The most devastating effects of climate change may be avoided if humans reduce activities that produce greenhouse gases and engage instead in more sustainable ecological behaviors. The current mixed methods study of 279 undergraduate students explored whether environmental worldview, belief in climate change, knowledge of climate change, personal efficacy, and intention to address climate change influenced participants’ engagement in ecological behavior. Results indicated that those with a stronger intention to address climate change and a more ecocentric worldview reported significantly more ecological behavior. Next, the study examined whether participants’ intentions to address climate change mediated the relationship between their belief in climate change and engagement in ecological behavior and whether intentions mediated the relationship between efficacy and ecological behavior. Intentions to address climate change did not mediate the relationship between belief and ecological behavior but fully mediated the relationship between efficacy to address climate change and ecological behavior.

Aplinkosauginis ir ekologinis ugdymas skatina pažinti aplinką bei suteikia gilesnius pažintinius gamtos mokslų gebėjimus, skatina aplinkai palankaus elgesio motyvaciją, atsakomybę už savo veiksmus. Visuomenės aplinkosauginis sąmoningumas yra svarbus įgyvendint aplinkos politiką ir siekiant darnaus vystymosi plačiąja prasme, o visuomenės informavimas ir švietimas tampa esmine kaitos ir pilietinės veiklos prielaida. Aukštosios mokyklos yra viena iš sudėtinių švietimo sistemos dalių. Šio darbo tikslas yra ištirti VDU studentų ekologines nuostatas ir nustatyti ekologinio sąmoningumo lygį bei jį sąlygojančius veiksnius. Tikslui pasiekti semestro pradžioje buvo apklausta 447 respondentai, o semestro pabaigoje 552 respondentai. Norint įvertinti kaip kito studentų ekologinis sąmoningumas semestro pradžioje ir pabaigoje buvo naudojamas Vilkoksono ženklų kriterijus. Buvo skaičiuotas vidutinis gausumo rangas, rezultatai laikomi statistiškai reikšmingais, kai p<0,05 ir (atskirais atvejais p<0,1). Apibendrinus apklausos duomenis, paaiškėjo, kad išklausytas biomedicinos ir fizinių mokslų kursas reikšmingos įtakos studentų aplinkosauginio sąmoningumo lygmens pasirinkimui neturėjo (Z= -1,136, p>0,05). Toki pat duomenys gauti ir analizuojant respondentų domėjimąsi ekologija, aplinkos problemomis (Z=-0,306, p>0,05). Taip pat buvo tiriamas atsakomybės priskyrimas už aplinkos apsaugą. Mažiausiai studentų požiūris kito asmeninio atsakingumo už aplinkos apsaugą, o labiausiai žiniasklaidos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Environmental and ecological education promotes knowledge of the environment and provide a deeper cognitive science skills and promote environmentally friendly behavior motivation, responsibility for their actions. Public environmental awareness is important for realization of environmental policy and sustainable development in the broad sense, and public information and education is a fundamental change and civil activity assumption. High school is one of the constituent parts of the education system. The aim is to explore the ecological VDU students and establish a level of environmental awareness and the factors determining it. In order to achieve a semester at the beginning of 447 respondents were interviewed and at the end of the semester 552 respondents. In order to assess the evolution of students environmental awareness at the beginning and end of the semester was used Wilcoxon criteria. The calculated average abundance rank, is considered statistically significant at p <0.05 and (in some cases, p<0.1). Summarizing the survey data showed that heard in biomedical and physical sciences course material didn‘t impact on students environmental awareness level (Z = -1.136, p>0.05). The same data were obtained and the analysis of respondents interest in ecology and environmental problems (Z =-0.306, p>0.05). It has also been studied in attribution of responsibility for environmental protection. At least student attitudes change students personal responsibility for... [to full text]

Contingent valuation has been given a psychological interpretation, by Kahneman and colleagues, that claims willingness to pay bids represent psychological attitudes rather than personal economic valuations. Evidence reported here shows the need to qualify the role of this attitudinal explanation. In contradiction to the attitudinal hypothesis, the decision to bid zero or positive appears to represent a complex psychological appraisal. Furthermore, evidence of bid clustering on currency denominations implies fundamental differences concerning how people respond to a monetary scale. Whether interpreted as charitable contributions or imprecise welfare estimates there are serious implications for how economists interpret and use stated preference responses. (authors' abstract)

