decisions, and promote the exchange of relevant information regarding environmental issues that They are the responsibility of the community.
Within Citizen Participation there are four key aspects, which are:
A. Give space to heterogeneous actors
B. Make multiple interactions possible
C. Make room for diverse opinions
D. Know and channel the different points of view
E. In order to accommodate these previously mentioned aspects, activities should be promoted where the exchange of information and knowledge between professionals and members of the community. As well as generating spaces to involve parents and young people in the community.
This can be done using techniques such as:
Forums and debates for the exchange of ideas: these in order to detect the needs of the community, in addition to promoting initiatives by people in the community.
Workshops: aimed at changing attitudes and responsible behaviors of citizens.
Advertising propaganda and recruitment of volunteers: this in order to support the process of community development, in order to manage and carry out the initiatives of these people who wish to join the preservation of environments.
Environmental psychology can be defined as the study of the interaction between behavior and the natural and built environment both on a physical and social level (Bell and Fisher and Loomis). Therefore, both are related at the same time, it is a study of the behavior - environment relationship as a single unit, for which this discipline deals with analyzing relationships, both in the psychological field and in the field established by the people and their environment. These relationships can be affected by environmental temperature, air pollution, noise pollution and radiation, if these factors are very accentuated they cause stress, this becomes a non-specific response of eminently physiological character and modality that an organism emits as a consequence of a situation of constant threat that,By jeopardizing its adaptive reserves, its adaptive fuel produces a breakdown, a physiological crisis, leading to organic pathology (Selye, 1956).
By seeing the individual and the environment as one, environmental psychology must have a systemic perspective about the environment, this could be defined as the holistic consideration of both the person and the environment, which are defined as elements within an integrated system with interactions between the parties
It is necessary to become aware of the environmental issue, in order to collaborate in favor of the sustainable development of environmental resources. The explicit goal of Sustainable Development is to meet people's current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
For this, strategies must be developed that can be carried out within the educational context, of the organizations, as well as within the communities where the subject is inserted.
In modern times where globalization wins the headlines of the media, it seems to show us an apparent lack of interest in conserving the environment., but in reality this is not the case, true economic integration must go hand in hand with the implementation of regulatory measures that do not restrict economic activity and that contribute to sustainable development, in addition to environmental management where citizens are involved., not as a pressure group, but as participants in making decisions with environmental consequences. It is precisely in this general scheme where it arises to seek or at least propose favorable ways that lead to the optimization in the exploitation of natural resources, whose reserves are scarce but with different uses for which environmental economics must be chosen.
ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
Can we define Economy from (Greek: οἰκονομία, 'administration of a house or family' 'from οἶκος (house, in the sense of heritage)' and νέμω (to manage) ')? it is a social science that studies the processes of production, exchange, distribution and consumption of goods and services. According to another of the most accepted definitions, typical of the marginalist or subjective currents, economic science analyzes human behavior as a relationship between given ends and scarce means that have alternative uses.
Its object of study is human activity and, therefore, it is a social science. The social sciences differ from the pure or natural sciences in that their claims cannot be refuted or validated by a laboratory experiment and therefore use a different modality of the scientific method.
From the third division of labor in the primitive community, an evaluation of the impact of man on his environment is started, from the perspective of an economic development whose purpose is to seek quality of life and satisfy needs. But to achieve these objectives the human being causes the destruction of his environment; but only in modern times has a timely rescue begun in the safeguarding of natural resources.
But a first idea that should be questioned is why cause the deterioration of the environment? In order to answer, it is possible to refer to various causes, the most common being due to a lack of respect implicit in the culture of society, the lack of of ethics, or the simple position of "doing nothing." The care of natural resources does not require a passive attitude, but an active and immediate work, by means that really propose solutions and do not aggravate the current condition.
The best proposals to achieve the protection and preservation of the environment, is in the awareness of people in their areas of consumption, and of the inherent responsibility of private and public institutions to create incentives that lead consumers to make decisions in one direction determined.
Companies must implement strategic measures that evaluate the social, technological - cultural, economic and ecological effects, which allow the creation of an environmental culture, and forget about profits that are obtained at the expense of the environment. Just as large corporations establish a social cost, they should begin to consider an environmental cost, where the activities are in favor of the environment and even complementary.
On the other hand, not only companies are a source of pollution, individual consumers contribute to this problem in a potential way, a citizen does not have an accounting record that allows him to know the profit or loss caused by polluting, but he does know the consequences of doing so.
Any economic structure will produce a destructive environmental impact if incentives are not aimed at avoiding it. The incentive is an additional profit that influences the behavior of people, for example a person who is used to throwing aluminum waste on the street, suddenly realizes that it is more profitable to collect it and sell it for recycling. Other aspects that influence people's behavior are psychological factors such as self-esteem or the satisfaction of having taken a positive action.
