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This article was downloaded by: [University of Otago] On: 19 September 2013, At: 22:15 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Environmental Education Research Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceer20 Environmental volunteers: factors influencing their involvement in environmental action Georgia Liarakou a , Eleni Kostelou b & Costas Gavrilakis a a Department of Primary Education, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece b Department of Pre-school Education and Educational Design, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece Published online: 22 Jun 2011. To cite this article: Georgia Liarakou , Eleni Kostelou & Costas Gavrilakis (2011) Environmental volunteers: factors influencing their involvement in environmental action, Environmental Education Research, 17:5, 651-673, DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2011.572159 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.572159 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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Page 1: Environmental volunteers: factors influencing their involvement in environmental action

This article was downloaded by: [University of Otago]On: 19 September 2013, At: 22:15Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Environmental Education ResearchPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ceer20

Environmental volunteers: factorsinfluencing their involvement inenvironmental actionGeorgia Liarakou a , Eleni Kostelou b & Costas Gavrilakis aa Department of Primary Education, University of the Aegean,Rhodes, Greeceb Department of Pre-school Education and Educational Design,University of the Aegean, Rhodes, GreecePublished online: 22 Jun 2011.

To cite this article: Georgia Liarakou , Eleni Kostelou & Costas Gavrilakis (2011) Environmentalvolunteers: factors influencing their involvement in environmental action, Environmental EducationResearch, 17:5, 651-673, DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2011.572159

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2011.572159

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Environmental volunteers: factors influencing their involvement in environmental action

Environmental volunteers: factors influencing their involvement inenvironmental action

Georgia Liarakoua, Eleni Kosteloub and Costas Gavrilakisa*

aDepartment of Primary Education, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece; bDepartmentof Pre-school Education and Educational Design, University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece

(Received 4 September 2009; final version received 8 March 2011)

The aim of the present study was to investigate the factors that influence volun-teers to become involved in environmental action. The research focused on vol-unteers undertaking action in summer camps organised by an environmentalnon-governmental organisation (NGO) in Greece. The results suggest that theenvironmental issues addressed in volunteer programmes and the standards ofvolunteer organisations constitute critical predictors of a volunteer’s personalcommitment to participation in an organisation. Learning and contact with nat-ure clearly emerged as the most important factors in volunteer motivation. Fur-thermore, although the participants considered their environmental knowledgewas sufficient to stimulate their action, they also recognised the importance ofcontinuing to deepen that knowledge. Most of the volunteers had participatedpreviously in environmental education (EE), but only a few considered thisexperience to have influenced their intention to undertake action. Finally, volun-teers seemed to believe in the power of citizenship and expressed a high internallocus of control. The findings of this study could enhance NGOs’ understandingof what motivates volunteers and help them improve the quality and effective-ness of their volunteer programmes. EE practitioners could also use these find-ings to provide people with the proper capabilities to become consciouslyinvolved in voluntary environmental action.

Keywords: environmental education; environmental action; volunteers; NGO

Introduction

‘Action’ is considered an important component of environmental education (EE),regardless of the setting in which it is applied, i.e. formal, non-formal or informal(UNECE 2005). Neither the content nor the process of action is simple, however.There has been considerable discussion of the meaning of this term in EE and how itrelates to other field-relevant concepts, especially behaviour. Jensen (2002) notedthat a lack of clarity with respect to the definitions of ‘behaviour’ and ‘action’ hascharacterised the debate in EE practice and research. This debate is directly associ-ated with educational paradigms, particularly with the distinction between the moral-istic paradigm, which aims to shape individual behaviour, and the democraticparadigm, which is action-oriented and aims to develop the participatory capabilityof citizens within a democratic society (Jensen 1997, 2000; Schnack 2008). Within

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Environmental Education ResearchAquatic InsectsVol. 17, No. 5, October 2011, 651–673

ISSN 1350-4622 print/ISSN 1469-5871 online� 2011 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/13504622.2011.572159http://www.informaworld.com

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the democratic paradigm, Jensen and Schnack (1997) developed one of the clearestdefinitions of action for use in EE. They proposed that action comprises two ele-ments: unlike ‘behaviour’, ‘action’ is always intended and involves conscious deci-sion-making. Furthermore, in contrast to ‘activity’, ‘action’ is targeted because it isdirected at solving problems (Jensen and Schnack 1997; Jensen 2002). Action thatdemonstrates the above characteristics is placed by Jensen and Schnack (1997) at thecore of the educational process. This research has made action competence one ofthe overall objectives of EE. Within the same context, Schusler et al. (2009) arguedthat environmental action ‘reflects citizenship traditions of participatory democracy,public work and social justice because it . . . involves collective action toward somepublic purpose and ideally addresses the root causes of problems’. The concept of‘environmental action’ adopted in this paper is strongly associated with the demo-cratic paradigm of EE and is in harmony with the above definitions.

Studies dealing with the concept of action, as outlined above, have been carriedout on several target groups. These studies have explored the factors that fosterenvironmental action. One important vein of research that examines the characteris-tics, experiences and situations that encourage environmental action is called signifi-cant life experiences (SLE) research. SLE include the formative influences recalledby people whose lives demonstrate environmental concern (Tanner 1980; Chawla1998a, 1999). For instance, Palmer and Suggate (1996), focusing on environmentaleducators in the UK, found that experiences of nature and the outdoors, the atti-tudes of family and other adults and education were the most critical factors influ-encing the development of these individuals’ concern for the environment. Chawla(1999), in a study of environmental activists in the USA, noted similar importantsources of environmental commitment, including an individual’s experience of natu-ral areas, the influence of family members, participation in environmental or out-door organisations, education and negative experiences (e.g. the nuclear accident atChernobyl). Targeting young people, Chawla and Cushing (2007) presented a syn-thesis of research on conditions that encourage environmental action. They foundthat gender, socioeconomic factors, environmental attitudes and knowledge fre-quently influenced action, whereas role models, everyday life experiences, participa-tion in organisations and education were among the conditions that fostered civicenvironmental action. Within a somewhat different context, Schusler et al. (2009)investigated the reasons that motivate practitioners (such as science teachers, com-munity organisers and youth development specialists) to involve youth in environ-mental action.

