Assessment of Environmental Literacy: A Case Study of Yazd Citizens’ Awareness, Attitudes, and Practices in 2017

Abstract

Introduction: With regard to the importance of the environment in sustainable development along with environmental literacy among citizens, the present study aimed to assess the levels of environmental literacy (i.e. awareness  , attitudes, and practices) among citizens residing in the city of Yazd, Iran, on the subject of environmental issues and challenges.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive--analytical study, the sample size was determined by 410 individuals as citizens aged over 18 years living in the city of Yazd based on the Cochran formula. The data selection tool was also a researcher-made questionnaire comprised of items on demographic characteristics information as well as levels of awareness, attitudes, and practices concerning the environment such as air pollution, waste management, water resources scarcity, soil pollution, etc. in 2017. Face validity verified by 10 qualified individuals as the faculty members and Reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.93. The collected data was analyzed using the   SPSS 22 software through descriptive statistics along with Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Chi-Square test in addition to Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r). In this study, significance level was considered as 0.05.

Results: awareness score was statistically significant in terms of age, level of education, and employment status (p-value<0.05). However, attitudes were only in a significant relationship with employment status (p-value=0.004). The relationship between practice score was also statistically significant with regard to age, marital status, and area of residence (p-value<0.05). A significant relationship was further observed between age and level of income and level of awareness, but there was no significant relationship considering attitudes (p-value>0.05). Moreover, a positive correlation was found between awareness, attitude, and practice scores (0.323≥ r ≥0.28, p-value=0.000).

Conclusion: Although awareness among Yazd citizens on some environmental issues was at low levels, in general, their awareness specifically regarding health issues stemming from air pollution was proper. In view of the importance of environmental factors, it is necessary to conduct various research studies to identify and control these factors and to carry out further intervention studies to find right and proper solutions before their implementation.