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An excerpt from the concluding chapter of the 4th edition of this standard textbook.

This study explores the potential of photovoice for understanding environmental perspectives of teachers in the Narok District of Kenya. The objective of this paper is to share this photo-methodology with environmental educators so they may use it as an innovative methodological tool to understand the construction of environmental perspectives. The researchers analyzed the digital images and the accompanying narratives for themes emerging for each of the key terms. The researchers utilized Critical Visual Methodology to guide the data analysis. Each photograph was coded according to its site of audiencing (including both compositionality and social modalities). The themes--shares local knowledge, documents context, documents knowledge emerged from the participants' photovoice. The researchers theorize this tool illustrated the ways in which this community valued the environment, their community, and the ways in which they conceptualize the solutions.

This article reports on recreationists' response to being displaced from their recreation destination or activity. Displacement occurs when visitors leave a site or change activities in response to an unacceptable or adverse change in social, managerial or resource conditions. Specifically, displacement as a response to crowding is examined using a blended analysis of qualitative and quantitative data at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (DEWA). Repeat visitors who had been displaced in the past from DEWA were asked to evaluate their experience and associated outcomes using qualitative and quantitative measures. Results indicate that displacement occurs frequently and is a problem for visitors, but that it may serve as a successful coping strategy. We found that spatial displacement may serve as a better relief from stress than temporal displacement. The authors suggest that displacement be treated as an indicator of the visitor experience, rather than an outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers and managers of parks and protected areas often employ normative theory or a normative approach when attempting to understand and manage visitor use and related impacts. Normative theory and associated approaches use indicators, thresholds, and evaluative dimensions to estimate visitor opinion about desired resource or experiential conditions. However, visitors' desired conditions are often difficult to study longitudinally. Researchers used Cumberland Island National Seashore (CUIS) and its visitors to investigate the stability of crowding thresholds by comparing 2011 and 2018 visitor survey results. Daily maximum visitation levels remained constant between 2011 and 2018 as did visitors' preferred conditions. However, the use levels that may lead to potential displacement and visitors' acceptance of higher use both increased, suggesting visitors may expect conditions to remain the same but be increasingly tolerant of more visitors at specific attraction sites. Potential implications and further research related to normative theory and norm stability are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efforts to conserve and preserve the environment in developing or marginalized locales frequently involve a one-way transfer of knowledge and materials from a source in a more developed location. This situation often degenerates into a short-term donor project which risks little to no long-term impacts on local or indigenous relationships with the environment. This research study with educators in Narok, Kenya investigates the current perspectives of local key stakeholders on the environment and sustainability with the purpose of sharing these understandings among local groups to generate a locally constructed meaning of environmental conservation and sustainability. It is the researchers' aim that through locally constructed meanings of environmental hazards and conservation, the Maasai community will empower themselves to transform their relationship with their environment and begin to construct and enact sustainable alternatives to destructive environmental practices. The approach used in this study is a qualitative study of representative stakeholders' environmental perspectives called photovoice. Two major themes emerged during the data analysis: How do we co-habit? and How do we modernize? This community demonstrated a complex understandings including navigate traditional practices, made connections to a larger system, and describing positive ways in which humans influence our environment.

Environmental issues are a shared human concern as communities in all nations and geographic regions are grappling with environmental degradation. Despite this concern, there are multiple different viewpoints on the current state of environmental issues and how to understand these problems. Understanding how different communities conceive of the environment and sustainability is paramount in efforts to increase the frequency of environmentally conscious choices. If an awareness of others' perspectives of the environment is lacking, then the development of sustainable choices is placed at risk because of potentially competing views of what sustainability means in a particular context. As such, solutions to these environmental problems are frequently viewed as "wicked problems.'"This study investigates the shared and divergent environmental viewpoints of teachers and community members in Kenya. This study utilized photo-methodologies and qualitative in vivo analysis. The shared viewpoints were on positive and negative notions of environmental issues. The divergent viewpoints were on solutions that included types of innovations and amount of government involvement.

