THE NOTION OF THE ECOLOGICAL CULTURE OF MODERN YOUNG PEOPLE

The relevance of the issue selected for the study is associated directly with the necessity to solve the environmental problems of the modern civilization. The efficiency of this activity depends broadly on the ecological culture formation. Special attention is paid to the young people. The value system and behavioral attitudes of this social community determine considerably the possibilities for the ecological crisis overcoming. The paper specifies the theoretical approaches to the study of the ecological culture, analyzes three versions of anthropocentric approach to the study of the ecological culture. When analyzing, the author identifies that the interpretation of the ecological culture as the nature protection is incorrect. The paper stresses the necessity to form the responsible attitude of the society and individuals to nature. Within this approach, the content of the ecological culture is combined with the value system.

In the paper, the author proves the methodological principles of the social research to study the ecological culture of the young people. The object of the study is the students-ecologists, engineering students, and the students-humanists. The author determines the specificity of the students’ visions of the ecological culture depending on the areas of study. In the result of the analysis, the author found out the differences between the attitudes of the students to the solution of the environmental problems, the purpose of the environmental awareness, and the essence of the ecological culture. It is determined that the value system aimed at the social control and sustainable development of the society often acts as the basis of the ecological culture of the students-ecologists. It is displayed that the students of other professional fields see in the ecological culture the instrument to protect the health of current and future generations. The author makes a conclusion that the change from the anthropocentric model to the ecocentric model of the ecological culture takes place in the young people’s consciousness. It means that the concept of nature as the complex system requiring the responsible attitude is being formed in the consciousness of young people.