IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v18y2026i9p4194-d1926919.html

Early Sustainability Consciousness in Primary Education: Insights from the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire

Author

Listed:
  • Myrto Koutra-Iliopoulou

    (Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, School of Education Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10680 Athens, Greece)

  • Apostolia Galani

    (Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, School of Education Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10680 Athens, Greece)

  • Katerina Plakitsi

    (Department of Early Childhood Education, School of Education, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece)

  • Constantine Skordoulis

    (Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, School of Education Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10680 Athens, Greece)

  • Evangelia Mavrikaki

    (Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, School of Education Sciences, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 10680 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether sustainability consciousness is already developed in the final years of primary education. The study involved n = 1532 students in grades 5 and 6 from n = 48 primary schools in the Epirus region of Greece during the 2024–2025 school year. To assess their knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors related to sustainable development, we used the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire, which was reverse-translated into Greek and tested in a pilot study for age appropriateness. Reliability was examined, and all three subscales—knowingness, attitudes, and behavior—showed statistically significant positive correlations. Students generally reported high levels of sustainability consciousness, with girls consistently scoring higher across all categories. The findings highlight the potential to foster sustainability-related values and practices early in education, providing original evidence from Greek primary schools and expanding the instrument’s international use among younger learners.

Suggested Citation

  • Myrto Koutra-Iliopoulou & Apostolia Galani & Katerina Plakitsi & Constantine Skordoulis & Evangelia Mavrikaki, 2026. "Early Sustainability Consciousness in Primary Education: Insights from the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:18:y:2026:i:9:p:4194-:d:1926919
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/9/4194/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/9/4194/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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:18:y:2026:i:9:p:4194-:d:1926919. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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 The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (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.