Level Of Ecological Awareness Research Articles

Farmers’ Attitudes and Perceptions and the Effects of the Grain for Green Project in China: A Case Study in the Loess Plateau

The Grain for Green Project (GGP) aims to protect and improve the ecological environment, end farming on sloping farmland, and plant trees and restore forest vegetation. China’s GGP has been widely implemented, but its impact on the environment is rarely evaluated from farmers’ perspectives. This study took place in Zhidan and Yanchang Counties, Shaanxi Province. Farmers’ attitudes towards the GGP were investigated through semi-structured interviews to understand their perceptions of changes in ecosystem services and their level of ecological awareness, as well as analyzing which factors had the greatest impact on them. Our results indicate that some farmers are not satisfied with the GGP and are unwilling to participate in future GGPs, which is not only due to the dissatisfaction with subsidies offered but also because the needs of the farmers have been ignored. From the perspective of farmers, the GGP has greatly reduced soil erosion and air pollution but has had no effect on improving water quality and protecting biodiversity. More male farmers are willing to participate, and farmers with higher levels of education are more satisfied with the GGP. We also found that the level of understanding of ecological cognition affected farmers’ attitudes, and farmers with different levels of knowledge differ in their willingness to participate. Our research found that many farmers were dissatisfied with the GGP. To improve this situation, it is necessary to improve the ecological awareness of farmers. At the same time, policy makers should also further understand the needs of farmers in order to make reasonable management strategies.

ASSESSING ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS LEVELS: A NEW MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Assessments of ecological awareness levels are immensely crucial in ecological awareness studies, especially for a developing country like Kazakhstan, which has struggled and is still struggling to address various environmental problems ranging from the Aral Sea to water deficiency matters. While many scholars have addressed the specific aspects of environmental problems such as air and water pollution, there is limited amount of work on addressing ecological awareness levels among the general popula-tion by local Kazakhstani scholars. This paper’s research objective was to propose a new conceptual framework for assessing ecological awareness levels. It consisted of four main dimensions: cognitive, af-fective, altruistic and conative dimension, for which each of the following dimensions different research instruments were introduced. For that, the paper extensively researched, emulated and re-applied the theoretical frameworks and concepts of the works of Western scholars. The aim of this research is to fill the research gap on the lack of conceptual frameworks in assessing the general public’s level of ecologi-cal awareness in Kazakhstan. The results obtained from this paper was the introduction of a new multi-dimensional framework and the applicability of three new research instruments for future academic studies in the context of Kazakhstan. These new research tools included the 15-item EEV Scale Model, 26-item Environmental Risk Perception Scale Model, and the 18-item EAS Model. This paper provided researchers with immensely valuable research instruments for pinpointing differences in environmental values, beliefs, concerns, and perceptions of different sample populations in Kazakhstan.Key words: Kazakhstan; ecological awareness; conceptual framework; assessment dimensions.

Unit hydrographs for estimating surface runoff and refining the water budget model of a mountain wetland

The level of ecological awareness with respect to living organisms and their habitats in mountain wetlands has risen in recent years. Understanding hydrological conditions and habitat characteristics are essential for wetland conservation and restoration. Surface runoff is one of the significant water gains in mountain wetlands but is challenging to measure in situ and might influence water budget estimations. This study conducts hydrological investigations to establish a synthetic unit hydrograph (SUH) to estimate the surface runoff levels and improve the water budget model (WBM) of the Menghuan wetland, which is the only natural habitat of Isoetes taiwanensis. The findings show that maintaining a water depth ranging from 26 to 57 cm might help I. taiwanensis to compete with other aquatic plants in the dry season. The inlet surface runoff results that were calculated by the SUH were approximately twice those of gully runoff. After using the SUH calculation results, the residual WBM decreased significantly. The results reveal an advantageous opportunity to replace traditional surface runoff surveys in mountain wetlands. The water budget model modified herein is a valuable tool for estimating water requirements in a small-basin mountain wetland.

Forming of ecological awareness of the students of international relations and regional studies at the English language teaching

The paper analyses methodology of forming ecological awareness of the students of international relations and regional studies at higher educational level. The pedagogical experience of Kazan Federal University is presented. The authors justify the topicality of implementing ecology and climate change related topics in the syllabus of the educational programmes. The systemic approach to the formation of ecological literacy is implemented throughout the whole course of the Bachelor degree programme. The authors of the article conduct a survey to define the students’ level of ecological awareness and present different approaches to implementing climate change and other environmental issues in the foreign language teaching process, including discussions, dialogues, brainstorming, problem-solution role-playing, project presentation, and writing an essay.