The present study focuses on environmental volunteers, especially those under-taking action in association with environmental non-governmental organisations(NGOs). We chose NGOs because they are among the most common providers ofenvironmental volunteer opportunities. In addition, NGOs are considered leadingplayers in environmental and development issues, including education, awareness-raising and reinforcing the role of active citizens (Chawla 1999; Palmer and Birch2003; UNESCO 2005).

Volunteerism constitutes a fundamental dimension of civil society (Cohen andArato 1992). In recent decades, the volunteer programmes of environmental NGOshave grown in several countries, including the USA (Martinez and McMullin 2004;Bruyere and Rappe 2007). According to Ryan, Kaplan, and Grese (2001),volunteers have been responsible for many of the improvements made to environ-mental quality over the last three decades.

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Voluntary action is characterised by three main features: the provision of unpaidwork, willingness and choice to participate, and the provision of work for a publicpurpose (Apostolidis and Papaspyropoulos 2002). An environmental volunteer,therefore, is a person who acts under these conditions in an undertaking related tothe environment. Characteristic examples of the types of activities in which environ-mental volunteers may be involved include helping craft information campaigns,leading outreach and educational programmes, conducting field research, monitoringand managing protected areas, cleaning areas, undertaking political activism andfundraising.

In general, environmental volunteer work can be regarded as environmentalaction according to its definition within the EE democratic paradigm (Schnack2008). Participating in such action is a conscious decision of the actor, and it indi-cates his/her desire for further involvement as an active citizen in collective actiontowards a public purpose, i.e. the solution of environmental problems. Certainly, theplanning of such action implies different degrees of volunteer participation. In addi-tion, some environmental action may address the symptoms of a problem or attemptto approach the root causes of an issue. Environmental action is, therefore, highlyvariable. Consequently, researchers should generalise their findings only to environ-mental voluntary action with similar characteristics.

People who volunteer for social causes have been extensively investigated, butthe literature on the factors that influence volunteers’ environmental action is rela-tively limited. Research in recent decades has suggested that certain socio-demo-graphic characteristics tend to define environmental volunteers: they are generallymiddle-aged, have middle to high incomes, are highly educated and are employedon a full-time basis. However, no definite trends have been reported in their genderprofiles (Donald 1997; Martinez and McMullin 2004; Campbell and Smith 2005;Haigh 2006). Research has also focused on the factors that motivate these volun-teers, and predictions have been made about their initial and on-going involvementin environmental stewardship programmes. Environmental volunteers appear to havevarious motivations, as has been shown in studies examining volunteers in general(Clary et al. 1998). Several studies have found that important motivations for under-taking voluntary environmental work include helping the environment, learning,enjoying nature, desiring to take advantage of social factors (particularly, socialisingwith people with similar interests) and the project’s organisation (e.g. Westphal1993, 1995; Still and Gerhold 1997; Donald 1997; Schroeder 1998; Grese et al.2000; Ryan, Kaplan, and Grese 2001; Martinez and McMullin 2004; Bruyere andRappe 2007). The most important psychological benefits that volunteers derive fromtheir participation in such programmes have also been investigated. These include‘meaningful action’, fascination with nature, chances to reflect and encounters withlike-minded people (Miles, Sullivan, and Kuo 1998; Grese et al. 2000; Haigh2006).

Studies have also been undertaken to determine the attitudes and values thataffect voluntary action and to examine how voluntary action affects attitudes andlong-term behaviour towards the environment. For example, Ryan, Kaplan, andGrese (2001), who examined changes in the environmental outlook and action of148 volunteers in the USA, concluded that participation in stewardship programmescan transform the way people view the natural environment and environmentalissues. Christie (2004), who conducted a study on Australian volunteers, suggestedthat childhood outdoor experiences are fundamental to the pro-environmental

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attitudes of volunteers. Campbell and Smith (2006), after examining the value sys-tems of 31 volunteers assisting in sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica, reported anemphasis on science, conservation, aesthetics and humanistic values. Haigh (2006)emphasised the educational dimension of environmental voluntary action, arguingthat ‘the engagement in practical project work provides a most valuable agency fornon-formal environmental education’.

The aim of the present study is to examine the factors that influence people inGreece to become involved in voluntary environmental action. Although volunteer-ism has a very long tradition in many countries, it was not being developed as asocial value in Greece until about 30 years ago. Today, it exists principally in thefollowing domains: society (social welfare), environment, peace, human rights andthe Olympics (Apostolidis and Papaspyropoulos 2002). Environmental volunteerismin Greece is associated with the development of the environmental movement in themid-1970s. Today, many local and national NGOs offer opportunities for environ-mental work in Greece, with particular emphasis on forest protection action andvolunteer camps.

Our research focused on a WWF-Hellas (WWF-Greece) volunteering pro-gramme that takes place in summer camps in protected areas. This programme car-ries out voluntary action that includes trail restoration, site labelling, nestconstruction, field research and information campaigns. According to the definitionof action adopted in this paper, volunteers who participate in this programme canbe regarded as a group of people who act environmentally: (1) they consciouslychose to become involved in this undertaking; they already knew, from the invita-tion, of the action’s general framework; (2) although there was an initial actionplan, it was clearly understood that volunteers would actively participate in planningparticular actions; and (3) every action was intended to prevent environmental deg-radation and to manage and restore protected areas.

Investigating the factors that influence volunteers’ choices to be involved inenvironmental action and the conditions that foster this action could provide valu-able information for organisations working with volunteers. The findings of suchstudies would enhance NGOs’ understanding of volunteers and help them improvethe quality and effectiveness of their volunteer programmes. Such findings couldalso be of general benefit to EE. Given that action competence constitutes a goal ofEE, there is a need to further explore the factors that influence environmentalaction. For this reason, the present study not only includes the elements that domi-nate research on environmental volunteers, such as motives and benefits, but alsoincorporates factors usually associated with studies and models for pro-environmen-tal behaviour, such as knowledge, attitudes and locus of control (Kollmuss andAgyeman 2002; Heimlich and Ardoin 2008). Exploring these factors will allow EEto integrate the components into its practices (i.e. learning approaches and strate-gies) that will foster environmental action.

Research questions

The research goal of this study was to investigate the factors that influenced volun-teers to participate in the environmental action sponsored by WWF-Hellas’ camps(described below). Analysis of this topic led to the following research questions:

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� Which factors, relating to the structure and operation of the NGO, influencedvolunteers to become involved in its voluntary programmes?

