From concern to action: how nature connectedness and place attachment translate climate concern into pro-environmental behaviour among Czech students

Adolescents are increasingly concerned about climate change, yet many fail to translate this concern into consistent pro-environmental behaviour. This study aimed to determine the relative and mediated contributions of climate concern, nature connectedness, place attachment, and self-efficacy to adolescents’ pro-environmental behaviour. To this end, it tests an integrated concern-to-action framework in which climate concern operates as a distal risk appraisal, nature connectedness and place attachment serve as complementary affective-identity bonds, and self-efficacy functions as the proximal enabler of action. Experiential engagement through school eco-teams and residential environmental programmes is examined as a situational amplifier of these pathways. Data from a nationally representative sample of Czech secondary students were analysed with multilevel regression, clustered mediation, and moderation models. Results revealed that nature connectedness and self-efficacy emerged as the strongest predictors of pro-environmental behaviour. Self-efficacy partially mediated the effects of climate concern, nature connectedness, and place attachment, while experiential engagement strengthened the translation of self-efficacy into actual behaviour. The findings demonstrate that emotional bonds with nature and local communities become powerful drivers of action only when paired with a robust sense of personal capability. This study clarifies the psychological architecture required to bridge the concern–action gap among youth.