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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Education and Approaches".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 54623

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis

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Guest Editor

Cyprus Centre for Environmental Research and Education (CYCERE), Cyprus Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, Kimonos and Thoukydidou Corner Akropoli, 1434 Nicosia, Cyprus
Interests: education for environmental citizenship; environmental citizenship; environmental education; sustainability education; biology education; science education; socio-scientic issues; teacher professional development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Pedro Guilherme Rocha dos Reis

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Guest Editor

Instituto de Educação, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1649-013 Lisboa, Portugal
Interests: science education; youth activism; socioscientific and socio-environmental issues; environmental citizenship; teachers' professional development
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Demetra Paraskeva-Hadjichambi

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Guest Editor

Cyprus Centre for Environmental Research and Education (CYCERE), Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture, Cyprus
Interests: environmental education; environmental citizenship; teacher professional development; biology education; science education

Dr. Marta Romero Ariza

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Guest Editor

Departamento de Didáctica de las Ciencias, University of Jaén, Spain
Interests: Environmental citizenship; environmental education; science education; teacher professional development; inquiry-based learning; socio-scientic issues

Dr. Jelle Boeve-de Pauw

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Guest Editor

University of Antwerp & Karel de Grote University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium
Interests: environmental education; citizenship education; urban education; STEM education; school effectiveness; implementation studies; teacher professional development; assessment

Dr. Niklas Gericke

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Guest Editor

Department of Environmental and Life Sciences,Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden
Interests: biology education; conceptual understanding; implementation research; models and representations; science education; sustainability education; textbook research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Marie Christine P.J. Knippels

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Guest Editor

Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Interests: Socio-scientific issues; responsible citizenship; biology education; systems thinking; environmental citizenship; socio-scientific inquiry-based learning; teacher professional development; model-based reasoning in biology

Dr. Andri Christodoulou

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Guest Editor

Southampton Education School, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Interests: Teacher professional development; argumentation; classroom discourse; epistemic practices; socio-scientific issues

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A series of existing environmental problems (both global and local) constitute the scenery of environmental crises. Environmental citizenship is recognized as an important aspect in addressing global environmental crises (Stern 2011; Ockwell et al. 2009).

Education for Environmental Citizenship (EEC) is the type of education that cultivates a coherent and adequate body of knowledge as well as the necessary skills, values, attitudes, and competencies that an environmental citizen should be equipped with in order to be able to act and participate in society as an agent of change in the private and public sphere, on a local, national and global scale, through individual and collective actions. It pushes them toward solving contemporary environmental problems, preventing the creation of new environmental problems, in achieving sustainability as well as developing a healthy relationship with nature. ‘Education for Environmental Citizenship’ empowers citizens to practise their environmental rights and duties, as well as to identify the underlying structural causes of environmental problems, develop the willingness and the competencies for critical and active engagement and civic participation to address those structural causes and act individually and collectively within democratic means, taking into account both inter- and intra-generational justice (ENEC 2018).

The scope of this Special Issue is to provide a platform for researchers to share their research work on the field of education for environmental citizenship including aspects of civic engagement and civic participation, democratic action, social and environmental change, individual and collective actions, environmental actions, socio-political actions, environmental justice, inter- and intra-generational justice and connectedness to nature.

In this Special Issue, we encourage researchers to submit empirical, theoretical, methodological research articles or reviews in various fields considering EEC, for instance, in the frameworks of formal and non-formal education. Submissions using qualitative, mixed method, or quantitative research approaches are welcome.

References:

European Network for Environmental Citizenship – ENEC (2018). Defining “Education for Environmental Citizenship”. Retrieved from http://enec-cost.eu/our-approach/education-for-environmental-citizenship/

Ockwell, D., Whitmarsh, L., & O'Neill, S. (2009). Reorienting climate change communication for effective mitigation: Forcing people to be green or fostering grass-roots engagement? Science Communication, 30(3), 305–327.

Stern, P. C. (2011). Contributions of psychology to limiting climate change. American Psychologist, 66(4), 303.

