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According to pedagogies it is based on, Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) seeks to achieve a transformation process of personal values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors to more sustainable ones. Emotional components of someone’s experiences, sense of responsibility, sensitivity towards environment/nature are critical parts of these processes. Connectedness to nature is often described as an emotional connection to nature, and it could include the affective, psychomotor, and/or cognitive domain of the individual. Connectedness to nature can also be understood as a personal trait, and it can be measured. As much contemporary research confirms, Connectedness to Nature also correlates or can be seen as an essential part of Environmental Identity. In that context, it can also be understood as an important prerequisite or foundation for Education for Sustainable Development. This research aimed to adapt and validate two scales for measuring these two constructs: Connectedness to Nature and Environmental Identity. In this context, we used the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS) [1], [2], and revised the Environmental Identity Scale (EIS) [3] on a sample of adults in the Republic of Croatia. The sample consisted of N=185 adults, N=8 males and N=173 females, in two counties (Primorsko-goranska, Međimurska) in Croatia. Other sociodemographic data included: age range was 20-65 years, different professions, and lifestyles (N=4 vegetarians ; N=7 members of ecoassociations) ; living in urban (town N=81) and rural areas (country N=51) and mixed areas, houses, apartments, and rooms/lodgers. The research was conducted online in March 2021. The adaptation and validation of both instruments included the translation and harmonization of specific terms. The results confirmed very satisfactory values of measurements and universality of both scales compared to other research/countries. The CNS was conducted using its short version and comprised 10 items, with two inverted items (items 4 and 10). The EIS included 14 items and one inverted item (item 12). The EIS was also conducted in a revised shorter version. Reliability analysis results confirmed very high values of Cronbach Alfa, for CNS, α = 0.94 ; and EIS α =0.89. The CNS exploratory analysis resulted in two components (principal components), and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (principal axis factoring, oblimin rotation) resulted in two factors explaining 80% of the variance. However, even a single factor explanation would be a very satisfactory solution. The EIS exploratory analysis resulted in two components, and 58% of the variance explained. The CFA results concluded one factor explaining 44% of the variance. We also present other significant results regarding these calculations (measurement characteristics, arithmetic values, standard deviations, etc.). As far as we know, this kind of research has not been conducted in Croatia yet. Therefore, we see an opportunity to open and widen a new field of this contemporary research with the adaptation and validation of these instruments in the Croatian language. |
