EcoTypes: Exploring Environmental Ideas

What is your EcoType?

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EcoTypes

Small is Beautiful | Ecoscience | Ecospirituality
Indigenous Justice | Science for Humanity
Comparison | Going Deeper

As you read in the overview, EcoTypes are statistical patterns in theme scores among those who completed the survey. EcoTypes were determined by k-means cluster analysis of the theme scores of over 2500 respondents. Cluster analysis looks for the biggest similarities among respondents. These five EcoTypes thus represent the most common patterns in Place, Knowledge, and/or Action. You can view a dynamic graph of these 2500+ data points as summarized via five EcoTypes!

There are five EcoTypes below, in order of prevalence among respondents: Small is Beautiful, Ecoscience, Ecospirituality, Indigenous Justice, and Science for Humanity. The example diagram below suggests how one of these EcoTypes, Indigenous Justice, mixes human Place, old Knowledge, and big Action.

Indigenous Justice, as a combination of nonhuman Place, old Knowledge, and big Action.

Most EcoTypes are distinctive only in terms of one or two themes, meaning they have some theme characteristics that don't differ markedly from other EcoTypes. These theme characteristics are absent below. It's worth considering how each EcoType, then, is marked by absences (whether of themes or theme poles), and how this might offer opportunities for reflection and critique. 

Small is Beautiful

  • Proportion: 35.9%
  • Place: N/A
  • Knowledge: N/A
  • Action: Small
The solution lies in the local

The most prevalent EcoType (particularly among male/nonwhite respondents), Small is Beautiful expresses a longstanding sentiment among environmentalists who distrust large-scale processes and solutions, and prefer local approaches to address environmental issues. Small is Beautiful respondents did not differ much from other respondents in their Place and Knowledge theme scores; this EcoType is defined solely by its small Action inclination.

Ecoscience

  • Proportion: 17.9%
  • Place: Nonhuman
  • Knowledge: New
  • Action: N/A
Saving nature by following science

Ecoscience, found particularly among white respondents, joins a strong preference for nonhuman Place with an equally strong preference for new Knowledge. Here, for example, might be those who support conservation biology to preserve nonhuman species. Ecoscience does not display any distinctive Action characteristics.

Ecospirituality

  • Proportion: 16.6%
  • Place: Nonhuman
  • Knowledge: Old
  • Action: N/A
Honoring the sacredness of nature

Similar to Ecoscience, Ecospirituality, found especially among white/female respondents, includes a strong preference for nonhuman Place, but eschews science in favor of old Knowledge emanating, for example, from spiritual and wisdom traditions. Like Ecoscience, Ecospirituality is not unique relative to all responses in terms of Action.

Indigenous Justice

  • Proportion: 16.0%
  • Place: Human
  • Knowledge: Old
  • Action: Big
Fighting Western systems of oppression

As contrasted with Small is Beautiful, Indigenous Justice, found especially among female or other gender identity, embraces big Action, much along the lines of social justice movements, and as such also embraces human Place in focusing on inequities among people. Yet Indigenous Justice grounds big Action and human Place in old Knowledge, advocating Indigenous and other ancient traditions. The Action preference of Indigenous Justice is bigger than all other EcoTypes.

Science for Humanity

  • Proportion: 13.7%
  • Place: Human
  • Knowledge: New
  • Action: N/A
Science-based policy in service of people

Science for Humanity, particularly found among male gender identities, joins new Knowledge and human Place. Here, for example, might be those who advocate the application of climate science to avert human disasters in future. Though not as big as Indigenous Justice, Science for Humanity also tends toward big Action.

Five EcoTypes Compared

Since these EcoTypes were determined by cluster analysis, they occupy distinctive locations in a three-dimensional space defined by Place, Knowledge, and Action theme poles. Below is a table summarizing the standardized theme centroid for each EcoType: scores near 0 are near the mean of all responses, whereas negative/positive scores tend toward the left/right poles of each theme. (See Survey FAQ for elaboration of standardized scores, and here for a 3D graph of all standardized theme scores.)

EcoTypePlaceKnowledgeAction
Small is Beautiful-0.01-0.16-0.90
Ecoscience-0.800.980.57
Ecospirituality-0.93-0.890.42
Indigenous Justice0.97-0.740.98
Science for Humanity1.041.08-0.04
K-means cluster analysis results for five EcoTypes (N = 2580), showing standardized theme centroid score.

The below diagrams compare the above features of these EcoTypes, first generalized along the Place and Knowledge axes, then along the Action axis.

Five EcoTypes compared in terms of Place and Knowledge. Each EcoType occupies its own Place/Knowledge sector! [Small is Beautiful is roughly toward the middle of Place/Knowledge, as its scores are not strongly positive or negative.]
Five EcoTypes clusters compared in terms of small vs. big Action. Many EcoTypes lean toward big Action, with the decided exception of Small is Beautiful. Science for Humanity is near the middle. The strongest endorsement of big Action is found in Indigenous Justice.

Going Deeper

Going Deeper With EcoTypes

You learned above that EcoTypes are based on particular combinations of Place, Knowledge, and/or Action. But this suggests what is absent (both themes and theme poles) in each EcoType.

Choose one EcoType above, and offer a critique based on its absences: the themes or theme poles it does not include.

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FAQ Survey Components