The impact analysis of education on raising awareness towards climate change and energy efficiency

Abstract

The growing negative impact of human activities increases the effect of climate change. People must adapt and change their behaviour and attitudes towards solving current environmental problems and preventing new ones. Non-formal education, such as educational workshops on environmental topics, could give results in the short term. In this research, workshops on energy efficiency and climate change were used to increase environmental knowledge and to track changes in environmental attitudes regarding generational affiliation. Workshops for pupils were held in selected primary schools in Vojvodina region in Republic of Serbia. The achievement of workshops on energy efficiency and climate change attitudes at pupils and transfer of the knowledge gained at workshops to their parents were considered through the following three attributes: perception of personal knowledge and awareness, intensity of intergenerational communication, and knowledge. Assessment of the workshops’ achievements was accomplished by preliminary and final survey, and results were compared using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Key findings in this research revealed that there is a significant potential for changes in the attitudes by raising awareness through knowledge in pupils, but also at parents, through intergeneration communication and knowledge transfer.