In the midst of the current environmental crisis, scientists, academics, authors, and politicians worldwide are urging citizens to create sustainable communities. However, there is little capability to build a sustainable society without an informed, active, and engaged populous. This requires more than just environmentally knowledgeable citizens. It requires a society that understands the principles of the environment and can also exemplify them in daily life. In order to create a more environmentally literate world, there has been a push for environmental education integrated into schools. This qualitative study sought to examine Kenyan teachers' perspectives on the human-nature interaction by conducting vignette focus-group interviews. It is a subject not widely explored but vital for conservation not only in this area, but also other areas that seek to have an ecological informed populous. The vignettes were created using photographs and explanations of the photographs that the participants collected and emailed to the authors. For the focus-group vignette interviews, there were a total of 55 participants (30 females and 25 males). After InVivo analysis, we had 6 codes (resentment, pride, perils, blame, pragmatism, and self-interested) within 3 major themes. This study has implications for informing science education to combat these traditions of subjecting students to a science curriculum that demotes Kenyan cultural heritage and lifestyle. By incorporating local knowledge such as the ideas discussed in this paper into Kenyan science education, Kenyans can reach one of most challenging objectives of education, which is to produce children who are fundamentally aware of their environment.

This study engaged key stakeholders in an economically and environmentally fragile region in Kenya in a unique, interdisciplinary, and integrative approach to explore the extent to which the use of smartphone technology helps access the environmental values and sustainability perspectives of the people of the Maasai land. The results of the study indicate that the participants' environmental values and sustainability perspectives, exposed through photovoices, pertain mainly to issues regarding livestock grazing, deforestation, soil erosion, wildlife and human co-habitation, waste management, afforestation, and the conservation of the natural vegetation. A common theme permeating the participants' photovoices was their awareness of the intertwining effects of these major environmental issues on the environment. The results also suggest a strong understanding of ecological compositions and connections in the environment by the participants.

The community conservation enterprises (CCEs) approach is used for advancing integrated conservation and development goals in Sub-Saharan Africa. CCEs aim to enhance resident livelihoods and reduce dependency on park resources. However, the impacts of CCEs are rarely demonstrable. This exploratory study of residents living adjacent to the Greater Virunga Landscape (GVL) in Rwanda and Uganda helps to address this gap by examining the household livelihood strategy of CCEs among GVL residents. Face-to-face interviews with 571 residents were conducted to assess satisfaction with their household livelihood security (food, education, health, financial). Results indicated that investment in CCEs has led to significant improvements in the livelihoods of residents in Rwanda. However, residents of Uganda reported marginal improvements. This study demonstrates the potential of CCEs for improving food and financial security in areas where tourism growth is substantial. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding visitor travel patterns within parks and protected areas has continually been recognized as beneficial for managers. This information can identify high-use areas and locations of potential conflicts. However, visitor travel patterns can be difficult to understand in parks and protected areas that lack organizational infrastructure, such as trails, roads, or signs (e.g., open deserts and marine environments). In this article, we demonstrate a digital grid analysis of travel patterns at the Bonneville Salt Flats Special Recreation Management Area, Utah, a vast desert expanse where trails, roads, or wayfinding signs do not exist and there is no vehicular speed limit. Data were collected using GPS data loggers and analyzed using ArcGIS. We first conducted spatial descriptive analysis to understand mean center point, median center point, directional distribution, and central line feature. Mean center point and median center point were reported in decimal degrees, which can be inputted into any smartphone or GPS unit for navigation. Using ArcMap, we designed a digital grid that overlaid the study site. The grid provided insight into spatial variations of visitor use and vehicle speeds. Using hot spot analysis, we determined areas where high use and high vehicle speeds were coinciding, which informed a spatial grouping analysis to identify areas for future monitoring. Monitoring areas are reported using navigation directions for easy location. We identified two areas where high use and high vehicle speeds coincide. Both of these areas are near the end of the access road, which suggests some visitors drive fast immediately upon entering the Bonneville Salt Flats. This finding led us to recommend managers put a speed limit zone near the access road for visitor safety. The findings of this study demonstrate the utility of grid analysis for advancing understanding of spatial variations, visitor travel patterns, and identifying priority areas to monitor in a dispersed recreation environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]