Environmental Sustainability Education Research Articles

Role of Education for Environmental Sustainability

Role of Education for Environmental Sustainability

Geographical reflections in the Bhagavad Gita: Lessons for the 21st century

Bhagavad Gita with reference to geographical reflection and environmental education for sustainability of modern world. The study is concentrated to reinterpretation of passages of Bhagavad Gita with reverence to geographical knowledge and insights for ecology, economy and societal sustainability. The method of the study is narrative by using qualitative approaches. The findings of the study clearly reveal that the insights of Bhagavad Gita is essential, important and useful for modern world in order to develop ethical and moral grounds for deep ecology i.e. co-existence of soil (mother earth), soul (spiritual value for connecting human action to universe) and society (equidistance of cultural values and traditions for the principle of live and late live).

The correlation between demographic processes and demoethical values of sustainable societal development in the context of climate and energy migration and water scarcity

Object: To study the interrelation of demographic processes in the context of the most pressing global issues related to water resources, climate, energy migration, and demoethical values as a tool for the transformation of sustainable development in society.Methods: The study utilizes the concept of Demoethics, which is based on the priority of spirituality as the basis for a new stage or model of sustainable development in society, which involves integrating the demographic, socioeconomic, and ecological components into the overall processes of modeling.Findings: The proposed approach focuses on organizing activities to improve sustainable development. In particular, a demographic model is presented, which is important for the Society 5.0 and Industry 5.0 organizations. Through literature review and analysis, this research identifies key issues in the sustainable development of the demographic component of the economy based on the demoethical model and provides practical recommendations for stakeholders involved in digital transformation.Conclusions: In order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for countries, civil society, and international institutions by 2030, commitments have been made to accomplish a range of tasks, from reducing extreme poverty to ensuring environmental sustainability and universal education, reducing child mortality, and promoting gender equality. Despite the fact that adaptation activities directly contribute to achieving SDG 13, which focuses on taking action against climate change, it should be seen as part of a strategy to strengthen a country's achievements in implementing all other SDGs based on the value of Demoethics.Expected results: The results of this study can serve as a basis for supporting targeted policies and the transformation of demographic components of the economy.

Exploring pre-service teachers’ experiences of engaging in sustainable environment: a Turkey-Italy eTwinning Project

The research initially delves into the outcomes of an international eTwinning project focused on heightening awareness among future primary school teachers about the causes and consequences of climate change within the framework of sustainable environmental education. Employing qualitative research methodologies, the investigation took the form of a case study. The participant group consisted of 13 pre-service teachers studying at Mersin and Balıkesir Universities in Turkey as well as the University of Palermo in Italy in the academic year 2021-2022. Researchers utilized a semi-structured interview format crafted specifically for the study. The objectives encompassed enhancing the understanding of pre-service teachers regarding sustainable environmental education, fostering their familiarity with eTwinning to enable cross-cultural interaction with other European pre-service teachers. Furthermore, emphasis was placed on elevating pre-service teachers' awareness about foreign language utilization and the integration of information and communication technology (ICT).

Enhancing preschoolers’ creativity through art-based environmental education for sustainability

Creativity is key in developing students’ environmental competence so that they come up with working and sustainable solutions to address environmental issues in daily life. However, these remain under-investigated in both Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) research. Here, we report an action research study conducted in a Greek kindergarten, supporting and exploring little-c creativity in a group of preschool students during an art-based EE/ESD project. Visual art had a two-fold role in the study: it was applied as the pedagogical approach in the project and also functioned as a complementary art-based research method, to focus on the conditions that enable young learners’ creativity within an educational intervention. The findings show that preschoolers’ creative thinking is enhanced when encouraged to identify environmental problems in their school and leads to actions towards sustainability. This supports the idea that creativity in preschool EE and ESD requires a pedagogical framework that is receptive to innovation, alongside a supportive teacher who incorporates imaginative, collaborative and reflective approaches to unfold and develop students’ creative potential.

