Health Nature Sustainability Research Group, School of Health and Social Development, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
Health Promot J Austr. 2022 Jan;33(1):57-67. doi: 10.1002/hpja.460. Epub 2021 Feb 16.
Health promotion has adopted the planetary health perspective to address the threats posed by climate change, environmental degradation and environmental deprivation. Nature is a setting for health promotion that can produce co-benefits for human health and the protection of the environment. This paper presents the findings of a New South Wales (NSW) study of peoples' motivations for, and co-benefits of, environmental volunteering.
This paper combines the findings of a literature review and qualitative data from a larger mixed-methods study of environmental volunteering (eg administration and co-ordination, bush regeneration, advocacy, tour guiding) in NSW. A review of international literature from 2005 yielded 100 documents for analysis. Maximum variation and stratified purposeful sampling strategies were applied to engage 12 environmental volunteers and 30 employees of environmental organisations in a series of focus groups (n = 2) and interviews (n = 22). Qualitative thematic analysis techniques were applied and data triangulated.
Motivations for environmental volunteering include the following: personal, for example, new skills or knowledge, environmental, for example, improve the environment and social/community, for example, forming connections. Environmental volunteering offers a range of benefits for individuals, environmental organisations and the natural environment. These include enhanced mental and social health, and connection to place and learning about the environment.
Environmental volunteering has the potential to address key determinants of health - social inclusion, employment and education. From a planetary health perspective, there are multiple co-benefits of human-environmental interaction arising from environmental volunteering. Environmental volunteering is a planetary health strategy that could be incorporated into community-based health promotion. SO WHAT?: Health promotion has a mandate to act on ecological determinants of health. Environmental volunteering is an untapped resource for community-based health promotion and for achieving planetary health goals.
健康促进已采用行星健康视角来应对气候变化、环境恶化和环境剥夺带来的威胁。自然是促进健康的环境，可以为人类健康和环境保护带来共同效益。本文介绍了新南威尔士州（NSW）一项关于人们参与环境志愿服务的动机和共同效益的研究结果。
本文结合了文献综述的结果和一项更大的混合方法研究的定性数据，该研究涉及 NSW 的环境志愿服务（例如管理和协调、丛林再生、宣传、导游）。对 2005 年以来的国际文献进行综述，得出 100 份供分析的文件。采用最大变异和分层有针对性的抽样策略，与 12 名环境志愿者和 30 名环境组织员工进行了一系列焦点小组（n=2）和访谈（n=22）。应用定性主题分析技术并进行数据三角测量。
参与环境志愿服务的动机包括以下几个方面：个人方面，例如获得新技能或知识；环境方面，例如改善环境；社会/社区方面，例如建立联系。环境志愿服务为个人、环境组织和自然环境带来了一系列好处。这些包括增强心理健康和社会健康、与地方的联系以及了解环境。
环境志愿服务有可能解决健康的关键决定因素——社会包容、就业和教育。从行星健康的角度来看，环境志愿服务所带来的人类与环境的相互作用具有多种共同效益。环境志愿服务是一种行星健康策略，可以纳入社区为基础的健康促进。那么问题来了：健康促进有责任应对影响健康的生态决定因素。环境志愿服务是社区为基础的健康促进和实现行星健康目标的未开发资源。
