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I am trying to translate a French phrase*, which literally says:

Building the sense of concern of those and what surround us

Or, in "better" English:

Building the sense of concern of others and what surrounds us

Context: this is a kind of "mission" for a group. It's supposed to include the idea of raising awareness about social and ecological responsibility. The idea I am trying to convey in:

  • building the sense of concern of others should mean caring more for the people around us

  • building the sense of concern of what surrounds us should mean caring more for the environment-nature

Does it sound OK in English?

Any other suggestions?

In French: Contruire le souci de ceux et ce qui nous entoure.

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  • When you say environment, do you mean it in the sense of nature, the world around us?
    – user8543
    Jul 7, 2014 at 9:23
  • Yes, you got it right! The "social environment" is already included in the "those", I only mean animals and more generally nature in the "what".
    – MagTun
    Jul 7, 2014 at 9:36
  • Ok. A little more context would be useful to help you further.
    – user8543
    Jul 7, 2014 at 9:42
  • Thanks @user8543 for your help! I've updated my question more context.
    – MagTun
    Jul 7, 2014 at 10:00
  • 1
    "Promoting anxiety about everything." (Just kidding.)
    – Dangph
    Jul 14, 2014 at 16:43

1 Answer 1

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Purely translating the phrase as I see it, given the information in the question, would give:

Building a sense of concern for those and that which surrounds us

However, this is cumbersome at best. Something like:

Raising awareness of the environment and those in it

would be more elegant given its intended use as a slogan.

However, it is not entirely clear who 'those in it' are. Given that 'the environment' carries connotations of the natural world, it would not be an unreasonable assumption that 'those in it' meant animals, rather than the intended sense of fellow human beings.

Edit: based on your comment regarding conveying a sense of concern, you could say:

Promoting care for people and the environment

or simply

Caring for people and the environment

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  • Thanks for this suggestion. I really need to keep "a sense of concern for"/(or any phrase conveying the same idea) + something referring to people + something referring the environment.
    – MagTun
    Jul 7, 2014 at 10:18
  • Edited to reflect that
    – user8543
    Jul 7, 2014 at 10:20

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