But an economic incentive has more salient implications, since these represent microeconomic and macroeconomic problems. In the first case, it has to do with the behavior of individuals or micro-businesses, polluting firms and environmental impact regulatory firms. In the macroeconomic case, it refers to the structural reforms reflected in the development of the country seen as a whole. These two aspects are of vital importance in order to issue environmental policies that are consistent with the economic situation.
Another aspect that has gained importance in the field of environmental economics is the correlation of the impacts of economic growth on environmental quality. This problem has serious infiltrations in the behavior of consumers and in family economic planning. One of the main forums where these issues are critically and objectively evaluated is at the United Nations, both by developed and dependent and backward underdeveloped countries.
Quality of Life vs. Environmental Quality?
We cannot speak of true economic development if we do not first review environmental policies; society must be committed to seeking democratic representation that clearly exposes the deficiencies they share and that commonly worsen over time.
Society does not approve legislative measures that partially solve problems of reality, we cannot speak of quality of life, measured by GDP per capita, if we do not speak of environmental impact measures that seek better environmental quality, it must be understood that both objectives are not rivals, but complementary.
Currently, the role of the economist has gained importance in the resolution of controversies by applying analysis methods such as risk, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness. Cost-effectiveness analysis: This is simply an analysis in which the most economical way to achieve a specific environmental quality objective is observed or, expressed in equivalent terms, to achieve the maximum improvement of a certain environmental objective for a specific expenditure of resources.
Cost-benefit analysis: In this type of analysis, as its name indicates, the benefits of the proposed action are calculated and compared with the total costs that society would assume if said action were carried out. But it is relevant to say that environmental groups are usually profit-driven and business groups usually focus on costs.
Risk analysis: The two essential elements in risk analysis are to identify and quantify these risks. Identification depends, to a large extent, on the information available; for example, the actual cost to undertake a certain activity. The evaluation depends on a combination of mathematics with the subjective judgment of the analyst.
Who Must Pay?
Within the environmental problem, one of the biggest controversies arises, who should pay the costs for increasing environmental quality? At first you would think whoever throws the garbage should collect it; This would work if there were only two people in the world, but the population is increasing day by day, so it is necessary to find solutions that cover this latent demand. But the problem is not based on the textuality of the questioning, but on what is not written, in the first place one should bet on preventing instead of solving, on winning instead of paying.
Companies can consider passing the cost to the price of the product, or in the reduction of salaries of their employees, or in transferring it to the profits of the shareholders, but nothing would be solved, it would be paid permanently for what is not stopped destroying. Strategic planning that includes compliance with environmental laws, implementation of corrective measures, permanent environmental audits and an adequate environmental impact assessment would be initial costs of an investment whose profits would not be diminished.
But what happens if the approach is even more complicated, and we put into view the externalities, defined as costs or benefits of an economic transaction that fall on people who do not participate in the transaction, which are the result of the lack of property rights. It is in 1960 when Ronald Coase raises what is known as the Coase Theorem, which is the proposition that if property rights exist and if transaction costs are low, private transactions are efficient. This applies if the agents involved are small, but what happens in reality, it is not possible for all citizens of a country to negotiate the best on the Pacific Ocean.
And it is precisely here where the State can intervene through various mechanisms that allow to regularize a behavior on something that lacks property rights, one is the charges for emissions, tradable permits (through cost-benefit analysis) and taxes. The environment should be a subject for discussion and agreements aimed at environmental management in accordance with economic reality, and not as an excuse to seek to implement protectionism and commercial acts contrary to international cooperation.
We must take into consideration that it is a task for everyone and not for some to plan and execute environmental programs, that is why society must be interested and participate in this decision-making that ultimately involves them as consumers. An environmental policy should be discussed as soon as possible in an international forum and continue with the plans presented at the Johannesburg summit in South Africa, only in this way will developed and underdeveloped countries see a convergence on the environmental issue. Reflection and change in the behavior of society, through adequate environmental education, becomes necessary and essential to achieve the objectives of environmental management.
Although the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) in general agree with many of the environmental groups; Since man is responsible for the care of his environment, believers may disagree with them on the question of why the environment is important and how it is to be cared for. For example, many people in the environmental movement would say that cleaning up the environment is necessary since the entire human race faces a dangerous future.
Humanity has practiced numerous religions, since its inception and throughout its history, and they have had a decisive influence on the configuration of different cultures and societies. Human beings have made use of religions to find meaning in their existence and to give significance and explanation to the visible world. The word religion is sometimes used synonymously with "organized religion" or "religious organization," that is, institutions that support the exercise of certain religions, often in the form of legal entities; From this vision, the following section entitled Environment and Religion emerges.
