IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i11p4757-d1661706.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Developing Secondary School Students’ Sustainable Living Awareness to Help Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

Author

Listed:
  • Aslı Koçulu

    (Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Faculty of Education, Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul 34165, Türkiye)

Abstract

In today’s world, there are numerous challenges all over the world because of human lifestyles. Therefore, raising awareness of sustainable living is crucial to developing ways for everyone to live better while meeting both present and future generations’ environmental, social, and economic needs. In this context, the aim of the current research was to investigate the effects of the learn–think–act-based Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDG) program on secondary school students’ sustainable living awareness. A single-group pre- and post-test model was used in this research. The research group consisted of 34 seventh-grade students enrolled in the “Environmental Education and Climate Change” elective course at a public school in Istanbul, Türkiye. The data were collected using the Sustainable Living Awareness Scale (SLAS). A paired-sample test was used for data analysis. The findings show that there were statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-test total and sub-factor scores of the secondary school students’ sustainable living awareness, with the post-test scores being higher. In other words, the results show that learn–think–act-based ESDG can be an effective way to develop students’ sustainable living awareness.

Suggested Citation

  • Aslı Koçulu, 2025. "Developing Secondary School Students’ Sustainable Living Awareness to Help Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-16, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:11:p:4757-:d:1661706
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/11/4757/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/11/4757/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreja Istenic Starcic & Maja Terlevic & Lin Lin & Maja Lebenicnik, 2018. "Designing Learning for Sustainable Development: Digital Practices as Boundary Crossers and Predictors of Sustainable Lifestyles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Alfonso Piscitelli & Angela Maria D’Uggento, 2022. "Do young people really engage in sustainable behaviors in their lifestyles?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1467-1485, October.
    3. Xabier Villanueva & José Domingo Villarroel & Alvaro Antón, 2018. "Environmental Awareness and Its Relationship with the Concept of the Living Being: A Longitudinal Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-10, July.
    4. Liana Badea & George Laurențiu Șerban-Oprescu & Silvia Dedu & Grigore Ioan Piroșcă, 2020. "The Impact of Education for Sustainable Development on Romanian Economics and Business Students’ Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-17, October.
    5. Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Niklas Gericke & Daniel Olsson & Teresa Berglund, 2015. "The Effectiveness of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-25, November.
    6. Klas Andersson & Sverker C Jagers & Annika Lindskog & Johan Martinsson, 2013. "Learning for the Future? Effects of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) on Teacher Education Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(12), pages 1-18, December.
    7. Anastazija Dimitrova & Antonín Vaishar & Milada Šťastná, 2021. "Preparedness of Young People for a Sustainable Lifestyle: Awareness and Willingness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aslı Koçulu, 2025. "Promoting Sustainable Life Through Global Citizenship-Oriented Educational Approaches: Comparison of Learn–Think–Act Approach-Based and Lecture-Based SDG Instructions on the Development of Students’ S," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-25, October.
    2. Carola Garrecht & Till Bruckermann & Ute Harms, 2018. "Students’ Decision-Making in Education for Sustainability-Related Extracurricular Activities—A Systematic Review of Empirical Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Eva-Maria Waltner & Werner Rieß & Antje Brock, 2018. "Development of an ESD Indicator for Teacher Training and the National Monitoring for ESD Implementation in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    4. Noorita Mohammad & Basri Badyalina & Shahira Ariffin & Nani Ilyana Syafie & Intan Syafinas Mat Shafie & Khamisah Abd Manaf, 2024. "Young People's Involvement in Reused Cooking Oil," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 16(2), pages 19-27.
    5. Chen, Liang & Guo, Yirong, 2023. "The drivers of sustainable development: Natural resources extraction and education for low-middle- and high-income countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    6. Jianping Huang & Yuheng Tao & Minghong Shi & Jun Wu, 2022. "Empirical Study on Design Trend of Taiwan (1960s–2020): The Evolution of Theme, Diversity and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, October.
    7. Kevin Handtke & Lisa Richter-Beuschel & Susanne Bögeholz, 2022. "Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Teaching ESD: A Theory-Driven Instrument and the Effectiveness of ESD in German Teacher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-32, May.
    8. Nina Kolleck & Helge Jörgens & Mareike Well, 2017. "Levels of Governance in Policy Innovation Cycles in Community Education: The Cases of Education for Sustainable Development and Climate Change Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-16, October.
    9. Alba Manresa & Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent & Úrsula Faura-Martínez & Juan-Vicente Llinares-Ciscar, 2021. "What Do Freshmen Know about Sustainability? Analysing the Skill Gap among University Business Administration Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-21, August.
    10. Bogdan Fleaca & Elena Fleaca & Sanda Maiduc, 2023. "Framing Teaching for Sustainability in the Case of Business Engineering Education: Process-Centric Models and Good Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-19, January.
    11. Javier Cifuentes-Faura & Ursula Faura-Martínez & Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga, 2020. "Assessment of Sustainable Development in Secondary School Economics Students According to Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, July.
    12. Matthias Kowasch & Joana P. Cruz & Pedro Reis & Niklas Gericke & Katharina Kicker, 2021. "Climate Youth Activism Initiatives: Motivations and Aims, and the Potential to Integrate Climate Activism into ESD and Transformative Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, October.
    13. Quentin Ssossé & Johanna Wagner & Carina Hopper, 2021. "Assessing the Impact of ESD: Methods, Challenges, Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-26, March.
    14. Arantza Rico & Elena Agirre-Basurko & Aritz Ruiz-González & Igone Palacios-Agundez & Daniel Zuazagoitia, 2021. "Integrating Mathematics and Science Teaching in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development: Design and Pilot Implementation of a Teaching-Learning Sequence about Air Quality with Pre-Service," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.
    15. Thomas J. Lampoltshammer & Valerie Albrecht & Corinna Raith, 2021. "Teaching Digital Sustainability in Higher Education from a Transdisciplinary Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-21, October.
    16. Maria P. Amador-Alarcón & Carlos A. Torres-Gastelú & Agustín Lagunes-Domínguez & Héctor Medina-Cruz & César A. Argüello-Rosales, 2022. "Perceptions of Environmental Protection of University Students: A Look through Digital Competences in Mexico," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-12, September.
    17. Gamze Sart, 2022. "Impact of Higher Education and Globalization on Sustainable Development in the New EU Member States," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-13, September.
    18. Liyuan Liu & Steven Donbavand & Bryony Hoskins & Jan Germen Janmaat & Dimokritos Kavadias, 2021. "Measuring and Evaluating the Effectiveness of Active Citizenship Education Programmes to Support Disadvantaged Youth," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-10, October.
    19. Mirko Prosen & Rebeka Lekše & Sabina Ličen, 2023. "Health Professionals’ Role in Promoting Health and Environmental Sustainability through Sustainable Food Advocacy: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-13, September.
    20. Vasiliki Kioupi & Nikolaos Voulvoulis, 2019. "Education for Sustainable Development: A Systemic Framework for Connecting the SDGs to Educational Outcomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:11:p:4757-:d:1661706. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.