A adoção de práticas sustentáveis desde à produção de alimentos até o consumo final tem sido mais frequente nos últimos anos. Essas práticas sustentáveis estão embasadas na promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável, sem prejudicar as gerações futuras da humanidade. Nesse contexto, os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares se deparam com diversos desafios quando se trata da diminuição de impactos ambientais e, em consequência, da promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável. A adoção de práticas sustentáveis é resultado da compreensão da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos, os quais desencadeiam as atitudes pró-ambientais e, assim, resulta em um comportamento ecológico. Neste sentido, objetivou-se analisar a influência da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos sobre as atitudes pró-ambientais dos proprietários das agroindústrias familiares vinculadas ao PEAF/RS. Os dados foram coletados por meio da aplicação de questionário, com quatro grupos de questões (perfil das agroindústrias familiares e atitudes pró-ambientais, Escala NEP, perfil socioeconômico, Escala Schwartz). A amostra corresponde aos 105 proprietários de agroindústrias familiares do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados foram analisados utilizando estatística descritiva, analise fatorial e correlação. Os resultados apresentam que mais da metade da amostra é composta por adultos, com grau de escolaridade elevado e com formação em cursos voltados para a gestão da agroindústria Além disso, 37% das agroindústrias familiares têm um tempo de existência entre um a cinco anos, com mão de obra familiar e com atividades predominantes em olericultura, bebidas e panificados, nas cidades de Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria e Lajeado. A aplicação das escalas, demonstrou que os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares possuem um nível elevado de consciência ambiental, com predominância nos valores humanos de ordem superior “conservação” e “autotranscendência”. Tais resultados revelam uma tendência de possuir um comportamento ecocêntrico e altruísta, conforme a Escala NEP e Schwartz, respectivamente. Além disso, observou-se que as agroindústrias familiares têm atitudes pró-ambientais, as quais são implantadas e praticadas pela agroindústria. De modo geral, 40% dos proprietários das agroindústrias acreditam que o empreendimento tem mais de 80% de atividades pró-ambientais, tais como, o uso de embalagens recicláveis, a prática de conscientização ambiental, a economia de energia, o uso correto do descarte dos resíduos sólidos. Porém não foi encontrado correlação entre as escalas e as atitudes pró-ambientais. Portanto, entende-se que esses resultados auxiliam as esferas federativas na formulação de uma política de benefícios, motivando-os aqueles que possuem mais adequação à preservação ambiental e incentivando outros proprietários a praticarem mais ações ambientais. / The adoption of sustainable practices from food production to final consumption has been more frequent in recent years. These sustainable practices are based on the promotion of sustainable development, without harming future generations of humanity. In this context, the owners of family agroindustries face several challenges when it comes to reducing environmental impacts and, as a consequence, promoting sustainable rural development. The adoption of sustainable practices is the result of an understanding of environmental awareness and human values, which triggers pro-environmental attitudes and thus results in ecological behavior. In this sense, the objective was to analyze the influence of environmental awareness and human values on the pro-environmental attitudes of the owners of family agroindustries linked to PEAF/RS. Data were collected through the application of a questionnaire, with four groups of questions (profile of family agroindustries and pro-environmental attitudes, NEP Scale, socioeconomic profile, Schwartz Scale). The sample corresponds to the 105 owners of family agroindustries in Rio Grande do Sul. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factorial analysis and correlation. The results show that more than half of the sample is composed of adults, with a high level of education and training in courses aimed at the management of agribusiness. In addition, 37% of family agroindustries have a life span of between one and five years, with family labor and predominant activities in olericultura, beverages and baked goods, in the cities of Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria and Lajeado The application of the scales, showed that the owners of the family agroindustries have a high level of environmental awareness, with a predominance of human values of higher order "conservation" and "self-transcendence". These results reveal a tendency to have an ecocentric and altruistic behavior, according to the NEP and Schwartz Scales, respectively. In addition, it was observed that family agroindustries have pro-environmental attitudes, which are implemented and practiced by the agroindustry. In general, 40% of the owners of agroindustries believe that the enterprise has more than 80% of pro-environmental activities, such as the use of recyclable packaging, the practice of environmental awareness, energy saving, the correct use of waste of solid waste. However, no correlation was found between the scales and the pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, it is understood that these results help federative spheres in the formulation of a benefits policy, motivating those that are more adequate to environmental preservation and encouraging other owners to practice more environmental actions.

