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Using Conversations to Enhance Pro-environmental Practices in High-Rise Public Housing: A Comparative Study Between Mexico and Australia

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Book cover Water Quality Management

Part of the book series: Water Science and Technology Library ((WSTL,volume 79))

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Abstract

Environmental degradation around the world has been strongly echoed by the media and governments in Western societies. Therefore, environmental education has become such a popular topic that the majority of people these days recognize the environment as something that should be preserved. This trend is pushing us to integrate messages about environmental protection into our daily conversations and practices. In this work, a cross-context ethnographic study was undertaken in the Collingwood high-rise public housing site in Melbourne, Australia, and Tlatelolco high-rise public housing site in Mexico City, Mexico. Positioning theory was utilized as the theoretical framework of analysis in order to understand how conversations were constructed through moral positions (positioning acts) within the participants’ socio-physical context. The data analysed revealed that some residents used their social networks to enhance the fostering of pro-environmental practices and increase awareness of the wise consumption of natural resources and the care for surrounding gardens and parklands. The results showed that some residents were predisposed to semi-actively care for the built and natural environments, that is, usually always under their own terms, resources and capabilities, and by using their social networks to influence others.

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Correspondence to A. O. Aldape-Garcia .

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Aldape-Garcia, A.O. (2018). Using Conversations to Enhance Pro-environmental Practices in High-Rise Public Housing: A Comparative Study Between Mexico and Australia. In: Singh, V., Yadav, S., Yadava, R. (eds) Water Quality Management. Water Science and Technology Library, vol 79. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-5795-3_30

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