Knowledge and Actions of Young People Living in Rural Territories and Facing Environmental Problems

Abstract

Context: Humanity is facing a big environmental crisis due to the effects anthropocentrism has against nature. Learning about environmental education has become one of the best alternatives in taking care of our planet; for that reason, living in a safe and clean environment has been considered a positive impact on human rights. Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to identify the knowledge levels that young people living in rural landscapes have on the topic of environmental crisis, as well as and their opinions on how it affects their surroundings. Methodology: 260 students (143 women and 117 men) were selected to answer a questionary to learn what knowledge they have about the environmental situation. These students belong to the careers Technician in Sustainable Agriculture and Technician in Computer Science of the Center for Bachelor in Agricultural Technology (CBTA, in Spanish) No. 254 “Aquiles Serdán Alatriste” of Cuacnopalan, Palmar de Bravo (Puebla, Mexico). Results: The results or the responses were organized using Network Analysis (NA) to know the general opinion that this part of the population has on the environmental problem, its effects, the actions taken to address these effects, and about human rights. The results show that these students associate environmental problems mostly with trash and the only way they know to help is related to the three R’s strategy (Recycle, Reuse, Reduce). Conclusions: According to the results, students tend to associate environmental problem mostly with trash and seem to not know the effects this problem has on their everyday lives, thus having little knowledge on strategies taken to address the overall issue. Additionally, they seem to have a horizontal vision on the issue on human rights, specially related to a safe environment. Financing: This work was funded by the National Council of Science and Technology (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología).