Estimation of environmental awareness among university students - A focus on water scarcity in Taiwan

Abstract

Due to the extreme climate change, air and water pollution, environmental issues have become a global problem. In recent years Taiwan, despite being the country with the highest rate of precipitation of any developed country in the world, has faced a severe water crisis which is expected to worsen in the 21st century. To enable the sustainable use of water resources, the Water Resources Agency has established guidelines of water resources management in terms of allocation of water resources, improvement of water use efficiency, and saving water. However, official data regarding suggest that these efforts are not reflected in an increased environmental awareness in society. This study aims at investigating Taiwanese students’ environmental awareness, this one intended as a measure of a person’s ability to understand the nature of environmental problems and the existing cause-effect relationship with human activities. We focus on the three dimensions of awareness: i.e. environmental perception, attitude, and behavior towards environmental issues, with particular reference to water scarcity-related problems. This study utilized a questionnaire distributed among 200 students in Hsinchu, a city in northern Taiwan with the second highest per capita daily tap water consumption. Overall, respondents show relatively high levels of awareness and a positive attitude toward the environment. However, despite being for the most part aware of water scarcity on the island, the students in the sample are not concerned by it and deem other issues to be of greatest importance. The main results also indicate that young people in Taiwan are very prone to change and willing to engage in environmental protection behaviors, a major resource that the government should make full use of in order to tackle the issues of water scarcity affecting the island.