Dr. Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis
Dr. Pedro Guilherme Rocha dos Reis
Dr. Demetra Paraskeva-Hadjichambi
Dr. Marta Romero Ariza
Dr. Jelle Boeve-de Pauw
Dr. Niklas Gericke
Dr. Marie Christine P.J. Knippels
Dr. Andri Christodoulou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

education for environmental citizenship
environmental citizenship
sustainability education
justice-oriented education
transformative education
change-oriented education
sustainable citizenship education
global citizenship education
civic participation
civic engagement
agents of change
environmental behavior
collective action
sustainable development goals
citizenship education

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 1392 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating a Novel Learning Intervention Grounded in the Education for Environmental Citizenship Pedagogical Approach: A Case Study from Cyprus

by Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis, Demetra Paraskeva-Hadjichambi and Yiannis Georgiou

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1398; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031398 - 26 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2566

Abstract

In times of environmental crisis, Education for Environmental Citizenship (EEC) is argued to be of great significance in the development of secondary education students’ pro-environmentalism as environmental citizens. However, given that EEC is still emerging, there is a lack of empirical foundation on how environmental citizenship can be approached in a pedagogically sound way; as a result, empirical documented interventions in secondary education are also limited. This paper presents a case study from Cyprus, which evaluates the impact of a novel learning intervention grounded in the EEC pedagogical approach, taking into consideration the potential effect of students’ gender as well as of their past/present EC actions. The participants were fifty students (n = 50) in secondary biology education who attended the learning intervention; the students comprised 29 girls (58%) and 21 boys (42%), from two intact classrooms. Data were collected with the Environmental Citizenship Questionnaire (ECQ), which was administered before (pre-) and after (post-) the learning intervention, and were analyzed using a combination of non-parametric statistical analyses (Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann–Whitney U test, Spearman’s Correlation and cluster analysis). Our findings indicated that there was a statistically significant increase in the students’ EC learning gains, both EC competences and EC future actions, by the end of the intervention. However, our findings also indicated that the impact of the learning intervention was related significantly to the students’ gender as well as to their past/present EC actions, as these were reported by the students prior the intervention. Overall, our findings provide empirical substantiation of the contribution of the EEC pedagogical approach to the development of secondary students’ EC. At the same time, our study also pointed out the critical roles of gender and past/present EC actions in students’ learning gains. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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22 pages, 1191 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Socio-Scientific Inquiry-Based Learning as a Means toward Environmental Citizenship

by Marta R. Ariza, Andri Christodoulou, Michiel van Harskamp, Marie-Christine P. J. Knippels, Eleni A. Kyza, Ralph Levinson and Andria Agesilaou

Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11509; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011509 - 18 Oct 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4252

Abstract

This paper draws on the meta-theory of Critical Realism providing a theoretical basis for the pedagogical approach of Socio-Scientific Inquiry-Based Learning (SSIBL) in supporting Education for Environmental Citizenship (EEC). We argue that while there are different configurations of EEC, inducting citizens in decision-making needs satisfies the following criteria: (a) relevant transdisciplinary knowledge, (b) a values orientation toward both the complexity of, and the necessity for, a sustainable world and (c) a confidence for, and commitment to, socio-political action at individual and collective levels. In order to provide a rich perspective about how SSIBL has been operationalized in various national contexts through specific teacher professional development, we present four cases purposefully selected as exemplars from different European countries (the Netherlands, Spain, the UK and Cyprus). The four cases provide powerful scenarios to discuss different ways in which the SSIBL approach can be implemented in teacher education to meet the criteria identified and, thus, promote informed and responsible action in relation to socio-environmental issues. The whole picture shows a consistent theoretical foundation and interesting opportunities for teacher education, as a relevant strategy to prepare teachers in taking risks and integrating SSIBL within school curricula to foster environmental citizenship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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20 pages, 916 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Promoting Environmental Citizenship in Education: The Potential of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire to Measure Impact of Interventions

by Marta Romero Ariza, Jelle Boeve-de Pauw, Daniel Olsson, Peter Van Petegem, Gema Parra and Niklas Gericke