� What were individuals’ motives for volunteering?� Is environmental knowledge a prerequisite for environmental volunteerism?� Did educational level and previous participation in EE and NGOs influence

volunteers to become involved in voluntary environmental action?� Are there any relationships between positive attitudes towards citizenship,

volunteers’ locus of control and environmental volunteerism?

Methodology

Research context

Research was conducted during the summer of 2005 in Greece (Hellas), whereWWF-Hellas had organised summer camps in four protected areas (natural parks).These summer camps were focused on specific conservation actions, including anumber of those mentioned in the Introduction. In particular, the activities weredesigned to protect and conserve the following places (Figure 1): (a) the Kerkiniwetland, one of the richest lakes in the European Union in terms of birdlife biodi-versity; (b) Vovousa–Eastern Zagori, an important reserve for rare and endangeredmammals; (c) Lake Prespa, a transboundary park with high biodiversity and one ofthe most important reserves in the world for Pelecanus crispus and (d) a marinepark on Zakynthos island that is a vitally important reserve for the endangered seaturtle Caretta caretta.

Volunteers were recruited by WWF-Hellas through an open invitation publishedon the NGO’s website and in its magazine. The invitation was addressed to youngpeople between the ages of 18 and 35. Each volunteer had to pay 100 euros, mostlyto cover accommodation, and a registration fee to become a member of the NGO.Fifty-two participants, all of whom were Greek, worked in the camps for 15 dayson a voluntary basis. This research focussed exclusively on the 48 volunteers whocompleted the programme.

Research methods

The researchers first held discussions with the WWF-Hellas coordinators to clarifytheir goals and the research process. A draft of the volunteer questionnaire was thencompiled and tested with the help of volunteers who were members of WWF-Hellasand had taken part in the same programme the previous year. The wording of thequestionnaire was then modified if volunteers had reported misunderstanding themeaning of the prompts.

On the penultimate day of the programme, volunteers were asked to completethe above-mentioned questionnaire. To maximise the response rate, this task wascarried out onsite with the assistance of camp coordinators. In this way, we wereable to achieve a response rate of 100%. The questionnaire consisted of severaltopics.

(1) Characteristics of the NGO that influenced a volunteer’s initial and contin-uing involvement. In this section, two multiple choice questions, which

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allowed for more than one answer, were provided, followed by an optionfor ‘other’. Half of the proposed items were derived from the literature onvolunteers working in environmental NGOs. The remaining itemsattempted to examine previous observations made by the researchers withregard to WWF-Hellas’ volunteers. Volunteers were asked to rank theirchoices.

(2) Motivations that led volunteers to participate in the programme. In thissection, 17 items were listed, followed by an option for ‘other’. The questionwas multiple choice and most of the items derived from the literature.Volunteers were again asked to rank their choices.

(3) Environmental knowledge. In this section, volunteers were provided with aset of open-ended and closed questions to explore their basic understandingof environmental concepts and issues.

(4) Previous experiences in EE. In this section, volunteers were asked, in open-ended questions, to briefly describe their previous EE experiences. They

Figure 1. The four protected areas. � OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA.

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were also asked to express, in a Likert-type format (on a five-point ratingscale), whether these experiences had encouraged them to become involvedin environmental voluntarism.

(5) Previous experiences with an NGO. In this section, open-ended questionswere designed to elicit reports from volunteers on their previous experienceswith NGO programmes and the types of programmes in which they had beeninvolved.

(6) Attitudes towards citizenship. In this section, a set of seven statements aboutcitizenship was presented; volunteers expressed their opinions and thoughtsrelating to these statements by completing five-point rating scales.

(7) Locus of control. In this section, another set of five statements was proposed,consisting of items examining the volunteers’ locus of control in relation toWWF-Hellas programmes and their effects on the participant’s action.

The questionnaire also included items that gathered data on the demographic char-acteristics of the volunteers, such as gender, age, educational level, occupation andresidence.

Data analysis

The data analysis was mainly conducted using descriptive statistics for the quantita-tive data collected from the closed questions. Content analysis was used to explorethe qualitative data derived from replies to open-ended questions.

Given that the sample size was relatively small, we should stress that the resultsbelow cannot be generalised to all environmental volunteers, either in Greece orinternationally. Because this is one of the first studies conducted on environmentalvolunteers in Greece, the findings could serve as a basis for a more detailed investi-gation and could be used in comparisons with research conducted on a wider vari-ety of environmental volunteers.

Results

In this study, we made a distinction between external (e.g. institutional and opera-tional) and internal (e.g. motivations and knowledge) factors, as outlined byKollmuss and Agyeman (2002), who proposed that these categories could be usedto present factors that have been shown to influence pro-environmental behaviourand direct environmental action. These categories are useful methodological toolsfor analysing and presenting our findings. The demographic characteristics of thevolunteers will be summarised prior to the analysis of external and internal factors.

Demographic characteristics

The basic demographics of the volunteers, consisting of 28 women and 19 men, aresummarised in Table 1. Given that invitations to participate were only addressed topeople between the ages of 18 and 35, our respondent pool was skewed to youngerage groups. Of the participants, 19 were university students, 18 were public or pri-vate employees and four were freelancers. The majority of volunteers (40) hadgrown up and currently lived in urban environments; five were from rural areas andonly three volunteers were from semi-urban areas.

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External factors

Previous studies have found that there is a wide range of external factors (e.g. insti-tutional, operational, economic) and social and cultural parameters (Kollmuss andAgyeman 2002) that contribute to an individual’s decision to participate in volun-teer programmes. We considered that the structure and project organisation ofNGOs constituted external factors that could facilitate the involvement of particularindividuals in environmental voluntary actions.

Participants reported that the characteristics of this particular NGO had encour-aged them to become involved in it as volunteers. According to the findings, theenvironmental issues addressed in the NGO’s volunteering programmes constitutedan important factor that influenced volunteers to become involved with WWF-Hel-las. In light of this information, it seems that volunteers chose to invest their timein this particular NGO because it has convinced them that it ‘deals with importantissues’; reported by 81.3% of the participants, this was the most popular reason forvolunteering (Table 2). Other lower ranked but significant factors mentioned weremore closely related to the operational dimensions of the NGO: 45.8% of volunteerswere attracted by the ‘international status of WWF’ and 37.5% by the perceptionthat the WWF is a ‘well organised NGO’. The last point probably relates specifi-cally to Greek NGOs, given that some of them operate on a purely amateur basisand thus do not have continuity in their programmes. The professional status ofWWF-Hellas seems to encourage participants to get involved in its volunteer pro-grammes. Furthermore, less than a third of the volunteers indicated that they werepositively influenced by the ‘good dissemination (of information) about its pro-grammes’ and its ‘good leadership’. The position of ‘good leadership’ as the low-est-ranked item is not consistent with results from other studies, which haveindicated that this criterion was an important factor affecting volunteers’ decisions(Ryan, Kaplan, and Grese 2001; Bruyere and Rappe 2007).

