Promoting environmental stewardship has proven to be difficult. Successful approaches seem to need a mixture of understanding, motivation and participation. None alone appear sufficient. Another fascinating notion is Green Care, the use of natural settings to promote human wellness in its many forms (e.g., physical, psychological, spiritual). Work in this area could be called Sustainable Living since it is about crafting a wholesome and meaningful existence on a finite planet. 

 As the depth of the environmental dilemmas being faced are realized, there are increasingly vigorous efforts to promote sustainable living. While sustainability has proven difficult to define, it is usually operationalized as ensuring that societal actions protect and preserve natural resources and that ecological systems are not disrupted. In this definition humans are often envisioned as the source of the problems being faced. Thus, environmental sustainability usually includes the close monitoring and manipulation of human behavior. A more enlightened definition imagines people as recipients of the Earth's bounty; this more positive definition recommends crafting environmental management strategies to allow current societal needs to be met without diminishing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. An improvement and yet even this definition falls short. It focuses more on maintaining an sustainable flow of material and energy than on increasing human well-being. In many ways it is similar to defining human health as merely an absence of illness. What is needed is a definition of sustainability that preserves not only ecosystem functions and social systems but also provides for a positive balance across all aspects of a person — body, mind, emotions and spirit.

Our vision of sustainability must include individuals living healthy, meaningful and resilient lives. A shorthand for this notion is sustainable living.

Sustainable living involves a dual focus; promoting environmental stewardship and promoting the stewardship of human health and well-being. Both outcomes are modeled, in part, as benefiting from everyday physical and mental engagement with the natural world. Sustainable living does seek to promote conservation behavior for the purpose of protecting and improving the environment. But just as important is the need to reframe environmental planning and management issues as aspects of our nation's public health. How we design the nearby environment and how we interact with these environments physically and mentally, potentially has a major impact on our individual health.

Central here is the notion of the therapeutic role that contact with nearby non-spectacular nature and meaningful work have on mental and physical well-being. Mental vitality, a clarity of purpose, a growing sense of self-efficacy, and increased social civility all seem to emerge from behaviors that involved regular exposure to everyday nature. A colleague of mine, Stephen Kaplan, has developed the Attention Restoration Theory to help explain these effects.

But just as clearly, regular physical activity is essential to our health and well-being. Thus sustainable living is closely aligned with conditions that support a physically active life. For instance, rather than addressing obesity as an individual health problem, a transdisciplinary approach to public healthcare would focus on how the built environment (e.g., neighborhoods, transportation systems, parks, open space) can promote more active lives.

Building on these themes, what is needed is a long series of small experiments on sustainable living that involve, among other interventions, regular physical activity in everyday natural settings. Central to these studies would be a focus on the attributes of ordinary urban and natural environments and the ways in which such environments can be used to sustain physical activity and promote psychological well-being.

Current/Recent Research Projects:

Management and Restoration of Mental Vitality as a Precondition to Environmental Stewardship. Funded in part by the UM Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies.

Consumption and the Environment. Funded by the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Co-Principle Investigator with Professor Thomas Princen.

Current/Recent Teaching:

Behavior and Environment

An introduction to environmental psychology (Natural Resources and Environment 360 and 560) that examines human-environment interactions with a natural resource focus. The course develops an information processing model of human nature and then uses this model to explore human decision making, the settings humans most prefer, and how they cope with non-preferred settings and how they maintain mental clarity and attentional vitality.

Psychology of Environmental Stewardship

A course (Natural Resources and Environment 361 and 561) that explores research on the psychology of environmental stewardship and creates a toolbox of approaches for promoting durable conservation behavior. Includes the study of the relationship between psychological well-being and time spent in natural settings.

Conservation Behavior Seminar

An advanced graduate seminar (Natural Resources and Environment 661) that examines current psychological research on promoting environmental stewardship and maintaining mental (attentional) vitality.

