The Emergence of Ecological Consciousness: A Transformative Journey
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Overall, the study is clear and compelling and makes a unique contribution to understanding the emergence of ecological consciousness. There are two areas of concern. First, assuming nature connectedness is the vital component in the emergence of ecological consciousness, I would like to hear more about what the literature says regarding how/why nature connectedness develops for certain individuals and not for others. Also, is there a certain depth of nature connectedness necessary for an individual to engage in meaning-focused approaches to the ecological crisis? More needs to be said about this. Additionally, as a central concept in the paper, nature connectedness and the scale used to assess it in the study participants require further unpacking. Despite your thorough explanation and anticipation of potential critiques, I am not sure the Hero's Journey is the best narrative framework to use to describe the emergence of ecological consciousness. The primary concern is that this narrative tends to reify anthropocentrism and an individualistic orientation rather than an ecological orientation.
Comments on the Quality of the English Language
There are some minor errors throughout the paper that could be easily corrected through closer proofreading (for example, in lines 860-861 and lines 872-873). Otherwise, the paper is clearly written and sensibly organized.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
We would like to thank you for your recommendations to improve our manuscripts. Below you see each of your comments and where in the manuscript we have made the requested changes. The changes have been highlighted in the resubmitted manuscript.
Thank you again for your contribution.
Comment 1: First, assuming nature connectedness is the vital component in the emergence of ecological consciousness, I would like to hear more about what the literature says regarding how/why nature connectedness develops for certain individuals and not for others. 
Response: This point has been addressed in lines 235-246
Comment 2: Also, is there a certain depth of nature connectedness necessary for an individual to engage in meaning-focused approaches to the ecological crisis? More needs to be said about this. 
Response: This point has been addressed in lines 861-871
Comment 3: Additionally, as a central concept in the paper, nature connectedness and the scale used to assess it in the study participants require further unpacking.
Response: This point has been addressed in lines 538-550
Comment 4: Despite your thorough explanation and anticipation of potential critiques, I am not sure the Hero's Journey is the best narrative framework to use to describe the emergence of ecological consciousness.  The primary concern is that this narrative tends to reify anthropocentrism and an individualistic orientation rather than an ecological orientation. 
Response: This point has been addressed in 625-655
Comment 5: There are some minor errors throughout the paper that could be easily corrected through closer proofreading (for example, in lines 860-861 and lines 872-873). Otherwise, the paper is clearly written and sensibly organized. 
Response: Errors corrected.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for Authors
Overall, a very well-written and researched article which brings novel and innovative perspectives to the discussion on climate change, youth mental health and nature connectedness.
ll.25: the introduction could already briefly cover the role of social media/technology in generating climate change awareness/anxiety and also needs to define more clearly what is meant by
ll.42: grief is sometimes associated with anxiety, see book by Bidwell Smith (2018): ‘Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief’
ll.58/59: “from the moment they become aware of the global crisis” – how do you plan to measure this? And how old are the young people included in the same, as they might already become aware as children without being able to pinpoint the exact moment
ll.68: Say more about the sample composition in terms of intersectionality
ll.184: Can you give an example of how young people’s capacity to function was impacted?
ll.197/8: How are ‘clinical levels of eco-anxiety’ defined?
ll.215: Can you explain how you came up with the four categories: nature connectedness, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and meaning-focused coping? It is a bit unclear how nature connectedness is separate from the other three. Would it be possible to integrate nature connected across the three other categories?
ll.257: Can you explain what you mean by “they manipulated undergraduate students’ perceptions of their relationship with nature”? How was this done?
ll.284: I suggest including also using spiritual coping strategies to avoid/counteract burnout (see Initiatives such as Plum Village by Thich Nhat Han) in one of the categories, possibly emotion-or meaning-focused
ll.295: The section on emotion-focused coping is a little short and could cite other authors to discuss strategies beyond emotional distancing. I also suggest engaging with literature on validating emotions in climate change education (see Verlie 2021, Learning to live with climate change, Boerner 2023: Emotions Matter)
ll.325: Can you provide examples of meaning-focused strategies, as it is not clear what these are? You could also discuss a link to spirituality here (see above comment)
ll.386: This contradicts the above, where it is stated that this may also lead to emotional distancing rather than action
ll.418: The method’s section needs to include a section on the authors’ positionality
ll.518 figure 1: I wonder if you could also relate this to the different phases/stages of grief, i.e., including denial, depression, anger, ultimately leading to acceptance. Figure 1 also seems a little too linear to me, and I was wondering whether there could be a more cyclic representation. Also, nature connectedness as an influencing factor also needs to be part of coping & changing and living with the climate crisis?