Table 1. Demographic characteristics.

Gender rf (%) Age (years) rf (%)

Female 58.3 <20 8.3Male 39.6 21–25 29.2N/R 2.1 26–30 31.2

31–35 25.036–40 4.2N/R 2.1

Table 2. Factors influencing volunteers’ initial involvement in WWF actions.

Factor rf (%)

Programmes dealing with important issues 81.3The international status of WWF 45.8Well organised NGO 37.5Good dissemination (of information) about its programmes 29.2Good leadership 25.0Other 12.5

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Apart from the above items proposed by the researchers, participants also namedsome additional factors, such as ‘the scientific validity of the NGO’ and the partici-pant’s own ‘acquaintance with people already working in the WWF’. They also sta-ted that the policies of the NGO, such as ‘its effort to solve problems incollaboration with the local authorities’ and ‘the emphasis given to awareness andEE of citizens’, led them to get involved with this organisation.

When investigating the factors that could encourage volunteers to continue par-ticipating in WWF voluntary activities, factors relating to organisational standards,particularly the ‘well organised voluntary actions’ factor, were stressed by 95.8% ofthe volunteers (Table 3). ‘Visible results’ was also considered an important factorby 77.1% of the volunteers. An equally high percentage responded that the ‘trans-parency of the economic management of the organisation’ was important to them.This particular factor reflects confidence in WWF’s economic management in com-parison with other NGOs. This concern may be heightened by cases of mismanage-ment previously recorded in Greece. Nhe initial preparation (training) of volunteersalso seems to be an important factor to volunteers; it was selected by 56.2% of theparticipants. Other reported factors were ‘good relations developing with the NGO’sstaff’ and ‘acceptance of volunteering programmes by the local community’.

Internal factors

Among the internal factors influencing direct environmental action presented byKollmuss and Agyeman (2002), we chose to investigate the sub-sets of motivation,environmental knowledge, previous experiences, attitudes and locus of control.Motivation is of great importance in research that concerns any kind of voluntaryaction because it directly reflects the reasons why participants became involved insuch activities. The remaining factors were selected because of their relationships toeducation. Educational programmes can be seen as opportunities to gain environ-mental knowledge, attitudes and action skills. The study of Kollmuss and Agyeman(2002) also included other internal factors, such as awareness and emotionalinvolvement; these were omitted from this study because of their interrelation withthe factors chosen.

Motivation

Distinctions should be made between primary and selective motivation (Kollmussand Agyeman 2002) and intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Campbell and Smith2005). Primary motivations lead people to engage in a whole set of behaviours andimply the adoption of ‘noble values’, such as altruism and social responsibility.

Table 3. Factors influencing volunteers’ continuing participation in WWF actions.

Factor rf (%)

Well-organised voluntary actions 95.8Immediate and visible results 77.1Transparency of economic management 77.1Initial preparation (training) 56.2Other 10.4

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Selective motivation is one that influences one specific action and is often the resultof personal needs. Our intention was to examine the primary and selective motiva-tions that influenced volunteers and led them towards involvement in particularenvironmental action.

Volunteers were invited to report on the motives that influenced them to partici-pate in the WWF volunteer camps. The results are summarised in Table 4. Volun-teers reported that they were more motivated by ‘learning’, ‘helping theenvironment’ and ‘social networks’ than any of the other factors listed. Specifically,the participants gave the highest ranking to the ‘acquisition of environmentalknowledge’ motive, confirming that NGOs have a leading role in providing envi-ronmental knowledge (Palmer and Birch 2003). Furthermore, it seems that the par-ticipants strongly associate environmental volunteering with being outdoors: having‘direct contact with nature’ constituted the second-ranked motivation. ‘Responsibil-ity towards the environment’ was ranked third, and ‘getting to know important peo-ple’ and ‘socially beneficial action’ followed. Various personal satisfaction factors,such as ‘feeling better about myself’, ‘fascinating and dynamic way of life’, and‘getting away from the daily routine’, were also given high rankings.

Although the volunteers were young people, they ranked ‘career’ as being ofthe least importance in their motivation to become involved in environmentalaction. Mixed results have been found in the literature regarding this particularmotivation. For example, in studies in which the majority of respondents were olderthan 35 years of age, Donald (1997), Martinez and McMullin (2004) and Bruyereand Rappe (2007) found career-centred motivational factors to be of less importanceto participants. This contrasts with the findings of a 1997 study by Powell (cited inCampbell and Smith 2005), in which over 79% of participants from three largeBritish environmental NGO programmes reported that they volunteered to gainexperience for future occupational interests.

In brief, volunteers were found to have a combination of motives, and it seemsthat the primary ones, such as responsibility for the environment and participating

Table 4. Participants’ motivations.

Motivation rf (%)

Acquisition of environmental knowledge 85.4Direct contact with nature 77.1Responsibility towards the environment 62.5Getting to know important people 58.3Socially beneficial action 58.3Feeling better about myself 58.3Making new friendships 54.2Fascinating and dynamic way of life 54.2Avoiding the daily routine 52.1Holidays 50.0Doing something good for future generations 45.8Working as a group for a common purpose 25.0Action with direct results 22.9Fine physical exercise 18.7Previous experience of an environmental problem 16.7Supporting my career 16.7Other 2.1

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in a socially beneficial action, were coupled with selective motives, such as theneed to gain knowledge or to come into contact with nature. Overall, participantsfavoured selective motives over primary motives.

Environmental knowledge

Several studies in the literature have investigated volunteers’ knowledge about envi-ronmental problems and other knowledge relating to the particular places wherevolunteer action takes place (Donald 1997). In our study, we chose to examine gen-eral environmental knowledge as an alternative factor. This choice was based on thefact that environmental knowledge is a variable that frequently appears in modelsattempting to identify factors influencing, directly or indirectly, pro-environmentalbehaviour (Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002).