Sustainability 2021, 13(20), 11420; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011420 - 15 Oct 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4528

Abstract

Policy documents across the globe call for citizen engagement to fight climate change emergencies and build more sustainable societies. They also recognize the key role of formal and non-formal education in preparing citizens to address those challenges. However, there is a need to identify appropriate instruments to evaluate the impact of educational interventions on people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, which are essential components of the action competence required to become environmental citizens and agents of change. The aim of this paper is to investigate the potential of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ) to evaluate different educational interventions aimed at increasing environmental citizenship. It presents three sub-studies from Spain, Belgium, and Sweden using the SCQ with varying contexts, duration, and target groups yet sharing common pedagogical features in the interventions. Pre-intervention scores indicate a common pattern of high sustainability knowingness, moderate sustainability attitudes, and lower sustainability behaviors in the three dimensions (environmental, social and economic) of sustainability consciousness, and a positive impact on sustainability behavior after the intervention. These findings are especially significant when compared to previous studies. We therefore conclude that the SCQ is useful for detecting the effects of learning interventions of varying designs and contexts that address environmental citizenship. The results are discussed in terms of key pedagogical features of the educational interventions, and the appropriateness and sensitivity of the instrument in detecting changes in the intended direction. It concludes with implications for research and practice and suggestions for future lines of work. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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17 pages, 307 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Knowledge Use in Education for Environmental Citizenship—Results of Four Case Studies in Europe (France, Hungary, Serbia, Turkey)

by Imre Kovách, Boldizsár Gergely Megyesi, Angela Barthes, Hasan Volkan Oral and Marija Smederevac-Lalic

Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 11118; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131911118 - 08 Oct 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2534

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the research on education for environmental citizenship in a comparative perspective. The central concept of education is the complex issue of knowledge. In the present paper, different knowledge forms, knowledge use, and types of knowledge production in environmental education are analysed for two EU countries, France and Hungary, together with two candidate countries, Serbia and Turkey. We review the most important theories and publications, the research questions and the methods considered to be examples for our present work. The second part of the paper presents the case studies according to the theoretical priorities. Evidence-based papers on cases in different European countries illustrating and discussing the evaluation of the types of knowledge used in environmental education and sustainability projects, as well as analysing the power-related components of knowledge use are reviewed. In the final part, case studies are compared and conclusions are drawn. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

17 pages, 956 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Importance of International Collaboration to Enhance Education for Environmental Citizenship

by David Christian Finger, Camelia Draghici, Dana Perniu, Marija Smederevac-Lalic, Rares Halbac-Cotoara-Zamfir, Azra Sehic and Marijana Kapović Solomun

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10326; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810326 - 15 Sep 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2720

Abstract

Environmental Education is essential to promote awareness and facilitate the development of environmental citizens. To contribute to the enhancement of environmental awareness, Iceland, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Romania have collaborated in joint educational projects which aim at building capacities on sustainable development, delivering environmental teaching lectures, and developing open educational resources. This article presents past and ongoing collaborations between the mentioned countries, assesses the status of environmental education, and highlights the benefits of international collaboration. For this purpose, information on environmental courses in representative universities from each country was collected, SWOT analyses were performed in each country, and a survey among potential students was carried out. The presented analysis reveals that international collaboration raises environmental awareness and increases the likelihood of becoming environmental citizens. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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19 pages, 509 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluating an Educational Intervention Designed to Foster Environmental Citizenship among Undergraduate University Students

by Audronė Telešienė, Jelle Boeve-de Pauw, Daphne Goldman and Ralph Hansmann

Sustainability 2021, 13(15), 8219; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158219 - 23 Jul 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2743

