Sustainability

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Dear Colleagues,

Education is among the key elements of sustainable development and climate mitigation, providing benefits in terms of scientific literacy, information, formation, involvement, and behavioral activation, areas which constitute the basis of global citizenship. Transdisciplinary education on sustainability includes developing a scientific understanding of today’s ecological crises and the mitigation solutions available, the psychological aspects involved in eco-anxiety and pro-environmental behavior, the economic and social factors involved, as well as the institutional actors at local and global levels.

This Special Issue aims to publish contributions on the role of education in reaching the sustainable development goals set by the UN in the 2030 Agenda. Reaching such goals may require a rethinking of education at all levels by all the educational institutions contributing to citizens’ development. We welcome submissions that present innovative teaching experiences and proposals for specialized and interdisciplinary educational programs. The educational contents proposed must be aimed at one or more of the following: strengthening scientific knowledge, investigating and addressing the psychological aspects of pro-environmental behaviors, raising awareness on the economic and social factors involved in today’s ecological crises, and highlighting the institutional actors involved at the local and the global levels.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Education Sciences.

Dr. Pasquale Onorato
Dr. Marco Di Mauro
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

science education
scientific literacy
climate change
environmental education
climate psychology
climate action
environmental economy
sustainable development
environmental law

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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22 pages, 3170 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of the Law in Prompting Environmental Stewardship for Farms Located Near Phosphate Mines

by Abdullah Banikhalid and Michel Rahbeh

Sustainability 2024, 16(3), 1140; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16031140 - 29 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1591

Abstract

The effectiveness of environmental laws depends on several factors, including the cooperation between the stakeholders, compliance, and implementation. This research investigated the effectiveness of the Jordanian environmental laws in protecting agricultural lands near phosphate mines that are operated by the Jordanian Phosphate Mining Corporation (JPMC). The two other stakeholders involved are the Ministry of Environment (MOENV) and the farmers. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the environmental law was based on a hypothetical model that considers consecutive relations between awareness, commitment, and compliance. A second model was based on monitoring and enforcement as catalysts to the awareness and commitment that lead to compliance. The research problem was addressed using three questionnaires based on a 5-point Likert scale. The results showed modest compliance by the farmers and the absence of a correlation between awareness and commitment, as well as a lack of monitoring by the MOENV. The consecutive model can explain the compliance of the JPMC, since awareness, commitment, and compliance were well correlated despite the lack of managerial involvement by the JPMC in enhancing environmental awareness. It is recommended that more resources be allocated to increase the monitoring activities by the MOENV and study the social and economic factors influencing farmers’ compliance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Future Trends of Sustainable Environmental Education)

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Review

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18 pages, 12148 KiB

Open AccessReview

Analysis of Knowledge Graph: Hotspots and Future Trends in Environmental Education Research

by Yongli Tian, Yuchang Jin, Yadi Zhao, Yifan Du, Sicen Shen and Junxiu An

Sustainability 2024, 16(6), 2378; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062378 - 13 Mar 2024

Viewed by 676

Abstract

Currently, as human society develops, environmental issues have become one of the significant challenges faced by humanity. Consequently, environmental education has emerged in response to this need. Environmental education aims to cultivate citizens with knowledge about the environment, which is crucial in addressing global challenges, fostering human–nature sustainability knowledge, and cultivating resilient individuals and communities. A comprehensive analysis of the current state of environmental education and exploring how environmental education can enhance the sustainability of interactions between humans and nature is one of the focal points of contemporary research. This systematic review employs CiteSpace to visually analyze the advancements of environmental education research, aiming to uncover the current status, predominant themes, evolutionary trajectories, and emerging trends. The Web of Science core collection database was examined to retrieve environmental education research papers published from 2013 to 2022. A total of 1851 papers were included in the final analysis. CiteSpace was utilized for visualizing and analyzing environmental education researchers, keyword co-occurrences, and keyword clustering, and Timeview was employed to generate relevant maps. The analysis identified five major hotspots in environmental education research: environmental awareness and literacy, theories in environmental education, delivery modes and methods, developments and implementation of environmental education, and the intersection of climate change and environmental justice. Emerging research directions include environmental justice, climate change education, critical environmental education, and environmental citizenship education. The results show that environmental education is gradually transcending the natural realm currently and integrating into a holistic framework encompassing societal, economic, and political dimensions. Environmental citizenship education is increasingly attracting the attention of scholars. Solving environmental problems requires interdisciplinary dialogue. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges and Future Trends of Sustainable Environmental Education)

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