Volunteers were first asked to concisely define four phenomena related to funda-mental environmental dimensions: water, air, soil and biodiversity. Such phenomenaare among the most common issues addressed by WWF’s conservation pro-grammes. In particular, they were asked to confirm whether given definitions of‘eutrophication’, ‘the greenhouse effect’, ‘composting’ and ‘bioaccumulation’ werecorrect or incorrect. The results of these questionnaires did not provide strong evi-dence that volunteers were adequately aware of these particular issues and processes(Table 5). Volunteers were fairly well acquainted with the phenomenon of eutrophi-cation (31 out of 48 volunteers; 64.6%), even though a notable proportion gaveerroneous answers or did not answer (35.4% wrong, ‘don’t know’ or ‘N/A’). Con-versely, the majority of volunteers (28 volunteers; 58.3%) gave incorrect definitionsof the greenhouse effect because they confused the greenhouse effect process withozone layer depletion. Several studies have previously revealed that people oftenmisunderstand cause–effect relationships with respect to these issues (e.g. Boyesand Stanisstreet 1997). Composting was correctly defined by the majority of volun-teers (26 volunteers; 54.2%), although a relatively high proportion either stated‘don’t know’ or didn’t answer at all. Bioaccumulation was a familiar phenomenonto many respondents (29 volunteers; 60.4%), although quite a few demonstratedthat they did not understand this concept. For example, nine volunteers believedthat bioaccumulation was related to carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere,four were not aware of the phenomenon and six did not respond.

After completing the first phase of the questionnaire, volunteers were asked toname sources of renewable energy. Renewable energy has been one of the mostimportant issues on the national environmental agenda in recent years due to thefact that Greece has a huge potential to utilise such sources (i.e. solar, wind). Eigh-teen volunteers (37.5%) could name one to two sources, 25 (52.1%) reported threeto four sources and only five volunteers (10.4%) named five sources. Wind andsolar energy were the two best-known sources: they were referred to by 85.4% and79.2% of the volunteers, respectively. Embedded knowledge about these two typesof renewable sources has been confirmed by several studies targeting various groups(Liarakou, Gavrilakis, and Flouri 2009). However, 56.3% of the volunteers namedhydraulic energy, 38.1% named geothermal energy, and only 20.8% noted that bio-mass was a renewable energy source.

During recent years, WWF-Hellas has consistently focused its programmes onthe sustainable development of protected areas. Volunteers were therefore also askedto state whether they understood the term ‘sustainable development’ and to give a

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short definition of this concept. Although a large majority (35 volunteers; 72.9%)stated that they knew this term, 13 volunteers (25%) had never heard of it. Lessthan one-third of the total participants could give a short definition encompassingthe main dimensions of sustainability. Content analysis of these responses revealeda nature-centred view of sustainability: 29 of the definitions included terms relatedto the natural environment, the most frequent being ‘natural resources’ ‘ecosystems’and ‘biodiversity’. Substantially fewer definitions (10) included references relatingto society and even fewer (6) relating to the economy.

Finally, volunteers were asked to express their opinion (by means of two differ-ent but non-sequential statements) on whether environmental knowledge is a criticalqualification for environmental action (Table 6). Of the volunteers, 31 (64.6%) sta-ted that they needed to improve their environmental knowledge in general (K1statement1). However, 21 volunteers (43.7%) believed that they had sufficientknowledge to take environmental action (K2 statement). This result indicates thatvolunteers are willing to undertake action even if they think that they need toincrease their level of environmental knowledge.

Previous experiences

Previous formative life experiences constitute a set of factors that influence volun-teers’ intentions to act (Chawla 1998b). Due to the study’s focus, we chose toinvestigate the role of volunteers’ previous educational experiences and their experi-ences with environmental organisations.

Table 5. Brief definition of four environmental phenomena/processes.

Phenomenon/process Correct definition Wrong definition Don’t know N/A Totalrf (%)

Eutrophication 64.6 16.7 10.4 8.3 100.0Greenhouse effect 37.5 58.3 2.1 2.1 100.0Composting 54.2 0.0 33.3 12.5 100.0Bioaccumulation 60.4 18.8 8.3 12.5 100.0

Table 6. Volunteers’ positions regarding the importance of environmental knowledge.

Statement Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Total

rf (%)

K1. I would like toimprove myenvironmentalknowledge level

2.1 14.6 18.7 43.8 20.8 100.0

K2. I have insufficientknowledge to takeenvironmental action

2.1 41.6 27.1 27.1 2.1 100.0

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Participants were asked to report the amount of education they had received.The results show that 29.2% of the respondents had graduated from high schooland were university students, 54.1% had earned a bachelor’s degree and 14.6% hadearned a master’s degree. The remaining 2.1% declined to answer. This findingindicates a highly educated group.

We then assessed the effects of EE on an individual’s decision to undertake vol-unteer action. One of the main goals of EE is to boost the ability of individuals toact with reference to environmental concerns (Jensen and Schnack 1997). We there-fore expected a close connection between volunteers’ willingness to act and EEexperiences.

In Greece, EE is mainly offered through school projects implemented bothinside and outside the school curriculum (Flogaiti 1998; Fermeli et al. 2008). Thereare also NGOs and other institutions (e.g. protected areas’ information centres, natu-ral history museums and aquariums) that implement environmental programmes astypes of non-formal EE (e.g. www.env-edu.gr). In teacher or professional education,young people studying in particular university departments (mainly pre-school andprimary education but also several departments of the sciences, i.e. environmentalstudies, biology, forestry and chemistry) also have the opportunity to participate inEE courses. Seminars for further EE are also occasionally organised by variousinstitutions, such as EE Centres (e.g. www.kpe.gr).

More than half of the volunteers (28 volunteers; 58.3%) had already participatedin EE; 33.3% in university courses, 27.1% in other institutions, 18.8% in school EEprojects and only 8.3% in further education seminars (12.5% didn’t respond). How-ever, participation in these courses and projects seems not to have particularly influ-enced respondents’ disposition to volunteer. In detail, among those who hadparticipated in such programmes, only a small percentage stated that either theirenvironmental sensitivity (28.6%) or their inclination to become involved in volun-tary action (35.7%) had been influenced by EE.

