Exploring Community Insights on Successful Environmental Education

Abstract

This study focusses on Environmental Education (EE) as it encourages citizens to develop pro-environmental awareness, behaviours, and values. EE is essential for improving layperson understanding of environmental issues, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, and encourages them to take action and promote long-term behaviour change. The small-scale study investigated what forms of EE had been successful for adult community members, using mixed survey methods. There were 46 questionnaire respondents and 18 interviewees. Through participant self-reporting and grounded theory interpretation, success was assessed by comparing a selection of activities and open responses to the three goals outlined in UNESCO’s 1977 Tbilisi Declaration. The study reveals important factors for future Environmental Education interventions in this community, including barriers and triggers, the prominence of visual and emotional impressions, the need for practical individual-level actions, and the key role that other community members play. Key findings show that the selection of EE activities presented to respondents were generally ineffective at meeting the goals. Despite some shortcomings, three activities performed relatively well: printed articles, information signs, and litter-picking events (which were particularly impactful). Their strengths and weaknesses are discussed, highlighting the difference that litter-picking events focus on taking action, before transmitting knowledge.