Abstract
Environmental education plays a fundamental role in the fight against climate change and the transformation towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly socio-economic model. This study shows how to evaluate the effectiveness of a program for compulsory education students in Spain. The subject of the program focused on the effects of climate change in relation to our consumption model and the generation of waste. A mixed research methodology is proposed that combines a quantitative (10 items on the Likert scale, n = 714) and qualitative approach (category construction and analysis on open-ended questions). A study of the reliability and validity of the measure was carried out through a categorical principal component analysis (CATPCA). The multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) correlates the gender and educational level of the students to the learning acquired in the program. For example, the results show how students are convinced that adopting minimal pro-environmental habits (turning off lights and unplugging electronics, choosing public transport to get around, or using solar and wind power to produce electricity) can help mitigate climate change. The conclusions show the difficulties and challenges of education for responsible consumption, emphasizing the development of environmental education programs for reducing the effects of climate change.
Highlights
Climate change has become a global socio-environmental problem taken on by the scientific community, by most governments and administrations, and by a large part of the public
Environmental education programs encourage the acquisition of values, attitudes, and behaviors, both at an individual and collective level, for contributing to the adoption of more sustainable lifestyles and consumption habits that are more consistent with the environmental challenges of our society [24]
García-Díaz [26] points out that these programs should be aimed at raising awareness and sensitizing of the characteristics of the problem and its consequences, and of the various social interests at stake and the political reasons for what is happening, it being clear that it is necessary to take advantage of the few loopholes left by the system for criticism and social transformation [26] (p. 5)
Summary
Climate change has become a global socio-environmental problem taken on by the scientific community, by most governments and administrations, and by a large part of the public. This report points out that in the coming decades, we must achieve rapid and far-reaching transitions in energy, land use, urban management (transport and construction), and industrial systems, combining unprecedented efforts involving a reduction in the energy demand, a change in material consumption, and a reduction in food consumption in terms of greenhouse gases [2]. These emissions are causing increasingly frequent and devastating climate events and natural disasters: more severe cyclones and hurricanes, heat waves, fires, torrential rains and extreme droughts, rising sea levels from melting glaciers, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides [3]. All of the above demonstrate that this model of consumption is not sustainable, resulting in a high environmental and social cost for our planet
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