According to Chawla (1999) and Chawla and Cushing (2007), ‘participation inenvironmental organisations constitutes a significant life experience and a factor thatinfluences environmental action’. Thus, in the next phase, we investigated the previ-ous experience of volunteers in environmental organisations. First, volunteers werecalled upon to state whether they had already participated in organisations thatimplemented environmental activities. The responses indicated that 70.8% of themhad done so. Furthermore, they were asked to state whether they had previouslyparticipated in NGO voluntary action (social, environmental, etc.). Although themajority (27 volunteers; 56.3%) had not previously volunteered, a remarkable per-centage (21; 43.7%) had done so. Among those who had volunteered previously,76.2% had participated only in environmental NGO programmes, 9.5% had volun-teered only in social organisations, and the others had participated in both environ-mental and social organisations. Thus, among the participating environmentalvolunteers, a remarkable percentage (43.7%) tends to consistently participate in vol-untary action and particularly in environmental voluntary action.

Attitudes

According to Chawla and Cushing (2007), young people who have practiced activecitizenship are more likely to undertake action in volunteer groups. Furthermore,Jennings (2002) has argued that voluntarism cultivates a sense of civic identity. In

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this study, we attempted to examine the relationship between attitudes towards citi-zenship and environmental voluntary action. We explored a set of attitudes thatimplicitly or explicitly connect environmental voluntary action with participation ina democratic society.

The relationship between attitudes and environmental action varies in intensityand effect and depends on several sub-factors. For example, Gigliotti (1992, 1994)argued that those who strongly believe in technological solutions tend to be lesswilling to engage in environmental behaviours. One could argue that this positionwas partially validated in our study because only 16.7% of the volunteers believedthat solutions to environmental issues should be based in science and technology(Table 7, statement A1). However, a high proportion (43.7%) of the volunteers ‘nei-ther agreed nor disagreed’ with this position. This result implies that many respon-dents either did not want to express themselves explicitly or believed thattechnological solutions were desirable in some instances but not in others. Conse-quently, we cannot clearly interpret the position of the volunteers who participatedin this study.

We also focused on volunteers’ attitudes towards several critical elements of citi-zenship. The answers given to two relevant statements implied that the participantsperceived their voluntary actions as an important dimension of civil society(Table 8). In particular, most participants (58.3%) considered voluntary action to bea duty of responsible citizens, although a notable percentage (25%) neither agreednor disagreed with this position (statement A2). Fifty-two per cent of volunteersseemed to believe that volunteerism is needed regardless of the efforts of the gov-ernment (statement A3). This position implies a central role of citizenship in civilsociety and that civil society has an autonomous power, resulting in action that can-not be replaced by governmental or other forms of concentrated power(Neveu 2005). Almost half of the participants did not believe that legislation andpenalties would be the most effective way to deal with environmental problems,though 31.2% of the volunteers did not take a position (statement A4). Volunteers’responsibility to the environment was not limited to a restricted geographical area.Rather, a large percentage of participants (83.3%) stated that they had an interest inenvironmental problems that were beyond the geographic limits of their local com-munities (statement A5).

With respect to their overall feelings towards the future of environmental prob-lems, volunteers appeared pessimistic (Table 9). The results showed that 85.4%believed that environmental problems would be exacerbated in the coming years(statement A6), and a large percentage (64.6%) believed that discouraging

Table 7. Volunteers’ positions regarding the role of science and technology.

Statement Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Total

rf (%)

A1. The solutions toenvironmental issuesshould be based inscience andtechnology

10.4 29.2 43.7 14.6 2.1 100.0

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projections about environmental issues were not ‘scaremongering’, though 25% nei-ther agreed nor disagreed with statement A7.

Locus of control

The volunteers’ locus of control was the last internal factor that was examined. Thisfactor is an indication of an individual’s level of self-confidence and personalempowerment and represents an individual’s perception of whether he or she has

Table 9. Volunteers’ positions about environmental problems.

Statement Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Total

rf (%)

A6. I believe thatenvironmental problemswill worsen in the next10 years

0.0 4.2 10.4 56.2 29.2 100.0

A7. I believe that what issaid about theenvironment is simplyscaremongering

18.8 45.8 25.0 8.3 2.1 100.0

Table 8. Volunteers’ positions regarding environmental citizenship.

Statement Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Total

rf (%)

A2. I participate in theorganisation’s voluntaryactions because Ibelieve this is a duty ofresponsible citizens

0.0 16.7 25.0 20.8 37.5 100.0

A3. Volunteerism isneeded regardless of theefforts of thegovernment

4.2 27.1 16.7 43.7 8.3 100.0

A4. The enactment ofstrict legislation and theimposition of penaltieswould be the mosteffective way to dealwith environmentalproblems

8.3 39.6 31.2 14.6 6.3 100.0

A5. It is difficult for meto take an interest inenvironmental problemswhich do not concernmy local community

20.8 62.5 10.4 6.3 0.0 100.0

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the ability to bring about change through his or her behaviour (Hungerford andVolk 1990; Newhouse 1991). This factor is of great importance, especially in envi-ronmental action, because environmental issues are both complex and encompass awide (i.e. global) range. People with external locus of control sometimes feel unableto manage such issues. People with a high internal locus of control, however, aremore likely to undertake action. The findings are divided into two levels: the first‘narrow-scale’ locus represents the volunteer’s locus of control regarding participa-tion in the WWF-Hellas programme. The second ‘wide-scale’ locus concerns thevolunteer’s feelings about his/her ability to bring about effective action directedtoward the prevention of environmental problems and restoration of the environ-ment.

Table 10 summarises the findings for the first dimension, i.e. regarding their par-ticipation in WWF-Hellas action. Participants seem to have a high internal locus ofcontrol because they believe that they can influence the progress of the programmesin which they volunteer. In detail, the majority of volunteers (27 volunteers; 56.2%)stated that they would not prefer to participate in action planned and led exclusivelyby an expert over action that integrated participants’ ideas (statement L2). WWF-Hellas appears to have achieved the goal of equal participation between volunteersand leaders: the majority of volunteers (36 volunteers; 75%) declared that they feltthemselves to be equal members in the action undertaken and that their opinionshad been taken seriously in relevant decisions (statement L1).

