Strategies to mitigate climate change often center on clean technologies, such as electric vehicles and solar panels, while the mitigation potential of a quality educational experience is rarely discussed. In this paper, we investigate the long-term impact that an intensive oneyear university course had on individual carbon emissions by surveying students at least five years after having taken the course. A majority of course graduates reported pro-environmental decisions (i.e., type of car to buy, food choices) that they attributed at least in part to experiences gained in the course. Furthermore, our carbon footprint analysis suggests that for the average course graduate, these decisions reduced their individual carbon emissions by 2.86 tons of CO 2 per year. Surveys and focus group interviews identify that course graduates have developed a strong personal connection to climate change solutions, and this is realized in their daily behaviors and through their professional careers. The paper discusses in more detail the specific components of the course that are believed to be most impactful, and the uncertainties associated with this type of research design. Our analysis also demonstrates that if similar education programs were applied at scale, the potential reductions in carbon emissions would be of similar magnitude to other large-scale mitigation strategies, such as rooftop solar or electric vehicles.
20 Strategies to mitigate climate change often center on clean technologies such as electric vehicles 21 and solar panels, while the mitigation potential of a quality educational experience is rarely 22 discussed. In this paper, we investigate the long-term impact that an intensive one-year 23 university course had on individual carbon emissions by surveying students at least five years 24 after having taken the course. A majority of course graduates reported pro-environmental 25 decisions (i.e., type of car to buy, food choices) that can be attributed to experiences gained in 26 the course. Furthermore, our carbon footprint analysis demonstrates that for the average course 27 graduate, these decisions reduced their individual carbon emissions by 2.86 tons of CO 2 per year.28 Focus group interviews identify that course graduates have developed a strong personal 29 connection to climate change solutions, and this is realized in their daily behaviors and through 30 their professional careers. The paper discusses in more detail the specific components of the 31 course that are believed to be most impactful, and it shares preliminary outcomes from similar 32 curriculum designs that are being used with K-12 students. Our analysis also demonstrates that if 33 similar education programs were applied at scale, the potential reductions in carbon emissions 34 would be of similar magnitude to other large-scale mitigation strategies such as rooftop solar or 35 electric vehicles. 36 37 38 39 3 40 1. Introduction 41 In 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change stated, "Education is an 42 essential element for mounting an adequate global response to climate change" (UNFCCC 43 1992). Few would argue against the importance of education in providing an informed response 44 to environmental problems. Solutions to climate change tend to focus on mitigation and 45 adaptation measures, and successful implementation of either strategy requires an informed and 46 educated citizenry. Yet despite the notion of education's importance in responding to climate 47 change, education is rarely mentioned in discussions of today's major climate solution strategies. 48 One reason that education programs do not often feature in discussions about climate change 49 mitigation is that education programs typically have insufficient data to verify reductions in 50 carbon emissions. This is in contrast to technologies such as renewable energy generation and 51 the electrification of automobiles that can demonstrate reductions in carbon emissions using data. 52 Should education be shown to be an effective tool to reducing emissions via changes in behavior 53 and attitudes, it would seem likely that funding and interest in such methods would become more 54 widespread and well supported. 55 Education has been found to be one method for promoting behavior change, but only under 56 certain circumstances (e.g., Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002; Lyons et al. 2006). The environmental 57 education literature offers some insight into the connections...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.