The CN-12: A Brief, Multidimensional Connection With Nature Instrument

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been increasing interest in (re)connecting people with nature to foster sustainability outcomes. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting a relationship between connection with nature and pro-environmental behaviors. Connection with nature has often been conceptualized as a unidimensional construct, and although recent evidence suggests that it is multidimensional, there is ongoing debate regarding the dimensions that make up connection with nature. Existing multidimensional connection with nature instruments capture similar dimensions, yet they are lengthy and may not have practical application in real-world contexts. This research sought to clarify the dimensions of connection with nature and to develop and validate an abbreviated yet multidimensional connection with nature instrumentthe CN-12. Analyses of two large datasets revealed three dimensions of connection with nature-identity, experience, and philosophy. Results suggested that the CN-12 and its three dimensions are positively correlated with: (1) environmental and altruistic values; (2) time spent in nature; and (3) a range of pro-environmental behaviors. Results also suggested that the CN-12 and its three dimensions are stable over time and are positively correlated with two existing multidimensional connection with nature instruments, the Nature Relatedness (NR) Scale and Environmental Identity (EID) Scale. The utility of the CN-12 for exploring human connections with nature and the role of fostering connection with nature to increase engagement in pro-environmental behaviors are discussed.

Socio‐psychological factors, beyond knowledge, predict people’s engagement in pollinator conservation

“…We predominantly used closed questions (24 of 26 questions), consisting of yes/no, multiple choice and 7‐point Likert items but, where appropriate, we provided open boxes to allow participants to elaborate. We included questions from the Monitor of Engagement with the Natural Environment (MENE; Natural England, 2018) to assess participants’ nature exposure, self‐perceived nature‐connectedness and pro‐environmental behaviour, adapted questions from the CN‐12 (Hatty et al., 2020) to assess participants’ identity as an environmentalist and used the Conservation Evidence website (https://www.conservationevidence.com/) to identify pollinator conservation actions (Table 1). The study received ethics approval from the University of Exeter's ethics board on 1 February 2019 (application eCORN001741).…”

“…We created an online questionnaire (Appendix S2) to assess people's perceptions, knowledge and behaviour relating to pollinators. We broadly used the TPB as a framework around which to structure the questionnaire, and to interpret the findings, namely for predicting respondents' individual and total number of pollinator conservation actions ( Table 1) (Hatty et al, 2020) to assess participants' identity as an environmentalist and used the Conservation Evidence website (https:// www.conse rvati onevi dence.com/) to identify pollinator conservation actions (Table 1). The study received ethics approval from the University of Exeter's ethics board on 1 February 2019 (application eCORN001741).…”

Urban gardening as a means for fostering embodied urban human–food connection? A case study on urban vegetable gardens in Germany

“…Psychological measures have been particularly prominent as a methodological approach for assessing HNC (Cleary et al 2018;Lin et al 2015;Scopelliti et al 2016). To capture what it means to be connected to nature, current research in this field has emphasized the need to develop a multidimensional understanding of HNC, taking into account different internal human cognitive or affective responses about and towards nonhuman nature (Hatty et al 2020;Tam 2013;Whitburn et al 2019). However, to further overcome the human-nonhuman, mind-matter and subject-object dichotomies that obfuscate integrated forms of sustainability research and practice, there have been calls for more relational forms of sustainability research that integrate internal and external relationships with nature (Walsh et al 2021;West et al 2020).…”

“…Cognitive connections such as beliefs and knowledge as well as emotional (referring to personal attachment to nature) and philosophical connections (related to how humans conceive of their relationship to the Earth) can be understood as internally-defined connections to nature. Given the fact that research on various HNC dimensions is still in its infancy, recent studies have called for further exploration, in particular taking into account the neglected external material dimension of HNC (Hatty et al 2020). In this regard, Artmann et al (2020) applied the framework by Ives et al (2018) introducing the concept of Human-Food Connection (HFC) as an interpretation of HNC in the context of local food production and consumption.…”

“…HNC dimensions cannot always be neatly partitioned. Indeed, Hatty et al (2020) found that cognitive, emotional, and behavioural elements can be represented through a single environmental identity dimension. As such, we designed the study without defining the HFC categories a priori.…”