The results of the assessment of volunteers’ ‘wide-scale’ locus of control arepresented in Table 11. Participants were shown three statements that gauged theirlocus of control regarding the complexity of environmental issues, economic inter-ests and the stimulation of local communities’ participation. Volunteers were firstasked to state whether they felt they were able to make a difference in environmen-tal issues. The complexity of environmental issues did not seem to prevent volun-teers from participating in environmental action: 72.9% believed that these issueswere not so complicated as to discourage them from undertaking personal actionand making a difference (statement L3).

Table 10. Volunteers’ positions regarding their participation in WWF-Hellas actions.

Statement Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Total

rf (%)

L1. I feel myself to beequal members in theaction undertaken andmy opinions had beentaken seriously inrelevant decisions

0.0 2.1 22.9 47.9 27.1 100.0

L2. I prefer to participatein actions planned andled exclusively by anexpert over actions thatintegrate participants’ideas

16.6 39.6 22.9 16.7 4.2 100.0

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Compared to their relatively high level of locus of control with regard to thecomplexity of environmental issues, volunteers were less optimistic about the effec-tiveness of citizen action against economic factors and other powerful interests (e.g.a multinational corporation or cartel exploiting forest resources) that harm the envi-ronment. Volunteers were equally divided between those who believed that suchpowerful factors could supersede citizen action and those who disagreed (statementL4).

However, 70.9% of the volunteers believed that their voluntary action couldstimulate local communities to actively participate in environmental protection(statement L5). This finding demonstrates a high internal locus of control. In partic-ular, participants believed that voluntary actions could have multiple effects on localcommunities because their actions could become a paradigm able to activate localsin favour of environmental issues.

Conclusions

Environmental volunteerism offers an interesting research field for investigatingenvironmental action. This paper explores the factors influencing a group of youngpeople (ages 18–35) to participate in the voluntary environmental actions ofWWF-Hellas. Given that little research concerning environmental volunteers hasbeen conducted in Greece, this study contributes to a better understanding of thisgroup.

Table 11. Volunteers’ positions regarding their ability to make a difference.

Statement Stronglydisagree

Disagree Neither agreenor disagree

Agree Stronglyagree

Total

rf (%)

L3. Environmentalissues are socomplicated that mypersonal action cannotmake a difference

29.2 43.7 22.9 4.2 0.0 100.0

L4. Economic factorsand other powerfulinterests (i.e. amultinationalcorporation or cartel)can supersede citizenenvironmental action

10.4 33.3 12.6 33.3 10.4 100.0

L5. I believe that myvoluntary action canstimulate the localcommunity to activelyparticipate inenvironmentalprotection

0.0 8.3 20.8 45.9 25.0 100.0

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Our study includes a number of limitations that affect the generalisability of ourresults. One limitation relates to sampling, namely, that 48 participants is arelatively small sample, even though this group consisted of the total number ofWWF-Hellas volunteers working in summer camps during 2005. These volunteersparticipated in a particular kind of voluntary action in a protected area for twoweeks, during which time they were away from their homes. There are, however,other types of environmental voluntary action (for example, in urban and/ordegraded sites) that may be associated with different motivational and other factors.The findings are, therefore, not representative of the wider sector of environmentalvolunteers. Finally, this study examined numerous factors, which precluded the pos-sibility of extensive, in-depth investigation of each one. It provides, however, anoverview of the factors that influence involvement in environmental voluntaryaction.

Despite these limitations, our findings can contribute to the discussion aboutenvironmental action and could have implications for NGOs and EE. The findingscould assist managers in NGOs to organise programmes that meet the needs of vol-unteers and foster environmental action as it is defined in the Introduction. Institu-tions engaged in EE could also use these findings to provide people with the propercapabilities to become consciously involved in voluntary environmental action.

Several external factors that could influence individuals’ environmental action inenvironmental NGOs have been revealed. The environmental issues NGOs select toaddress in their voluntary programmes seem to be a critical factor in recruiting vol-unteers. Thus, NGOs should make an effort to communicate to potential volunteersthe importance of the issues addressed. During the years leading up to 2005, forinstance, WWF-Hellas had featured the value of protected areas in their informationcampaigns. To ensure continuity of participation, NGOs should provide well-organ-ised action that trains participants and has immediate and visible results. These fac-tors have been also stressed in other studies of environmental volunteers (Donald1997; Ryan, Kaplan, and Grese 2001; Bruyere and Rappe 2007). In the presentstudy, however, the findings also suggest that a favourable reputation of a particularNGO in the areas of transparent economic management, scientific credibility andeffectiveness are crucial factors for engaging volunteers in environmental actions.

Volunteers’ motivations play a dominant role in the internal factors that lead totheir participation in volunteer action. The present study on Greek environmentalvolunteers suggests that a combination of diverse motives influences volunteering.This result confirms findings in the literature concerning volunteers in general(Clary et al. 1998). In contrast to other studies (Donald 1997; Ryan, Kaplan, andGrese 2001), our results converge with the findings of Campbell and Smith (2005)and Bruyere and Rappe (2007) in suggesting that selective (or extrinsic) motivespredominate over primary (or intrinsic) motives. These motives should not beunderestimated by NGOs when planning and implementing voluntary action.

Another interesting finding of this study is the relative importance of motives.The two most frequently cited motives, i.e. ‘learning’ and ‘direct contact with nat-ure’, have particular implications for volunteer stewardship programmes. ‘Learning’appears as an important motive in several studies (Ryan, Kaplan, and Grese 2001).In the present study, however, it has been ranked first. The high ranking of thismotive is not surprising in light of the volunteers’ high educational levels. Inaddition, environmental issues are multidimensional, and discontinuities and anunexpected combination of processes can emerge any time. There are, therefore,

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many uncertainties that could lead to various interpretations and social responses. Ifvolunteers are to deal with such issues, they need to be involved in a lifelong andopen learning process. NGOs should, therefore, provide learning opportunities thatrelate to the local environment and the issues being addressed and explain the envi-ronmental significance of each activity. Furthermore, it is important for project lead-ers to foster action-oriented knowledge, so that volunteers are able to extend theknowledge that they acquire beyond the borders of volunteer sites.

That ‘direct contact with nature’ was the second most frequently stated motivewas also an interesting result. This outcome adds support to the argument ofBruyere and Rappe (2007) that environmental volunteerism provides an opportunityto simply be in nature, in a setting with open spaces and natural sounds. In ourstudy, the prevalence of this motive was probably associated with the locality ofmost of the volunteers’ permanent residences. The majority of them lived in urbanregions, and many of them lived in Athens, a city with very limited green space.This finding has important implications for NGOs as they plan future environmentalaction. When recruiting volunteers, even for actions within urban settings, organisa-tions could occasionally provide opportunities for outdoor experiences.

