Study on the Environmental Education Demand and Environmental Literacy Assessment of Citizens in Sustainable Urban Construction in Beijing

Abstract

In the process of sustainable urban construction, citizens’ environmental literacy is a decisive factor, and environmental education is an important factor affecting the former’s level. Therefore, by determining the environmental literacy and environmental education demand of 383 citizens, the conclusion of this study is instructive for sustainable urban construction in China and other developing countries. Further, in the study, data were collected through a paper questionnaire and Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SSPS) software version 25 (IBM Corp, BJ, CHN) was used for data analysis. According to our survey, the average score of Beijing citizens’ environmental literacy is 3.77 out of 5, which reflects the necessity to carry out environmental education for the citizen. In order to effectively measure citizens’ environmental literacy, we divided the sample population into three groups according to their evaluation scores of environmental literacy. The social demographic characteristics of the high- and middle-scoring groups showed a higher proportion of women and well-educated people. A higher proportion of working or living stability was reflected in the majority of civil servants, staff of citizen institutions, retirees, and housewives. There were more people over the age of 30, most of whom have lived in Beijing for a long time. “Green lifestyle” and “knowledge and skills of environmental protection” were the aspects of environmental education that the sample group of Beijing citizens generally wants to learn. In addition, citizens in the high- and middle-scoring groups are also more interested in “ecological science knowledge”, while the low-scoring group is more interested in “the knowledge of environmental factors” and “environmental ethics”. The survey respondents showed the highest preference for environmental education (natural education) when participating in outdoor activities, followed by exhibition place and activity, with a relatively low preference for lecture and community activities. Mass media is also an important channel for environmental education, and the use preference and frequency of new media such as MicroBlog, WeChat, and short video applications are much higher than those of traditional media such as television and newspapers.