Sustainability & connectedness to ‘nature’: tracking the under-represented impact of cultural diversity & spatiotemporal proximity

International advisory science demonstrates with increasing certainty that the current climate and biodiversity crises facing the planet are the consequence of human activity. Governmental and societal awareness of this is now widespread. Advocacy of individual and local action for the collective good at all stages of life has become mainstream and a maxim for people and institutions to align routines, activities and policies in order to achieve more sustainable lifeways. While thinking globally and acting locally has long been presented as a navigable channel between the small (e.g., personal) and the large (global) scale aspects of this relationship, very little is known about how individual motivation is affected by cultural and spatiotemporal variability. This paper reviews the current state-of-the-art regarding human connectedness to nature and makes provisional suggestions about how to accommodate the effects of cultural diversity and spatial and temporal remoteness pursuant to a more sustainable relationship between people and the natural environment.