Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia
Abstract To achieve sustainable targets, international panels call for a transformative change in human–nature interactions to foster human well‐being and promote pro‐environmental behaviour. The extent to which people considered themselves as part of nature—known as human–nature connectedness—has b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-01-01
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| Series: | People and Nature |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10749 |
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| author | Gladys Barragan‐Jason Maxime Cauchoix Paula A. Diaz‐Valencia Arielle Syssau‐Vaccarella Solène Hemet Camilo Cardozo Suzanne M. Skevington Philipp Heeb Camille Parmesan |
| author_facet | Gladys Barragan‐Jason Maxime Cauchoix Paula A. Diaz‐Valencia Arielle Syssau‐Vaccarella Solène Hemet Camilo Cardozo Suzanne M. Skevington Philipp Heeb Camille Parmesan |
| author_sort | Gladys Barragan‐Jason |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract To achieve sustainable targets, international panels call for a transformative change in human–nature interactions to foster human well‐being and promote pro‐environmental behaviour. The extent to which people considered themselves as part of nature—known as human–nature connectedness—has been shown to be a key societal trait for achieving such a transformative change. Human–nature connectedness is linked to improved human welfare and actions for nature conservation and can be increased by direct contact with natural environments in adults living in the Global North. It has not been shown whether these relations are true across lifetimes and in the Global South, making it difficult to generalise about the effects of human–nature connectedness globally. Here, we conducted a cross‐sectional study to examine and compare human–nature connectedness across ages in 1858 participants aged 3–87 years from two countries: France (N = 1059) and Colombia (N = 799). We also investigated the links between human–nature connectedness, pro‐environmental behaviours, well‐being and two indicators of opportunity to experience nature (i.e. degree of urbanisation and forest cover around the participants' municipality of residence). Results show that human–nature connectedness is positively related to well‐being and pro‐environmental behaviours in both countries. Analyses revealed an age‐related pattern of human–nature connectedness with a significant decline from childhood to the mid‐teens in both countries. Overall, Colombian participants have a higher human–nature connectedness than French participants and individuals' human–nature connectedness was negatively linked to the urbanisation's indices in both countries. Here, we show that human–nature connectedness is linked to sustainable outcomes in a Global South country, just as it is in the Global North. Our study also suggests that increasing contact with nature during formative teenage years could mitigate the observed decline in human–nature connectedness. Future studies are warranted combining qualitative and quantitative measures related to human–nature connectedness, nature experiences, values and practices in relation to nature, in multiple countries from the global South. Our study indicates that enhancing human–nature connectedness could provide an additional tool for achieving sustainable targets globally, not just in highly developed northern‐hemisphere countries. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8572da1f1d654de094bf40ae5a25e918 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2575-8314 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | People and Nature |
| spelling | doaj-art-8572da1f1d654de094bf40ae5a25e9182025-01-23T04:04:08ZengWileyPeople and Nature2575-83142025-01-01719911110.1002/pan3.10749Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and ColombiaGladys Barragan‐Jason0Maxime Cauchoix1Paula A. Diaz‐Valencia2Arielle Syssau‐Vaccarella3Solène Hemet4Camilo Cardozo5Suzanne M. Skevington6Philipp Heeb7Camille Parmesan8Theoretical and Experimental Ecology Station (SETE), CNRS UAR 2029 Moulis FranceTheoretical and Experimental Ecology Station (SETE), CNRS UAR 2029 Moulis FranceEpidemiology Group, National School of Public Health, University of Antioquia Medellin ColombiaUniversité Paul‐Valéry Montpellier 3 Montpellier FranceAssociation Memoria Viva (France‐Colombia) Paris FranceAssociation Memoria Viva (France‐Colombia) Paris FranceManchester Centre for Health Psychology University of Manchester Manchester UKCentre de Recherche en Biodiversité et Ecologie, UMR 5300, Bâtiment 4R1, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse FranceTheoretical and Experimental Ecology Station (SETE), CNRS UAR 2029 Moulis FranceAbstract To achieve sustainable targets, international panels call for a transformative change in human–nature interactions to foster human well‐being and promote pro‐environmental behaviour. The extent to which people considered themselves as part of nature—known as human–nature connectedness—has been shown to be a key societal trait for achieving such a transformative change. Human–nature connectedness is linked to improved human welfare and actions for nature conservation and can be increased by direct contact with natural environments in adults living in the Global North. It has not been shown whether these relations are true across lifetimes and in the Global South, making it difficult to generalise about the effects of human–nature connectedness globally. Here, we conducted a cross‐sectional study to examine and compare human–nature connectedness across ages in 1858 participants aged 3–87 years from two countries: France (N = 1059) and Colombia (N = 799). We also investigated the links between human–nature connectedness, pro‐environmental behaviours, well‐being and two indicators of opportunity to experience nature (i.e. degree of urbanisation and forest cover around the participants' municipality of residence). Results show that human–nature connectedness is positively related to well‐being and pro‐environmental behaviours in both countries. Analyses revealed an age‐related pattern of human–nature connectedness with a significant decline from childhood to the mid‐teens in both countries. Overall, Colombian participants have a higher human–nature connectedness than French participants and individuals' human–nature connectedness was negatively linked to the urbanisation's indices in both countries. Here, we show that human–nature connectedness is linked to sustainable outcomes in a Global South country, just as it is in the Global North. Our study also suggests that increasing contact with nature during formative teenage years could mitigate the observed decline in human–nature connectedness. Future studies are warranted combining qualitative and quantitative measures related to human–nature connectedness, nature experiences, values and practices in relation to nature, in multiple countries from the global South. Our study indicates that enhancing human–nature connectedness could provide an additional tool for achieving sustainable targets globally, not just in highly developed northern‐hemisphere countries. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10749conservationhuman–nature connectednesshuman–nature interactionslandscape ecologyone healthpro‐environmental behaviour |
| spellingShingle | Gladys Barragan‐Jason Maxime Cauchoix Paula A. Diaz‐Valencia Arielle Syssau‐Vaccarella Solène Hemet Camilo Cardozo Suzanne M. Skevington Philipp Heeb Camille Parmesan Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia People and Nature conservation human–nature connectedness human–nature interactions landscape ecology one health pro‐environmental behaviour |
| title | Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia |
| title_full | Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia |
| title_fullStr | Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia |
| title_short | Human–nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes: A comparative cross‐sectional study in France and Colombia |
| title_sort | human nature connectedness and sustainability across lifetimes a comparative cross sectional study in france and colombia |
| topic | conservation human–nature connectedness human–nature interactions landscape ecology one health pro‐environmental behaviour |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10749 |
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