Selected Publications:

• Crow, T., T. Brown, R. De Young, J. Smith and J. Taylor (2006). The Riverside and Berwyn experience: Contrasts in landscape structure, perceptions of the urban landscape, and their effects on people. Landscape and Urban Planning,
• De Young, R. (2003) If we build it, people will want to help: The management of citizen participation in conservation psychology. Human Ecology Review, 10, 162-163.
• Brook, A., M. Zint and R. De Young (2003) Landowners' responses to an Endangered Species Act listing and implications for encouraging conservation. Conservation Biology, 17, 1638-1649.
• Ryan, R.; D. Erickson and R. De Young. (2003) Farmers' motivations for adopting conservation practices along riparian zones in a Midwestern agricultural watershed. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. 46(1).
• Kaplan, S. and R. De Young (2002) Toward a better understanding of pro-social behavior: The role of evolution and directed attention. Commentary. Behavioral and Brain Sciences. 25: 263-264.
• Erickson, D., Ryan, R. and R. De Young (2001) Woodlots in the rural landscape: Non-industrial private landowner motivations and management attitudes in a Michigan case study. Landscape and Urban Planning.
• De Young, R. 2000 Expanding and evaluating motives for environmentally responsible behavior. In Zelezny, L. and P. W. Schultz [Eds.] Promoting Environmentalism. Journal of Social Issues. 56: 509-526.
• De Young, R. 1999. Tragedy of the commons. In D. E. Alexander and R. W. Fairbridge [Eds.] Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
• De Young, R. 1999. Environmental Psychology. In D. E. Alexander and R. W. Fairbridge [Eds.] Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
• McCann, E., S. Sullivan, S., D. Erickson and R. De Young. 1997. Environmental awareness, economic orientation, and farming practices: A comparison of organic and conventional farmers. Environmental Management.21:747-758.
• De Young, R. 1996. Some psychological aspects of a reduced consumption lifestyle: The role of intrinsic satisfaction and competence. Environment and Behavior. 28:358-409.
• Kearney, A. R. and R. De Young 1996. Changing commuter travel behavior: Employer-initiated strategies. Journal of Environmental System. 24:373-393.
• Sullivan, S., E. McCann, R. De Young and D. Erickson. 1996. Farmers? attitudes about farming and the environment: A survey of conventional and organic farmers. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 9:123-143.
• De Young, R. and M. Monroe. 1996. Some fundamentals of engaging stories. Environmental Education Research. 2:171-187.
• Lee, Y., R. De Young and R. W. Marans 1995. Factors influencing individual recycling behavior in office settings: A study of office workers in Taiwan. Environment and Behavior. 27:380-403
• Kearney, A. R. and R. De Young. 1995. A knowledge based intervention for promoting ride sharing. Environment and Behavior. 27:650-678.
• De Young, R., S. Boerschig, S. Carney, A. Dillenbeck, M. Elster, S. Horst, B. Kleiner and B. Thomson. 1995. Recycling in multi-family dwellings: Increasing participation and decreasing contamination. Population and Environment. 16:253-267.
• Monroe, M. and R. De Young 1994. The role of interest in environmental information: A new agenda. Children?s Environment. 11:243-250.
• Lee, Y. and R. De Young. 1994. Intrinsic satisfaction derived from office recycling behavior: A case study in Taiwan. Social Indicators Research. 31:63-76.
• De Young, R. 1993. Changing behavior and making it stick: The conceptualization and management of conservation behavior. Environment and Behavior. 25: 485-505.
• De Young, R., A. Duncan, J. Frank, N. Gill, S. Rothman, J. Shenot, A. Shotkin and M. Zweizig. 1993. Promoting source reduction behavior: The role of motivational information. Environment and Behavior. 25:70-85.
• De Young, R. 1988-1989. Exploring the difference between recyclers and non-recyclers: The role of information. Journal of Environmental Systems. 18: 341-351.
• De Young, R. and S. Kaplan. 1988. On averting the tragedy of the commons. Environmental Management. 12: 283-293.
• De Young, R. 1986. Some psychological aspects of recycling: The structure of conservation satisfactions. Environment and Behavior. 18: 435-449.
• De Young, R. 1985-1986. Encouraging environmentally appropriate behavior: The role of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Environmental Systems. 15: 281-292.