CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Iurchenko, Tatiana |
|---|---|
| Title | The place of spirituality in the motives and values of members of intentional environmental communities |
| Summary | Since a change to sustainable societies is likely to require significant lifestyle change, it is important to understand the kinds of factors that are associated with shifts to pro-environmental behavior. According to environmental psychologists, values and motives are among the major factors that impact sustainable lifestyles and pro-environmental behaviors. This study uses in-depth interviews to identify the range of values and motives that encouraged members of two Hungarian intentional environmental communities to join and remain in the community, and more specifically to explore the role of spiritual values within a secular (Gyűrűfű) and a religious (Krishna Valley) environmental community. Security, independence and community were common themes expressed by respondents. The participants from the secular eco-village emphasized more a desire to be independent from the system and this way ensure a sense of security while interviewees from the religious community considered pro-environmental behavior as an essential part of their spiritual practice. Members of both intentional environmental communities viewed spiritual values as important in leading to a sustainable lifestyle because they help to appreciate the natural environment in a deeper way. Spiritual values were perceived in various ways. In the secular community spirituality was generally seen as connection to nature, energy, relationships between co-villages and as a lifestyle of ancestors whereas interviewees from the religious community referred to spirituality from a more conventionally religious perspective, invoking God. This study concludes that spirituality in its religious and secular form is clearly manifested in the values and motives of the participants to join and remain in the community. In the religious community it is the basis for environmental practices and concerns while in the secular community it has a side role in recognizing connections of people with nature and each other. |
| Supervisor | Alan Watt |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/iurchenko_tatiana.pdf |
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