ENVIRONMENT AND RELIGION
Religion (from the Latin religionem, "scruple, delicacy") is a set of beliefs or dogmas held by a group of people who share a common faith, often ritualized in prayers, sacrifices, and moral norms regarding sacred things. Religion collects ancient traditions or cultures, institutions, scriptures, history and mythology, as well as personal faith and, sometimes, mystical experience.
The anthropological and sociological approaches are relevant when it comes to addressing the knowledge of religion as a phenomenon in society. In these ways, religion is studied as a set of norms, rituals and beliefs by which the individual or societies try to channel what they understand as a religious impulse. On the other hand, the study of the psyche becomes relevant to understand what that religious impulse is as a set of emotions, individual perceptions and mental energies that the subject experiences. The question of how the environment is to concern religion has become one of the most popular topics in recent years. By virtue of understanding our responsibility, it is important to understand the original relationship between man and nature.
According to the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) in Genesis 1: 26-28 tells us that God created man and woman in his own image and that he gave them dominion over all the earth. This comprised all the animals that God had created as well as the entire earth. It continues to reflect the scriptures that God also entrusted his descendants with the care of the earth (Gen. 1:28). Even after the entry of sin and the curse, God did not deprive man of this responsibility. We must take care of the earth, say the Christians that God has given us.
They allude to issues such as the depletion of the ozone layer and a warming of the globe (points that many believe are highly unlikely). However, the Bible is very clear in stating that the human race is not adrift. For those who profess a Christian FAITH God is the one in control of their destiny. He is the one who has planned the future of the human race. The Bible says, "The earth will one day be restored by Christ" (Rom. 8:21), and finally God will destroy it by fire, replacing it with new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:10). The Bible is very specific in the fact that the restoration and ultimate destruction of the earth is a work of God and that it is not subject to the care that man can give to the Environment.
For the author; who does not profess a Christian Faith, but who respects all religions and recognizes the historical value of the Bible, considers that; As expressed in the preceding paragraph: "the restoration and ultimate destruction of the earth is a work of God and is not subject to the care that man can give to the environment." Life tells us that this theory does not conform to reality, every day man uses his rationality to invent new instruments of destruction (weapons of war and others), which will lead to his self-destruction, the Bible reflects in its lyrics that: God created man in his image and likeness; If so, then I agree with the biblical criteria that: The last destruction of the earth is a work of God.
Another reason why many people argue pro-ecology is due to the fact that they seem to see nature as a form of God; his care for the planet is a type of worship. The "New Age" religion emphasizes ecology and "oneness" with nature. Once again, the Bible clearly teaches that this is not a valid reason to care for our planet. Isaiah 45: 5 states, “I am the Lord, and there is none else; There is no God outside of me. By this we know that there is only one God. We know that God is the Creator, not the creature (Col. 1: 16-17). Worshiping nature is the same as idolatry. Caring for our environment as God has commanded, is obedience to God.
I consider that caring for the environment is a duty and a need for all of us who care about who or what it is done, I believe that both Christians or religious in a broad sense, as well as those who do not profess a religion, must have a denominator Common in this battle, which must be to create awareness of the urgency and need to care for the Environment, which is to say save humanity. For believers, one of the reasons we are commanded to care for our land is because of an illustration of responsibility and stewardship. As expressed in the scriptures: God placed man on earth as the crown of his creation. We are to show care, compassion, and responsibility in our relationship with creation.
From the above, it can be deduced that believers appreciate the special relationship that God has established with man, who was created in his own image. As believers they are to demonstrate proper stewardship by accepting the responsibility entrusted to them in the beginning. Another observation to make is regarding care for creation. When they express in their creeds that: man should know that our responsibility for the earth is less important than our care for each other.
The foregoing is illustrated in Jonas 4: 9-11. In that passage, God reminds Jonah that he has no more right to care for plants and trees and livestock than he does for the 120,000 people who lived in Nineveh. Now more than ever, people need to get God's perspective on what matters most. The Environment is important, and we non-believers are aware of that and believers too; but they are of the prophetic criterion that God is much more concerned with the souls of the people in the world.
Conclusions
- The knowledge produced by other branches of knowledge allows environmental scholars to apply to their own methods a specific vision of nature and a formulation of new principles.As a conclusion, we can say that the emergence of problems related to the environment affect all branches of knowledge and includes religion. The scientific study of the influence of man on natural processes constitutes the true environmental science. Scientists try to integrate information from various areas of teaching such as ecology, economics, sociology, politics, agronomy, anthropology, archeology and law. The greatest value of the environmental movement is that it has increased society's sensitivity to the relationships between us, nature, industry and development.The Environment is important, and we non-believers are aware of that and believers too; but they are from the prophetic criterion, that God is much more concerned with the souls of the people in the world.
For this work, the following Bibliographic reference was used, which are listed below, extracted from the Internet and contained in the following web pages:
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho
http://www.monografias.com/trabajos20/psicologia-ambiental/psicologia-ambiental.shtml