Abstract

Taking its primary interest in active environmental citizenship, this paper aims at evaluating a case of an educational intervention designed to foster environmental citizenship among undergraduate students at a technological university. The study employs a survey methodology implementing a recently validated environmental citizenship questionnaire. A randomized pre-group –post-group quasi-experimental survey design explores students’ environmental citizenship attributes before and after the intervention course, ‘Sustainable Development’, in comparison to students who participated in a general elective course, ‘Media Philosophy’. The results show that the participation in the intervention course induced positive change in students’ environmental citizenship in comparison to the control group. Additional analysis indicates that environmental citizenship is significantly related to environmental attitudes, nature experiences during childhood and adolescence, and gender. The article provides a timely contribution shedding light on how specific pedagogical approaches in higher education can foster environmental citizenship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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22 pages, 26233 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Secondary Science Teachers’ Views on Environmental Citizenship in The Netherlands

by Michiel van Harskamp, Marie-Christine P. J. Knippels and Wouter R. van Joolingen

Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7963; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147963 - 16 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2322

Abstract

Environmental Citizenship (EC) is a promising aim for science education. EC enables people not only to responsibly make decisions on sustainability issues—such as use of renewable energy sources—but also to take action individually and collectively. However, studies show that education for EC is challenging. Because our understanding of EC practice remains limited, an in-depth, qualitative view would help us better understand how to support science teachers during EC education. This study aims to describe current EC education practices. What do secondary science teachers think sustainability and citizenship entail? What are their experiences (both positive and negative) with education for EC? A total of 41 Dutch science teachers were interviewed in an individual, face-to-face setting. Analysis of the coded transcripts shows that most teachers see the added value of EC but struggle to fully implement it in their teaching. They think the curriculum is unsuitable to reach EC, and they see activities such as guiding discussions and opinion forming as challenging. Furthermore, science teachers’ interpretation of citizenship education remains narrow, thus making it unlikely that their lessons are successful in fostering EC. Improving EC education therefore may be supported by explicit representation in the curriculum and teacher professional development directed at its implementation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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23 pages, 6862 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of a Pedagogical Model of Education for Environmental Citizenship in Primary Education

by Teresa Monte and Pedro Reis

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6000; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116000 - 26 May 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 6868

Abstract

Education for Environmental Citizenship plays an important role in social change toward sustainable development, achieving economic, social, and environmental balance through informed, cooperative, and participative citizens. There are several pedagogical models with the potential to involve students in environmental activities, but no specific model suitable for primary education is found. This article describes the preliminary investigation phase of a Design-Based Research that resulted in the development of the first prototype of a Pedagogical Model of Education for Environmental Citizenship in Primary Education (students aged 6 to 10 years), in Portugal. This preliminary investigation phase was based on a systematic analysis and literature review on the topic (thesis, articles, projects, and curricular guidelines for primary education), seeking to answer the following research questions: (1) According to the current world characteristics, which learning outcomes should an environmental citizen achieve, and which of them can be promoted in primary education? (2) What are the most appropriate teaching methodologies and strategies for promoting environmental citizen learning outcomes in primary education? The methodology used is presented, and the proposed prototype is described, along with the desired learning outcomes that are considered necessary for the formation of an Environmental Citizen and the most appropriate methodologies and educational activities to promote them. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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16 pages, 298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Citizenship Education through the Doñana, Biodiversity and Culture Program

by M Ángeles de las Heras Pérez, Bartolomé Vázquez Bernal, Rocío Jiménez Palacios and Roque Jiménez Pérez

Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2809; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052809 - 05 Mar 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1634

Abstract

While the need to educate for the formation of environmentally committed citizens is something that has always been recognized, currently however it has become an obligation. The present study analyzes the Doñana, Biodiversity and Culture Program from the perspective of its participants. The program is part of the action being carried out with schools intending to teach environmental citizenry using the context of protected natural spaces, in this specific case, the Doñana National Park. The Park’s managers and public guides were interviewed, and observation records of the process were collected. These were later analyzed by means of a category table elaborated within the project Patrimonial Education for Citizens’ Territorial and Emotional Intelligence, of which this study is a part. The consistency of the informants was verified, as also was the practice observed, showing the importance of the socio-identity framework, of critical thinking, and of socio-affective relationships with the territory. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

17 pages, 3232 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Unprepared to Deal with Invasion: Pre-Service Teachers’ Perception, Knowledge and Attitudes toward Invasive Species

by Rubén Ladrera, Beatriz Robredo, Unai Ortega-Lasuen, José Ramón Díez and Aritz Ruiz-González