A adoção de práticas sustentáveis desde à produção de alimentos até o consumo final tem sido mais frequente nos últimos anos. Essas práticas sustentáveis estão embasadas na promoção do desenvolvimento sustentável, sem prejudicar as gerações futuras da humanidade. Nesse contexto, os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares se deparam com diversos desafios quando se trata da diminuição de impactos ambientais e, em consequência, da promoção do desenvolvimento rural sustentável. A adoção de práticas sustentáveis é resultado da compreensão da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos, os quais desencadeiam as atitudes pró-ambientais e, assim, resulta em um comportamento ecológico. Neste sentido, objetivou-se analisar a influência da consciência ambiental e dos valores humanos sobre as atitudes pró-ambientais dos proprietários das agroindústrias familiares vinculadas ao PEAF/RS. Os dados foram coletados por meio da aplicação de questionário, com quatro grupos de questões (perfil das agroindústrias familiares e atitudes pró-ambientais, Escala NEP, perfil socioeconômico, Escala Schwartz). A amostra corresponde aos 105 proprietários de agroindústrias familiares do Rio Grande do Sul. Os dados foram analisados utilizando estatística descritiva, analise fatorial e correlação. Os resultados apresentam que mais da metade da amostra é composta por adultos, com grau de escolaridade elevado e com formação em cursos voltados para a gestão da agroindústria Além disso, 37% das agroindústrias familiares têm um tempo de existência entre um a cinco anos, com mão de obra familiar e com atividades predominantes em olericultura, bebidas e panificados, nas cidades de Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria e Lajeado. A aplicação das escalas, demonstrou que os proprietários das agroindústrias familiares possuem um nível elevado de consciência ambiental, com predominância nos valores humanos de ordem superior “conservação” e “autotranscendência”. Tais resultados revelam uma tendência de possuir um comportamento ecocêntrico e altruísta, conforme a Escala NEP e Schwartz, respectivamente. Além disso, observou-se que as agroindústrias familiares têm atitudes pró-ambientais, as quais são implantadas e praticadas pela agroindústria. De modo geral, 40% dos proprietários das agroindústrias acreditam que o empreendimento tem mais de 80% de atividades pró-ambientais, tais como, o uso de embalagens recicláveis, a prática de conscientização ambiental, a economia de energia, o uso correto do descarte dos resíduos sólidos. Porém não foi encontrado correlação entre as escalas e as atitudes pró-ambientais. Portanto, entende-se que esses resultados auxiliam as esferas federativas na formulação de uma política de benefícios, motivando-os aqueles que possuem mais adequação à preservação ambiental e incentivando outros proprietários a praticarem mais ações ambientais. / The adoption of sustainable practices from food production to final consumption has been more frequent in recent years. These sustainable practices are based on the promotion of sustainable development, without harming future generations of humanity. In this context, the owners of family agroindustries face several challenges when it comes to reducing environmental impacts and, as a consequence, promoting sustainable rural development. The adoption of sustainable practices is the result of an understanding of environmental awareness and human values, which triggers pro-environmental attitudes and thus results in ecological behavior. In this sense, the objective was to analyze the influence of environmental awareness and human values on the pro-environmental attitudes of the owners of family agroindustries linked to PEAF/RS. Data were collected through the application of a questionnaire, with four groups of questions (profile of family agroindustries and pro-environmental attitudes, NEP Scale, socioeconomic profile, Schwartz Scale). The sample corresponds to the 105 owners of family agroindustries in Rio Grande do Sul. