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NotesESS HLTopic 1.1Environmental value systems
Back to ESS HL Topics
1.1.73 min read

Environmental value systems (ESS HL)

IB Environmental Systems and Societies • Unit 1

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Contents

  • Environmental value systems at Higher Level
  • What an environmental value system is
  • Inputs
  • Outputs
  • Exam-style question
Environmental value systems at Higher Level: At HL, use the model to explain change: which input shifted, and which outputs followed.

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  • Rank the inputs by how much they shaped the view.
  • Trace an output back to the input behind it.

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A farmer's view, traced: Leila farms in a valley hit by three dry years. She now backs a limit on how much water farms can take.

Her environmental value system (EVS) models how that view formed: what fed into her perspective, and what it now produces.

Inputs

  • Information, teaching, beliefs

Perspective

  • Water must be shared and saved

Outputs

  • Judgements, positions, choices, actions

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Leila's inputs:

Media

  • Reports of wells running dry across the region.

Education

  • A course on drip irrigation from the farmers' union.

Worldviews

  • Her community's belief that land is held for the next generation.
Weigh them: At HL, say which input mattered most. For Leila, three dry years of lived experience outweigh the rest.

What her perspective produces:

1

Judgement

Taking water freely will ruin the valley.

2

Position

She backs a limit on water use.

3

Choice

She switches to drip irrigation.

4

Action

She joins the committee that sets the limits.

Outputs feed back: Her action shapes others: neighbours who see her harvest survive may change their own inputs and views.

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How this comes up: Paper 2 part (a) [4], or picking inputs and outputs out of a Paper 1 source.
IB-style questionOutline[4 marks]

Outline the inputs and outputs of the environmental value system of a named person or group.

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The trap: Describing the drought instead of Leila's EVS. Every point should be an input to, or an output from, her perspective.

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the term “environmental value system (EVS)”. [2 marks]

Key Terms

algae
tiny plants that live in water; too much algae can make water unhealthy
biodiversity
the variety of different living things in an ecosystem
ecosystem
a community of plants, animals, and their environment
Environmental value system (EVS)
A type of worldview that explains how people see the environment and why they make certain decisions.
habitat
the natural home of a plant or animal
indigenous community
the original people of an area who have lived there for generations
Input (EVS)
Anything from outside, like culture, science, or experience, that shapes how a person thinks about the environment.
Output (EVS)
The environmental decisions a person makes after thinking about an issue.
Process (EVS)
How a person uses their beliefs, values, emotions, and reasoning to make environmental decisions.
reservoir
a large man-made lake created by building a dam
sacred land
land that is spiritually or culturally very important to a group of people
sediment
tiny pieces of sand, soil, or rock carried by water

Related ESS HL Topics

Continue learning with these related topics from the same unit:

1.1.1Perspectives
1.1.2What shapes a perspective
1.1.3Values
1.1.4Where values show
View all ESS HL topics

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1.1.6Worldviews
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Technocentric, anthropocentric and ecocentric1.1.8

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