Education for Environmental Sustainability in Preschool through STEM Project-based Learning

Education for Environmental Sustainability in Preschool through STEM Project-based Learning

The Effectiveness of a Community-Based Playgroup in Inspiring Positive Changes in the Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours of Children and their Parents: A Qualitative Case Study

AbstractThe ideal period for implementing environmental education or education for sustainability is during the early childhood years. The educational context of playgroups can be a platform for both children and their parents to learn together and together engage in early childhood education for sustainability (ECEfS), however there is a paucity of literature examining ECEfS within Australian playgroup contexts. The Little Explorers Playgroup (LEP) is a facilitated playgroup located in a sustainable living centre in Sydney, Australia, and provides opportunities for children and their parents to engage in ECEfS. The study purpose was to evaluate the effect of the LEP on the participating children and parents’ environmental attitudes and behaviours. This qualitative study was designed as a single critical case study employing semi-structured telephone interviews conducted with twenty-three participants, including three LEP playgroup facilitators and 20 parents. The data generated by the interviews was analysed thematically and the findings indicated that the LEP empowered and positively transformed both the children and parents’ environmental attitudes and behaviours. This was evident through the children and parents’ adoption of more environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviours. The findings demonstrate that playgroups may be an untapped opportunity for facilitating community change towards sustainable living.

Researching education for environmental sustainability through intergenerational dialogue

This study uses intergenerational dialogue as an approach to researching Education for Environmental Sustainability (EfES) with UK youth (aged 16–18 years), teachers and teacher educators. Through analysis of qualitative data from 210 participants shared through 18 h of participatory online workshops, we identify the framings introduced into discussions on EfES. We find a range of conceptual framings, with youth tending to centre on levels of accountability and critique of economic prioritisation. The case study demonstrates how intergenerational perspectives can be brought into conversation during the research process and identifies an appetite for intergenerational dialogue in EfES. We argue that intergenerational dialogue opens up our collective selves (adult and youth) to the thinking of others so that we can transform obstructions and enact education for environmental sustainability. Future work should consider the place for dialogue between key actors across generations in education decision-making processes.

Critical thinking in environmental education through digital games among students

In recent years, we have come aware of the importance of digital games-based learning environments among young learners. In order to produce a sustainable environmental education that is interactive, persuasive, and action-oriented, it should be interactive and persuasive. This article explains the insights gathered during the teaching of cognitive knowledge, engaging students emotionally through the demonstration of the consequences of destructive environmental behavior in this article. Many studies show that knowledge acquisition in digital games has a significant impact on collaborative learning compared to individual digital game playing. This method study has been examined among 50 students in a high school in environmental education trend in Jaffa-Tel Aviv, who played a game individually (n = 50), in a collaborative group (n = 40) and in a control group (n = 38). During the designed digital games, the students were asked to complete an open-ended questionnaire to identify their thinking skills. A higher level of attitude learning was observed from games compared to traditional pedagogical methods and pro-environmental behavior was achieved. It is important to continue evaluating the effectiveness of digital games as a learning tool and to identify best practices for their design and implementation in educational settings.

PPG, PPG Foundation to invest $5 million in environmental sustainability education

PPG, PPG Foundation to invest $5 million in environmental sustainability education

The CIRCULAR pathway: a new educational methodology for exploratory circular value chain redesign

The circular economy (CE) is gaining global relevance across countries and institutions as a tool to solve some of the most pressing global challenges derived from linear production and consumption systems. However, transitioning to a CE requires significant changes in how businesses and supply chains operate, including redesigning products, processes, and business models. These changes require that future professionals acquire knowledge and skills on the principles of CE, Life Cycle Thinking, and Systems Thinking. However, research on existing higher education programs signals a need for educational resources to develop these skills and knowledge in real-world settings. This paper outlines a new eight-step methodology to introduce students to the principles of CE through the exploratory redesign of a real-world product and value chain in a project-centered learning environment. This methodology was developed in four iterations and was used to teach 251 students from the BSc. Business Engineering at Maastricht University during the academic years 2020–2022. The findings indicate that this method supports students' understanding of complexity, linearity, and the importance of systemic change across the entire value chain, as well as their critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. The methodology provided in this paper supports and encourages educational bodies to implement Education for CE in their curricula and further strengthens the complementary fields of Education for Environmental Sustainability and Education for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, educators, professionals and businesses can make use of this tested methodology for exploratory product redesign toward sustainable circularity transitions.