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factorial analysis and correlation. The results show that more than half of the sample is composed of adults, with a high level of education and training in courses aimed at the management of agribusiness. In addition, 37% of family agroindustries have a life span of between one and five years, with family labor and predominant activities in olericultura, beverages and baked goods, in the cities of Caxias do Sul, Santa Maria and Lajeado The application of the scales, showed that the owners of the family agroindustries have a high level of environmental awareness, with a predominance of human values of higher order "conservation" and "self-transcendence". These results reveal a tendency to have an ecocentric and altruistic behavior, according to the NEP and Schwartz Scales, respectively. In addition, it was observed that family agroindustries have pro-environmental attitudes, which are implemented and practiced by the agroindustry. In general, 40% of the owners of agroindustries believe that the enterprise has more than 80% of pro-environmental activities, such as the use of recyclable packaging, the practice of environmental awareness, energy saving, the correct use of waste of solid waste. However, no correlation was found between the scales and the pro-environmental attitudes. Therefore, it is understood that these results help federative spheres in the formulation of a benefits policy, motivating those that are more adequate to environmental preservation and encouraging other owners to practice more environmental actions.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivos verificar as propriedades psicométricas da Escala de Atitudes Ambientais para Crianças (EAAC; adaptada de Leeming, Dwyer, Porter & Bracker, 1995) e da Escala Infantil de Satisfação com o Ambiente (EISA; criada pelo Grupo de Pesquisa em Psicologia Comunitária); verificar a associação entre bem-estar pessoal (mensurado através da Personal Wellbeing Index) e variáveis ambientais e analisar as atitudes ambientais das crianças da amostra. Foram realizados três estudos, com 1746 crianças (53,5% meninas) com idades entre 8 e 13 anos (M = 10.17; DP = 1.492) residentes de Porto Alegre (54.9%) e do interior do Rio Grande do Sul (45.1%). Os resultados do primeiro estudo indicaram que os instrumentos analisados, EAAC e EISA, apresentam bons índices de ajuste para a amostra pesquisada quando da realização na análise fatorial (exploratória e confirmatória). Com relação ao segundo estudo, as análises de regressão multivariadas indicaram que o PWI é explicado pelos itens da EAAC em 11.5% e pelos itens da EISA em 14.4%. Estão associoados ao bem-estar pessoal: a satisfação com o ambiente residencial e escolar, as atitudes ambientais que envolvem a família, o contato com a natureza e o contato com animais. O terceiro estudo buscou verificar se existem diferenças entre grupos para as atitudes ambientais e os resultados indicaram que as crianças que estudam em escolas públicas, assim como as crianças que vivem em cidades do interior e as crianças mais novas, tendem a desenvolver mais atitudes favoráveis ao ambiente. Em uma etapa qualitativa do terceiro estudo, as crianças mencionaram preocupar-se com a crise ambiental e apresentaram atitudes ambientais voltadas a ações cotidianas e de ativismo. / This dissertation aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Children’s Environmental Attitudes Scale (EACC; adjusted from Leeming, Dwyer, Porter & Bracker, 1995) and of the Children’s Environment Satisfaction Scale (EISA; developed by the Grupo de Pesquisa em Psicologia Comunitária); to verify the association between personal wellbeing (measured by the Personal Wellbeing Index School Children) and environmental variables; and to analyze the environmental attitudes of the children in the sample. There were conducted three studies with 1746 children (53.5% girls) aged between 8 and 13 years old (M = 10.17; SE = 1.492) residents on Porto Alegre (54%) and on inner cities of Rio Grande do Sul State (45.1%). The results of the first study indicated that EAAC and EISA scales had good overall fit rates when exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses were performed. In the second study, multivariate regression analysis showed that the Personal Wellbeing Index is predicted in 11.5% by the EACC items and in 14.4% by the EISA. The personal wellbeing is associated to: satisfaction with school and residence environment; family environmental attitudes; contact with animals and contact with nature. The third study aimed to check if there are differences of environmental attitudes between the groups. Outcomes indicated that children of public schools, children of inner cities and younger children tend to develop more favorable environmental attitudes. During the qualitative stage of the third study, children mentioned that they worry about the environmental crisis and presented environmental attitudes related to daily actions and activism behaviors.