The effect of eco-schools on children’s environmental values and behaviour

Abstract

The study examines the effectiveness of eco-schools concerning their students’ environmental values and environmental behaviour, and includes 1287 children from fifty-nine schools (thirty-eight eco-schools and twenty-one control schools) in Flanders. Controlling for effects of gender and socio-economic status, analyses show that eco-schools have no effect on the environmental behaviour of their students or on their preservation values. Eco-school students do, however, show lower utilisation values than control school students. Results furthermore indicate that preservation values and not utilisation values impact environmental behaviour. Eco-schools thus seem to be applying a pedagogical approach that impacts only on utilisation values but through that fails to affect their students’ preservation values and, with those, their environmental behaviour. Directions for future research are suggested.