This study also addressed the relationship between general environmental knowl-edge and action. According to Kollmuss and Agyeman (2002), most researchersagree that only a small fraction of pro-environmental behaviour can be directlylinked to environmental knowledge. This is why models indicating a direct and cau-sal link between knowledge and behaviour are believed to be oversimplifying a com-plex relationship that is also affected by many other factors (Heimlich and Ardoin2008). Our findings do not indicate that this group of active volunteers was particu-larly knowledgeable about environmental concepts and issues. It is also interestingthat participants appeared to disconnect knowledge from their intention to act.Although volunteers accepted that their environmental knowledge level should beimproved, they did not regard this fact as an obstacle to undertaking voluntary envi-ronmental action. However, their desire to widen their knowledge level highlightsonce again the role of environmental NGOs as an important arena in which volun-teers can gain environmental knowledge and learn environmental action skills.

With respect to previous experiences, level of education appears to be an influ-ential factor for volunteers. Our study provides evidence for what has already beenproven by former research (Donald 1997; Martinez and McMullin 2004; Campbelland Smith 2005); namely, that highly educated people are more likely to becomeinvolved in voluntary environmental action. In contrast, the role of EE in Greece inencouraging people to become involved in such actions is questionable. Only a fewvolunteers believed that their participation in EE had influenced their environmentalsensitivity or their intention to undertake voluntary action. This finding is probablyrelated to other factors, such as the goals addressed, the content and the learningapproach of these programmes, which is outside the scope of the present study. Pre-vious experiences with environmental NGOs seem, however, to be an influentialfactor in volunteers’ willingness to undertake environmental action. Although thisfinding could be the result of many factors relating to personality traits and internalmotivators, it supports Chawla’s (1999) argument that participation in environmentaland outdoor organisations constitutes an important source of environmental commit-ment.

The final research question dealt with attitudes towards citizenship and locusof control. We expected to find that individuals who undertake voluntary

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environmental action would have positive attitudes towards active participation anda high internal locus of control. This hypothesis was moderately confirmed. Thereare several conceptual frameworks of citizenship that embody different beliefsregarding the role of the citizen (Schusler et al. 2009). In this study, there is evi-dence that volunteers consider voluntary participation to be the responsibility ofevery citizen. Our results indicated a preference for finding solutions to environ-mental issues that are based on the participation of citizens and on consensus ratherthan on strict legislative measures and penalties. Furthermore, participants were con-vinced that their environmental concern should not be limited to their own commu-nities. However, there is strong evidence that volunteers anticipate a deterioration ofthe environment, implying a pessimistic view that probably limits the expected posi-tive effects of citizenship.

With respect to locus of control, a remarkable proportion of volunteers did notwish to participate in prescribed and pre-ordained voluntary activities when theywere planned by experts. WWF-Hellas seems to have fulfilled this expectationbecause the participants were satisfied with their participation in the decision-making procedures related to the programmes’ implementation. Although volunteerswere divided about whether economic interests could supersede individual action,they generally felt able to contribute to the solution of environmental issues, regard-less of their complexity. They also felt that they were effective at motivating localcommunities to undertake action based on their own modelling of environmentalcommitment. What emerged from this study was the importance of the role ofNGO managers in ensuring that organisational and operational frameworks reinforcevolunteers’ loci of control. Within this context, volunteers’ expectations, ideas andproposals should be integrated into the planning and implementation of voluntaryactions. The planned actions should have tangible results because as Christie (2004)has suggested, there is a link between the effectiveness of volunteers’ work andtheir personal empowerment.

In conclusion, a gap between volunteers’ inclination to participate in voluntaryenvironmental actions and their certainty about the overall effectiveness of suchactions has been found. Although volunteers are well disposed towards action,believe in the power of citizenship and generally express a sufficient internal locusof control, they are not convinced that their actions will bring about a remarkableeffect on the environment. Furthermore, throughout this study, the importance ofthe educational dimension of NGOs’ voluntary actions became evident. This refersto volunteers’ acquisition of knowledge and skills, the cultivation of active partici-pation in planning activities and decision-making, the encouragement to undertakeaction and the overall reinforcement of locus of control.

This study is a first step towards outlining a coherent set of factors that influ-ence environmental voluntary action. Although the importance of some factors hasbeen clearly confirmed, others need further validation. Further research should focuson particular factors that previous studies on environmental volunteers have notshed light on. The contribution of EE in fostering environmental voluntary actionand volunteers’ concepts of citizenship constitute interesting fields of research thatshould be given some attention.

In Greece, such research should include a wider sample of environmental volun-teers to produce results that can be generalised. Future studies could also incorpo-rate an initial assessment of external and internal factors motivating volunteeraction and a follow-up survey on the same factors after the completion of a

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volunteer action. The findings of such studies would contribute to a better under-standing of how these factors change during the volunteers’ experiences. The use ofqualitative and quantitative methods would enable an in-depth approach to analysis.

Note1. It should be mentioned that all statements were followed by a five-point rating scale. The

numbers presented in the results represent the summaries of either ‘agrees’ and ‘stronglyagrees’ or ‘disagrees’ and ‘strongly disagrees’.

Notes on contributorsGeorgia Liarakou is an assistant professor in the Department of Primary Education of theUniversity of the Aegean in Greece. Her teaching focus is the theory and practice ofenvironmental education and education for sustainable development. Her research hasfocused on the investigation of teachers’, students’ and pupils’ perceptions of severalconcepts and processes regarding environmental education.

Eleni Kostelou, MSc, is a kindergarten teacher in Greece. While a postgraduate inenvironmental education in the Department of Pre-School Education and Educational Designof the University of the Aegean, she worked on an investigation of the profiles ofenvironmental volunteers under the supervision of Georgia Liarakou.

Costas Gavrilakis, PhD, is a researcher at the University of the Aegean. He studiedenvironmental studies before receiving his MSc in environmental policy and managementand PhD in environmental education. His research interests include EE programme planningand the use of information and communication technologies in EE. Together with GeorgiaLiarakou, he is responsible for the content of the Greek portal of EE material, www.env-edu.gr.

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