Department of Education, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Campus Sant Cugat, Josep Trueta, Sant Cugat del Vallès, 08195 Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Pedagogy, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Campus Sescelades, 43007 Tarragona, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Nov 27;17(23):8826. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17238826.
In the last decade, universities worldwide have adopted various measures intended to promote sustainability in higher education and include it in the curriculum. However, although this paradigm shift appears to be contributing to students' acquisition of the knowledge, skills and values necessary to fight for a more sustainable world, serious global crises such as the present SARS-CoV-2 pandemic oblige us to rethink our behaviour and spur us to accelerate the move towards a deep-seated commitment to the environment and people. Therefore, the aims of this study were (a) to explore consumption habits in students at four Spanish universities by analysing their individual ecological footprint (EF); (b) to develop indices of connection with nature and a pro-environmental attitude and to determine relationships between these indices and students' consumption. Among other factors, our results showed that private university students have a higher EF than public university students; that food consumption has the greatest impact on individuals' EF; and that those who consume more sustainably do not show a more pro-environmental attitude or feel a greater connection with nature. Therefore, we conclude that there was no apparent direct relationship between study participants' convictions and their daily behaviour. There is a pressing need in education to demonstrate the connection between our actions and their environmental impact.
在过去的十年中，世界各地的大学采取了各种措施，旨在促进高等教育的可持续性，并将其纳入课程。然而，尽管这种范式转变似乎有助于学生获得为更可持续的世界而奋斗所需的知识、技能和价值观，但像目前 SARS-CoV-2 大流行这样的严重全球危机迫使我们重新思考我们的行为，并促使我们加快向对环境和人民的深刻承诺转变。因此，本研究的目的是(a)通过分析他们的个人生态足迹（EF）来探索西班牙四所大学学生的消费习惯；(b)制定与自然的联系和环保态度的指标，并确定这些指标与学生消费之间的关系。除其他因素外，我们的结果表明，私立大学的学生比公立大学的学生拥有更高的 EF；食物消费对个人 EF 的影响最大；那些消费更可持续的人并没有表现出更环保的态度或与自然有更强的联系。因此，我们得出结论，研究参与者的信念与其日常行为之间没有明显的直接关系。在教育中迫切需要展示我们的行动与环境影响之间的联系。
