The development of the social paradigm of eco-centrism: A philosophical interpretation of the sociological research in university

The article considers the features of the youth’s attitudes to environmental issues and environmental crisis and the situation in environmental science - its features at the present stage of development, and explains the relevance of theoretical and practical studies of the environmental awareness and development of environmental culture. Two alternative interpretations of environmental issues are presented: alarmist and optimistic social stereotypes. Today, due to the qualitative and quantitative growth of information, the attitude to environmental issues is changing - it becomes more rational and balanced. However, the task of monitoring transformations of the public consciousness in relation to ecology is still relevant. The article presents the results of the sociological research conducted among students of undergraduate programs in engineering and humanities. The survey aimed at studying environmental values of the Russian youth and was conducted in 2019 in four Moscow universities: Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman, RUDN University, Moscow State Linguistic University. The survey results show that the traditional environmental education based on the increase of knowledge about nature does not lead to the change of environmental values and behavior in nature. The authors insist on introducing into contemporary ecology and informal ecological education the new social paradigm of eco-centrism that corresponds to the idea of harmonizing the relationship between man and nature and of a balanced, “calm” attitude of society to the environmental crisis. The authors also show the connection of psycho-ecology with environmental problems in public consciousness and the potential of this concept as a moral-ethical basis of the social paradigm of eco-centrism.