Environmental sustainability and social justice in Higher Education: a critical (eco)feminist service-learning approach in sports sciences

ABSTRACT Education for environmental and social sustainability in Higher Education requires a new approach that encompasses both care for nature and social inclusion. Ecopedagogy offers a critical framework within which to provide specific teaching and learning initiatives. In particular, this article aims to explore the effects of a critical (eco)feminist approach implemented through a critical feminist service-learning program. We use a qualitative study with an ethnographic-interpretative approach. The results show an increase in awareness and sensitivity towards environmental education and social justice in the students’ understanding, attitude, and commitment to sustainability. Institutional limitations were also detected, leading to a reduction in the opportunities for achieving optimal results that would create a global meaning and a real application of the teachings for sustainability and social justice.

Reconfiguring environmental sustainability education by exploring past/present/future pedagogical openings with preservice teachers

ABSTRACT This research adopts post-qualitative inquiry to trace the teachings and learnings with an environmental sustainability subject for preservice teachers at an Australian university. Humanist discourses of ‘education for sustainability’ and ‘default environmental practices’ often act to heavily stratify educational spaces, becoming obstacles for alternative perspectives. How might novice teachers connect with the personal (what they learn), the professional (what they teach) ecological literacy and what is ethical (ecological justice), whilst confronting the political and social causations of environmental concerns? In response to these questions, the authors illustrate how they disrupted dominant conceptualisations of teaching environmental sustainability in higher education with pedagogical openings that animate us to think differently. Ecological, relational and critical posthuman philosophies help to orientate co-learnings with students. By blending the familiar, whilst also experimenting with speculative practices and playful learning, we have sought to expand the potential for (re)focusing past/present/future entanglements of human and more-than-human lifeworlds.

Education for sustainable development - analysis and findings

Abstract Education is defined as a major tool for raising awareness of the principles and functions of sustainable development. The problem of sustainable development, environmental and health education is subject to standards defining both content parameters in subject areas, overlapping integral fields, and options for implementation in pedagogical practice. The article presents an analysis of the problem of climate and energy efficiency, which is present only implicitly within the State educational standard for general education and curricula within the framework of the key competence common to all subjects - skills to support sustainable development and healthy lifestyle and sport.

Environmental Education Based on the Analysis of the Social Recovery Mechanisms Implemented Post-COVID

Background and Objective: The followed objective of this paper is to analyze the obstacles that the Talara’s Refinery Modernization faced and the taken actions for pos Covid recuperation on as its inner population as in the surrounding society seen from a theorical approach. Method: The approach is qualitative since it responds to a documentary study. Results: The results obtained in the research allude to the fact that the social recovery mechanisms implemented in the PMRT, they favor the surrounding communities and their contractors in a way that generated a better social coexistence, favoring a sustainable environmental education. Conclusion: The environmental education can provide analysis, awareness and understanding to achieve a mature society that combines the personal change that is needed today with political and community commitment. It is clear that Petroperu with the actions carried out promoted the strengthening of social ties for the benefit of the surrounding communities, however, the pandemic still continues and transforms itself, so environmental education becomes relevant as the crisis lessens, talking about health education programs will make it possible to save the welfare of the population.

Perennial biomass cropping and use: Shaping the policy ecosystem in European countries.

Demand for sustainably produced biomass is expected to increase with the need to provide renewable commodities, improve resource security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with COP26 commitments. Studies have demonstrated additional environmental benefits of using perennial biomass crops (PBCs), when produced appropriately, as a feedstock for the growing bioeconomy, including utilisation for bioenergy (with or without carbon capture and storage). PBCs can potentially contribute to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (2023-27) objectives provided they are carefully integrated into farming systems and landscapes. Despite significant research and development (R&D) investment over decades in herbaceous and coppiced woody PBCs, deployment has largely stagnated due to social, economic and policy uncertainties. This paper identifies the challenges in creating policies that are acceptable to all actors. Development will need to be informed by measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and other environmental, economic and social metrics. It discusses interlinked issues that must be considered in the expansion of PBC production: (i) available land; (ii) yield potential; (iii) integration into farming systems; (iv) R&D requirements; (v) utilisation options; and (vi) market systems and the socio-economic environment. It makes policy recommendations that would enable greater PBC deployment: (1) incentivise farmers and land managers through specific policy measures, including carbon pricing, to allocate their less productive and less profitable land for uses which deliver demonstrable greenhouse gas reductions; (2) enable greenhouse gas mitigation markets to develop and offer secure contracts for commercial developers of verifiable low-carbon bioenergy and bioproducts; (3) support innovation in biomass utilisation value chains; and (4) continue long-term, strategic R&D and education for positive environmental, economic and social sustainability impacts.