Sustainability 2020, 12(24), 10543; https://doi.org/10.3390/su122410543 - 16 Dec 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2657

Abstract

The serious and growing impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) on the planet make it necessary to include this issue with greater determination in educational programs, with the aim of generating citizens capable of dealing with this environmental problem in a sustainable way. Likewise, the management of IAS represents a clear socio-scientific issue (SSI), which gives greater interest to its inclusion in school. At this point, future teachers play a key role, so that their knowledge, perceptions and attitudes on the subject must be evaluated. In order to deal with this objective, a questionnaire was filled out by 400 students of the degrees in early childhood education and primary education of the Universities of La Rioja (UR) and the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. Our results show that pre-service teachers do not perceive impacts of different types generated by IAS, and they show a clear lack of knowledge about transmission vectors. Likewise, they do not support various control measures, especially slaughter of invasive vertebrates, related to affective dimensions. These results highlight the need to work toward an appropriate integration of this issue at different educational levels, training students and educators, fostering favorable attitudes toward a sustainable management of IAS. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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Review

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29 pages, 4334 KiB

Open AccessReview

Environmental Citizen Science Initiatives as a Springboard towards the Education for Environmental Citizenship: A Systematic Literature Review of Empirical Research

by Anastasia Adamou, Yiannis Georgiou, Demetra Paraskeva-Hadjichambi and Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis

Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13692; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413692 - 11 Dec 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3633

Abstract

Environmental Citizen Science (CS) initiatives have been recognized over time as a promising way to engage citizens in the investigation and management of various socio-ecological issues. In this context, it has been often hypothesized that these CS initiatives may also contribute to the education and subsequent transformation of citizens into environmentally aware and active citizens. However, the potential of CS to serve as a springboard for supporting Education for Environmental Citizenship (EEC) has not been explored yet. A systematic review was conducted, seeking to examine how citizens’ participation in environmental CS initiatives contributes to the EEC, as a venue through which citizens can undertake actions in different scales (local, national, global) to achieve environmental citizenship. A content analysis procedure was implemented on thirty-one empirical studies (n = 31) retrieved from a systematic review of the literature covering the timespan of the last two decades (2000–2020), according to the PRISMA methodology. The findings indicated that the majority of the reviewed environmental CS initiatives primarily enhanced citizens’ skills and knowledge over the competences of attitudes, values, and behaviors. In addition, it was found that CS initiatives empowered primarily citizens’ personal and responsible environmental actions, which were situated in the private sphere and at the local scale. The derived environmental outcomes were mainly related to the solution and prevention of environmental problems. Finally, correlational statistical analysis indicated that there were strong correlations between the Environmental Citizenship (EC) competences, actions and EEC outcomes and unveiled a set of keystone components; namely, components of crucial significance in the field of EC. We reflect on these findings, and we discuss directions for future research. Full article

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27 pages, 2561 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Systematic Literature Review on the Participation Aspects of Environmental and Nature-Based Citizen Science Initiatives

by Michalis A. Vasiliades, Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis, Demetra Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, Anastasia Adamou and Yiannis Georgiou

Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7457; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137457 - 03 Jul 2021

