ENVIRONMENTAL CITIZENSHIP FOR THE RATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF HOUSEHOLD AND SIMILAR WASTE IN THE CITY OF BEJAIA, ALGÉRIA (REPORT AND LIMITS)

The problematic of rational management of household and similar wasteis a responsibility shared between all the actors of the city. The citizen or user has a great contribution in the success of this management. This by contribution to the realization of their duty and right in the collection of household and similar waste (HSW). The objective of this study is to examine the degree of enrollment of environmental citizenship in relation to the management of (HSW) in the collection and pre-collection phase in the city of Bejaia. The amount of waste generated in this city continues to increase (0.84 Kg/d /Inhabitant), with a daily tonnage which reaches 191 tonnes. These quantities of household waste produced and thrown away daily appear dispersed and scattered randomly in the sectors of the city. This observation reflects the negative behavior of the inhabitants, and has caused several consequences on the living environment, and on the tourist vocation of the city in general. This does not allow the city to play its functionality and represents a discomfort in front of all users, and particularly a failure in front of the actors of this city. Resorting to the implementation of shared management will allow the city of Bejaia to strengthen the level of environmental citizenship. Thus, correct the level of offset in the collection phase.

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

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.

Promoting Environmental Citizenship Through Local Socio-Cultural Traditions in Science Education

This article asks how the site-specific parameters of pro-environmental behaviour can be seen in educational doctrines and in the practices of science education, and what impact they have on the development of environmental citizenship. Environmental citizenship as an agent of change is key to sustainability transition. Our viewpoint is that a contextual resource doctrine provides a framework of people’s environmental values, meaning both the capacity to fulfil the requirements of the doctrine and the ability to critically reflect it by rational-scientific arguments. Thus, place-specificity and sense of place should be highlighted in citizenship science education. In order to explain the multi-scalar nature of learning requirements, we apply the idea of ‘trans-contextualisation’ in science education. In the article we use examples which are derived from university students’ favourite places reflecting sense of place as well as three cases, which start from the near secondary school students’ environment and discuss local environmental issues. In this study we used qualitative and quantitative research methods. The results show that by promoting contextually sensitive environmental citizenship through Socio-scientific Issues (SSI) in science education, we could accelerate the transition to sustainable future. If cultural traditions, anecdotal and local knowledge are not incorporated in the expert scientific knowledge, sustainability transition is constantly in danger for remaining an isolated activity in the shadow of resource realism.

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

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.

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

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.

The Importance of International Collaboration to Enhance Education for Environmental Citizenship

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.