ll.598: it would be relevant to discuss what you name environmental awakening in relation to spiritual awakening, as the processes described as similar (also with regard to the hero’s journey, the dark night of the soul etc.( and often, a spiritual awakening goes hand in hand with an enhanced ecological consciousness as a result of the experience of oneness/interconnectedness/unity consciousness. Vice versa, eco-anxiety/profound climate grief might also trigger a spiritual awakening at the same time. You might want to discuss the interrelationship of spiritual/ecological awakening/consciousness. Also check, for instance, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac: The Future We Choose.
Ll. 641: What about those youth who grow up disconnected from ‘nature’?
ll. 698/704: How do you differentiate awareness from awakening?
Ll/ 762: here you can refer again to strategies to validate/engage with emotions (Verlie 2021, Boerner 2023), etc.
ll.710 ff.: It would also be important to discuss the concept of ‘critical hope’ beyond the focus on anxiety
ll.851: again, I suggest more clearly framing this in relation to spirituality/spiritual awakening, in terms of feelings of interconnectedness and a higher consciousness
ll.851: sounds like they are not committed to saving the world before, please rephrase
ll.855: assumes a colonial, Western worldview perceiving ourselves on top of the pyramid. You might want to be more critical (throughout the article) and also discuss these views in the light of (postcolonialism) and Canadian settler mentality.
Add a table on how Acts 1-3 relate to the presented data and experiences of Canadian youth, as the section on the 3 acts seems a bit disconnected from the data.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
We would like to thank you for your recommendations to improve our manuscripts. Below you see each of your comments and where in the manuscript we have made the requested changes. The changes have been highlighted in the resubmitted manuscript.
Thank you again for your contribution.
Comment 1: ll.25: the introduction could already briefly cover the role of social media/technology in generating climate change awareness/anxiety and also needs to define more clearly what is meant by.
Response: This topic is addressed in section 1.4
Comment 2: ll.42: grief is sometimes associated with anxiety, see book by  Bidwell Smith (2018): ‘Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief’
Response: Grief had already been acknowledged, but we did add Smith’s book as a citation and in the reference list
Comment 3: ll.58/59: “from the moment they become aware of the global crisis” – how do you plan to measure this? And how old are the young people included in the same, as they might already become aware as children, without being able to pinpoint the exact moment.
Response: The questions this reviewer raises are in large part the reason that we do not know much about these processes. The gold standard for answering these questions is longitudinal designs and this field is essentially lacking in that respect. But we do appreciate the comment, and we changed the language to avoid giving the impression that learning about climate change only takes place as a discrete moment in time, but it can also manifest as a collection of separate events and experiences that then culminate in awareness.
Comment 4: ll.68: Say more about the sample composition in terms of intersectionality.
Response: Sample composition is described in 428-432 in terms of gender. Full sample description for other variables relevant to intersectionality can be found in Maggi et al. 2023. We added this information on 432. However, we did not include participant demographics (except for gender) in the models because of the complexity of the analysis with structural equation modelling.
Comment 5: ll.184: Can you give an example of how young people’s capacity to function was impacted?
Response: Clayton & Karazsia’s functional impairment sub-scale measures the ability to carry out daily tasks. We changed the language to better reflect this concept (see 184-185)
Comment 6: ll.197/8: How are ‘clinical levels of eco-anxiety’ defined?
Response: Explanation added on 199-200
Comment 7: ll.215: Can you explain how you came up with the four categories: nature connectedness, problem-focused coping, emotion-focused coping, and meaning-focused coping? It is a bit unclear how nature connectedness is separate from the other three. Would it be possible to integrate nature connected across the three other categories?
Response: We did not come up with these categories, but rather, in this section, we are presenting how the literature in this field talks about these different coping strategies. Typically, these four constructs are measured by separate scales, which is one of the problems we hoped to address with this study.
Comment 8: ll.257: Can you explain what you mean by “they manipulated undergraduate students’ perceptions of their relationship with nature”? How was this done?
Response: This point has been addressed in lines 281-297
Comment 9: ll.284: I suggest including also using spiritual coping strategies to avoid/counteract burnout (see Initiatives such as Plum Village by Thich Nhat Han) in one of the categories, possibly emotion-or meaning-focused.