THE STATE OF ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE AS AN ELEMENT OF ECOLOGICAL AWARENESS

The aim of the article is to present the state of environmental knowledge of young people. Contemporary perception of environmental problems has been evaluated in recent decades. More and more often are the problems related to climate change and our role in activities to maintain the values of the natural environment directly visible. The implementation of the idea of sustainable development not only in economic but also social life creates opportunities for both broadening one’s knowledge and taking actions for nature. Environmental awareness presented in the article is based on the assessment of the state of ecological knowledge. The research, on the basis of which the article was developed, was carried out in 2004 on a group of students from Warsaw University of Life Sciences, and was repeated in 2019. The research was carried out in a group of students of the faculty of Economics. The obtained results indicated that the main sources of acquiring knowledge on topics related to the environment are changing, and the role of education and training in the educational institution is increasing. On the other hand, the level of ecological awareness, expressed in the state of knowledge, varies in terms of subject matter. In the case of defining the five researched terms, it was possible to observe a higher correctness of the assignment of terms and their definition among the respondents from the second survey carried out in 2019. The respondents from the repeated survey also showed a higher level of knowledge in the field of knowledge of national parks in Poland.

PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN THE SCOPE OF REDUCING ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION

The aim of the article is to provide examples of activities undertaken by rural households in the pursuit of reducing electricity use. Households are one of the economic entities of the economic system that significantly use electricity to meet the needs of their members. Expenses incurred for the purchase of energy constitute one of the significant elements in the structure of total expenses. Households, by limiting the consumption of electricity, firstly, reduce expenses, and secondly, undertake pro-environmental activities. The article uses the results of surveys carried out in a group of 404 households located in rural areas of Poland. In addition, the analysis of primary data was expanded to include data from the Household Budget Survey carried out by the Central Statistical Office. The conducted research has shown that the most common activities aimed at reducing energy consumption were turning off the light in unused rooms as well as the use of energy-saving light bulbs and home appliances. Activities were mainly influenced by the level of ecological awareness, level of education and age.

Discovering Ecological Awareness of Filipino Education Students

Ecological awareness is a way of thinking about the world in terms of its interdependent natural and human systems, including a consideration of the consequences of human actions and interactions within the natural context. Hence, this research determined the level of ecological awareness of Filipino education students, with the aim of strengthening their ecological awareness through enrichment activities. The input of the study was determined by employing self-made questionnaire as the principal tool for gathering data. Through appropriate statistical tools and analyses of data, the study revealed that the respondents are greatly female individuals who belonged to the bracket of middle income, reached high school level which was the parent’s highest educational attainment and acquired General Weighted Average (GWA) in Natural Sciences (NS) ranging from 2.00-2.49. It also revealed that the respondents are aware when it comes to caring and practical competency. Further, it was revealed that there is no significant relationship between sex and ecological awareness while there is a significant relationship between socio-economic status, parent’s highest educational attainment, GWA in NS and ecological awareness. The above-mentioned findings recommend to conduct programs that integrate caring, knowledge, and action that determine potential to enhance student’s ecological awareness and promote transparency and public participation in decision-making, and access to justice in environmental matters.

Edukacja ekologiczna w perspektywie zrównoważonego rozwoju

Human ecology is a science of mutual relations between human population and natural habitat. It uses complex approach to research many aspects of human life, especially human dynamic relations with the closest environment: family, home, nature and local community, and creating healthy environment for everyday life. There is a new challenge for pedagogy, i.e. forming human ecological awareness defined as knowledge of environment. There is also an issue of competencies and active practices for environmental protection. Ecological pedagogy, in its assumptions, does not support the idea of anthropocentrism conceived as human being’s dominance over nature; its idea is education for coexistence and human protection of nature in order to maintain it for next generations and achieve sustainable development. The aim of this article is to draw attention to the level of ecological awareness of the society, including teachers, as well as specific features of education for sustainable development as social practices.

Index System and Evaluation of Ecological Civilization in County Administrative Areas - A Case Study of Haian

On the seventeenth National People's Congress of CPC, the strategic goal of the construction of ecological civilization was first proposed. The construction of ecological civilization is new requirement for our country to realize well-off society. From the meaning and nature of ecological civilization, this paper tries to establish an index system of ecological civilization in county administrative areas, which is composed by the environment, ecological economy, ecological community, ecological awareness and Eco-system and includes twenty-six representative indexes. At last this system is used combined with AHP method to evaluate the level of ecological civilization in Haian county Jiangsu province. The result shows that the integrated score of ecological civilization of Haian county in 2010 is 0.6373, indicating that the ecological civilization level is at the initial state. On the five sub-systems, the level of ecological awareness is poor and this is the major factor that limits the level of ecological civilization of Haian.