Francescangeli, Sabrina2024-09-132024-09-132024https://hdl.handle.net/1828/20406• Supporting the basic psychological needs of autonomy (i.e., feeling volitional), competence (i.e., feeling skillful) and relatedness (i.e., feeling socially connected) in context of promoting environmentally sustainable actions can help increase motivation to perform such actions. • Need fulfillment can be facilitated through provision of a need-supportive environment/conditions (e.g., providing explanations for why someone would want to engage in a behavior can support autonomy; toleration of failure can support competence; teamwork can support relatedness). • Feeling connected to nature is a crucial first step to caring more about the welfare of the environment, and thus can lead to greater engagement in PEBs. Nature connectedness can be facilitated through nature exposure, participating in stewardship (and other PEBs), and practicing mindfulness. • We must change the way we think so that we may be better able to address challenges, including better serving equity-deserving groups. Some of the ways this could be done is through thinking outside the box, shifting perspectives and worldviews, and the use of pro-environmental communication. • It is necessary to decolonize our thinking. One way this could be done is through Two-Eyed Seeing, which considers the strengths of Indigenous and Western ways of knowing equally in order to determine best solutions in order to sustain the Earth. This method can also help facilitate more meaningful engagement in collaborative settings. • Partnering and outreach with organizations that serve equity-deserving groups as well as Indigenous Knowledge Keepers can help reduce barriers to nature accessibility. Building respectful and trustworthy relationships with equity-deserving groups is essential. • In communicating with someone who does not or cannot be convinced to care about the environment, communication strategies such as message framing may be more effective, as they can be used to appeal to a person’s existing values and attitudes. Message framing works best when they communicate support for basic psychological needs and intrinsic goals. To find out these attitudes, it can be helpful to approach a person with acceptance, openness, and curiosity rather than judgement.encommunity-engaged careendangered speciesurban nature parksSustainability Scholars ProgramOther