Response: Spirituality plays a very important role in coping; however, it is not a dimension that defines problem-focused coping. This is why it is not discussed in this context.
Comment 10: ll.295: The section on emotion-focused coping is a little short and could cite other authors to discuss strategies beyond emotional distancing. I also suggest engaging with literature on validating emotions in climate change education (see Verlie 2021, Learning to live with climate change, Boerner 2023: Emotions Matter)
Response: Validating emotions is fundamental for coping and it is more commonly discussed in the context of meaning-focused coping. Lazarus and Folkman's definition of emotion-focused coping centres primarily around the concept of distancing. Given that we use the measure derived from this theory, we did not deviate from their concept of emotion-focused coping.
Comment 11: ll.325: Can you provide examples of meaning-focused strategies, as it is not clear what these are. You could also discuss a link to spirituality here (see above comment)
Response: Examples are provided on 327-330. We have added spiritual practices to the list
Comment 12: ll.386: This contradicts the above, where it is stated that this may also lead to emotional distancing rather than action.
Response: Thanks for pointing that out. The text has been changed to allow for distancing on 387
Comment 13: ll.418: the method’s section needs to include a section on authors’ positionality
Response: Positionality statements have been added (see 420-XXX)
Comment 14: ll.518 figure  1: I wonder if you could also relate this to the different phases/stages of grief, i.e., including denial, depression, anger, ultimately leading to acceptance. Figure 1 also seems a little too linear to me and I was wondering whether there could be a more cyclic representation. Also, nature connectedness as an influencing factor also needs to be part of coping & changing and living with the climate crisis?
Response: Figure 1 is an adaptation of Pikhala’s process model of eco-anxiety, so we need to be true to the original model. We also agree that it implies a linearity that may not be there, and we hope to have addressed this point by proposing a new visual representation of the process in Figure 3
Comment 15: ll.598: it would be relevant to discuss what you name environmental awakening in relation to spiritual awakening, as the processes described as similar (also with regard to the hero’s journey, the dark night of the soul etc.( and often, a spiritual awakening goes hand in hand with an enhanced ecological consciousness as a result of the experience of oneness/interconnectedness/unity consciousness. Vice versa, eco-anxiety/profound climate grief might also trigger a spiritual awakening at the same time. You might want to discuss the interrelationship of spiritual/ecological awakening/consciousness. Also check, for instance, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac: The Future We Choose.
Response: We thank the reviewer for pointing out this important point. We have provided a more comprehensive definition of what we intend by ecological consciousness (see ll 908-922)
Comment 16: ll.641: What about those youth who grow up disconnected from ‘nature’?
Response: Our results show that those disconnected from nature are less likely to care about climate change and to want to do something about it.
Comment 17: ll 698/704: How do you differentiate awareness from awakening?
Response: Awakening is the beginning of the hero’s journey, while ecological awareness emerges after the hero has overcome barriers through various coping strategies that lead to a profound inner transformation that redefines how they see themselves in relation to others and nature (see Figure 3)
Comment 18: Ll/ 762: Here you can refer again to strategies to validate/engage with emotions (Verlie 2021, Boerner 2023), etc.
Response: Changes made on 808-810
Comment 20: ll.710 ff.: It would also be important to discuss the concept of ‘critical hope’ beyond the focus on anxiety – differentiating between different types of hope is very important
Response: See ll 800-804 for the addition of the concept of constructive hope.
Comment 21: ll.851: again, I suggest more clearly framing this in relation to spirituality/spiritual awakening, in terms of feelings of interconnectedness and a higher consciousness.
Response: This comment has been partially addressed on ll 852-853. We’d rather avoid talking about spiritual awakening here since it may confuse our own use of the word 'awakening,’ which refers to the realization that climate change is real.
Comment 22: ll.851: sounds like they are not committed to saving the world before, please rephrase.
Response: We are not sure we understand this comment
Comment 23: ll.855: assumes a colonial, Western worldview perceiving ourselves on top of the pyramid. You might want to be more critical (throughout the article) and also discuss these views in the light of (postcolonialism) and Canadian settler mentality.
Response: The point of this section was to be critical of Western worldviews and to acknowledge their problematic nature. We edited this sentence to avoid confusion (see 900-903).
Comment 24: Add a table on how Acts 1-3 relate to the presented data and experiences of Canadian youth, as the section on the 3 acts seems a bit disconnected from the data.
Response: The discussion in part deviates from the data to challenge the narrative and advance thinking in this emerging field of research. We clarified this point (see 620-624).