Designing the Structure of the Environmental Education Curriculum Through the Landscape and Contextualism Approach in Indramayu Regency, Indonesia

Disasters and environmental damage that are happening globally are currently important concerns. The current decline in environmental quality causes us to consider and relate this incident to the educational process. Meanwhile, education is the right tool to build a community that cares about the environment and applies sustainability principles and environmental ethics. The curriculum is a dynamic learning tool, and it must continue to develop and keep up with environmental changes. To support sustainable environmental education curriculum development, the form of the curriculum must synergize between theory and real-life (contextual) in the place of the curriculum so that students and teachers can work together in studying their environment (landscape). The purpose of this study is to see how the landscape and contextual conditions of Indramayu Regency are, how the curriculum used at the high school (SMA) level, especially subjects that are integrated with environmental material, and how the curriculum design follows the landscape and contextual conditions of Indramayu Regency and coast. The qualitative method is used with gap analysis (GAP Analysis) and GIS (Geographical Information System) analysis to support the research objectives. Researchers conducted seven stages, grouped into three groups: process, analysis, and output. Landscape Indramayu is divided into 2 (two) parts, namely land and sea (coastal). Results of curriculum analysis show that 5 (five) subjects have integrated environmental material, namely biology, physics, chemistry, geography, and entrepreneurship. Curriculum design is divided into 2 (two), 1. provides learning directions with topics according to the material in the curriculum and syllabus but adds material according to the landscape and context of Indramayu and coastal characteristics, while the 2nd design. Provides direction materials that do not yet exist and need to be added to learning, matters relating to Indramayu’s landscape and contextual conditions, and coastal states in general (national/global). So, that in the future, the material contained in the curriculum, syllabus, and other learning tools can be designed and developed according to the landscape and contextual conditions of the coastal area to create a sustainable environment.

Toward sustainable development: Connecting systems thinking competency and carbon footprint knowledge

AbstractPrevious research on field of sustainable development has shown that individuals' systems thinking competency promotes and predicts their sustainability competency and pro‐environmental behavior well. Systems thinking competency also enables us to focus more on large‐scale climate change mitigation actions. Previous surveys indicated that Finns have changed their behavior for mitigating climate change, but this has been not reflected in decreased consumption‐based calculated carbon footprints because large‐scale mitigation measures have not materialized. The present study assessed Finns' systems thinking competency (n = 2006) and knowledge of how to reduce their household carbon footprint. The survey data collected were analyzed using explorative factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, t‐test, and analysis of variance. The results indicate that Finns view their own systems thinking competency related to climate change as not very high, and heir assessments vary widely. Moreover, their knowledge of how to reduce their household carbon footprint is somewhat low and is geared toward small‐scale mitigation actions. The results can be used to inform environmental policy and sustainability education priorities.

The correlation of environmental education, environmental knowledge, environmental involvement, and waste management behavior

Environmental behavior is becoming increasingly important in maintaining environmental balance in society. Higher education is one educational institution that produces graduates with good knowledge in designing existing changes. This study aimed to determine the relationship between education, knowledge, involvement, and environmental behavior in waste management. This study involved 200 students who took courses in disaster and environmental education at the undergraduate level at Syiah Kuala University. Analysis of research data was carried out using SEM with the help of the AMOS application. This study reveals that in sustainable development, environmental education, environmental knowledge, and environmental involvement can predict student waste management behavior through campus programs. This finding also reveals that environmental involvement directly affects waste management and is a significant mediator variable that affects the relationship between environmental education and environmental knowledge. Thus, the study results imply that environmental education and knowledge lead to environmental involvement and environmental behavior of students in keeping the environment healthy and free from waste. The research implications can provide information to policymakers and programs related to a waste-free environment.

Retheorising environmental sustainability education for the Anthropocene

Retheorising environmental sustainability education for the Anthropocene