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5027

Abstract

It is commonly argued that, despite the tremendous resonance Citizen Science (CS) has shown in recent years, there is still lack of understanding of important aspects defining citizens’ participation and engagement in CS initiatives. While CS initiatives could provide a vehicle to foster forms of participation contributing to the democratization of science, there is still limited attention paid to the “Citizen” component of the Citizen Science term. For the purpose of this work, we systematically reviewed the available literature for empirical studies in respect to citizens’ participation in environmental and nature-based CS initiatives established during the last two decades, using the PRISMA methodology. The participatory facet of the retrieved 119 CS initiatives was analysed on the basis of: (a) exclusion and inclusion demographic factors, (b) CS models and practices, (c) facilitators and constraints of citizen’s participation, and (d) environmental citizenship. Our findings show that the majority of the CS initiatives did not place restrictions on gender participation; however, we have identified that mostly highly educated adults participated in the reviewed initiatives. In addition, most of the CS initiatives reported in the literature were situated in the EU and USA, were mostly limited to the local scale, and primarily followed the contributory model. Academic institutions were found to coordinate the majority of the CS initiatives examined. By using digital technologies, academic scientists were able to control and increase data quality, as well as to engage a broader audience, even though they were mostly treating volunteers as “data collectors”, desiring their long-term engagement. Therefore, it will be of CS benefit to be better aligned with the mentality and needs of citizens. In this direction CS initiatives should trigger citizens’ learning gains and interpersonal/social benefits and personal, environmental, and social motivations, but also to shift their goals towards contributing to science and citizens’ connection with nature. On the other hand, there is a need to overcome any design and implementation barriers, and to enhance democratization through a more participative engagement of active and aware citizens, thus promoting environmental citizenship. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Education for Environmental Citizenship)

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29 pages, 2031 KiB

Open AccessReview

Teachers’ Perceptions on Environmental Citizenship: A Systematic Review of the Literature

by Yiannis Georgiou, Andreas Ch. Hadjichambis and Demetra Hadjichambi

Sustainability 2021, 13(5), 2622; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052622 - 01 Mar 2021

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 5127

Abstract

As we are living amid an unprecedent environmental crisis, the need for schools to empower students into environmental citizenship is intensifying. Teachers are considered as the main driving force in fostering students’ environmental citizenship. However, a critical question is how teachers conceive environmental citizenship and whether their perceptions of environmental citizenship are well-informed. There is an urgent need to investigate teachers’ perceptions, considering their crucial role in the formation of students’ environmental citizenship. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of environmental citizenship through a systematic review and thematic analysis of relevant empirical studies. The selected studies (n = 16) were published in peer-reviewed journals during the timespan of the last twenty-five (25) years (1995–2020). The thematic findings of this review revealed that teachers’ perceptions: (a) manifest a relatively decreased understanding of environmental citizenship, (b) are narrowed down to the local scale, individual dimension and private sphere, (c) affect teaching practices, (d) are multi-dimensional, defined by inter-related components, (e) vary according to teachers’ educational/cultural background and personal identity, (f) affect other environmental constructs defining teachers’ professional identity, (g) can be enhanced during teacher education, (h) can be also improved during professional development initiatives. These findings bear significant implications for researchers, policymakers, as well as for teacher educators in the field of Environmental Education. Full article

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Other

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19 pages, 1088 KiB

Open AccessHypothesis

A Value-Based Framework Connecting Environmental Citizenship and Change Agents for Sustainability—Implications for Education for Environmental Citizenship

by Ariel Sarid and Daphne Goldman

Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4338; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084338 - 14 Apr 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3660

Abstract

Civic agency is acknowledged as a key driver/catalyst for social transformation toward sustainability. Recent environmental citizenship education (EEC) models advocate a transformative approach for addressing environmental unsustainability (addressing underlying structural causes) and the identification of the development of change agents, as both the means for deep social transformation toward sustainability and the outcome of EEC. Given the paucity of studies looking into the psychological attributes of sustainability change agents, this work aims to deepen the theoretical understanding of the motivations that drive individuals to act as change agents and the type and extent of the change that they aspire to effect, with a view to developing competent environmental citizens. To this end, this conceptual work applies Schwartz’s theory of universal values to construct a three-level framework of environmental citizenship (EC) (individual-level, community-level, and socially-transformative-level). Each level reflects an increasing level of change agency that is driven by distinct motivational values and competences. The framework shares affinities with qualitative change agency typologies in the literature but claims that these different qualitative types reflect expanding ‘levels-of-concern’ and an increasing extent of change, as expressed in the EC framework. The paper then discusses curricular implications for the design of meaningful EEC deriving from the framework: Effective EEC entails developing change agency by adapting learning to the EC-level of the learners and the educational organization. The proposed EC/change agency framework provides a scaffold for such curricular adaptation. Full article

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