Youth and the environment: An evaluation of the Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps program

This thesis evaluates the 1998 NSYCC Regular Summer Program of the Nova Scotia Youth Conservation Corps (NSYCC) program, which provides environmental summer employment to youth aged 17 to 24. This program was evaluated in terms of its effects on the youth particularly in terms of its goals to improve environmental knowledge, environmental awareness, environmental effectiveness, environmental behaviour as well as leadership, teamwork and presentations skills. These goals were evaluated using pre-test and post-test questionnaires and phone interviews.;The questionnaires and phone interviews were developed using concepts from environmental psychology research. Environmental psychology examines environmental attitudes, knowledge and behaviour as well as the types of people who tend to be more environmentally-concerned.;Results from these questionnaires and interviews indicated that the NSYCC Regular Summer Program was successful in achieving its goals. Environmental knowledge and presentation skiffs statistically improved. The participants thought that the best aspects of the program were that it allowed them to help their community, help the environment, and to gain environmental knowledge. In addition, they thought that it was beneficial that the program focused on youth employment.;There were a few areas of the program that the youth thought could be unproved. The main areas that the participants thought could be improved were the training camps and/or the debriefing sessions. Other areas of suggested improvement included better communication and organization on the part of the NSYCC support staff and community partners.;Based on these results from the questionnaires and interviews, recommendations were provided to improve the program.