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivos verificar as propriedades psicométricas da Escala de Atitudes Ambientais para Crianças (EAAC; adaptada de Leeming, Dwyer, Porter & Bracker, 1995) e da Escala Infantil de Satisfação com o Ambiente (EISA; criada pelo Grupo de Pesquisa em Psicologia Comunitária); verificar a associação entre bem-estar pessoal (mensurado através da Personal Wellbeing Index) e variáveis ambientais e analisar as atitudes ambientais das crianças da amostra. Foram realizados três estudos, com 1746 crianças (53,5% meninas) com idades entre 8 e 13 anos (M = 10.17; DP = 1.492) residentes de Porto Alegre (54.9%) e do interior do Rio Grande do Sul (45.1%). Os resultados do primeiro estudo indicaram que os instrumentos analisados, EAAC e EISA, apresentam bons índices de ajuste para a amostra pesquisada quando da realização na análise fatorial (exploratória e confirmatória). Com relação ao segundo estudo, as análises de regressão multivariadas indicaram que o PWI é explicado pelos itens da EAAC em 11.5% e pelos itens da EISA em 14.4%. Estão associoados ao bem-estar pessoal: a satisfação com o ambiente residencial e escolar, as atitudes ambientais que envolvem a família, o contato com a natureza e o contato com animais. O terceiro estudo buscou verificar se existem diferenças entre grupos para as atitudes ambientais e os resultados indicaram que as crianças que estudam em escolas públicas, assim como as crianças que vivem em cidades do interior e as crianças mais novas, tendem a desenvolver mais atitudes favoráveis ao ambiente. Em uma etapa qualitativa do terceiro estudo, as crianças mencionaram preocupar-se com a crise ambiental e apresentaram atitudes ambientais voltadas a ações cotidianas e de ativismo. / This dissertation aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Children’s Environmental Attitudes Scale (EACC; adjusted from Leeming, Dwyer, Porter & Bracker, 1995) and of the Children’s Environment Satisfaction Scale (EISA; developed by the Grupo de Pesquisa em Psicologia Comunitária); to verify the association between personal wellbeing (measured by the Personal Wellbeing Index School Children) and environmental variables; and to analyze the environmental attitudes of the children in the sample. There were conducted three studies with 1746 children (53.5% girls) aged between 8 and 13 years old (M = 10.17; SE = 1.492) residents on Porto Alegre (54%) and on inner cities of Rio Grande do Sul State (45.1%). The results of the first study indicated that EAAC and EISA scales had good overall fit rates when exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses were performed. In the second study, multivariate regression analysis showed that the Personal Wellbeing Index is predicted in 11.5% by the EACC items and in 14.4% by the EISA. The personal wellbeing is associated to: satisfaction with school and residence environment; family environmental attitudes; contact with animals and contact with nature. The third study aimed to check if there are differences of environmental attitudes between the groups. Outcomes indicated that children of public schools, children of inner cities and younger children tend to develop more favorable environmental attitudes. During the qualitative stage of the third study, children mentioned that they worry about the environmental crisis and presented environmental attitudes related to daily actions and activism behaviors.

No description available.

Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist es, die Frage nach der Relation zwischen Umwelteinstellungen und umweltgerechtem Verhalten zu beantworten. Hierzu wird ein deduktiver, theoretischer Zugang gewählt. Es werden unterschiedliche theoretische Perspektiven, die sich in der Umweltforschung etabliert haben, vergleichend betrachtet und analysiert: die Umweltbewusstseinsforschung, die Risikoforschung, die Werteforschung und der Rational-Choice-Ansatz, wobei die beiden letztgenannten Theorieansätze in je zwei unterschiedlichen Varianten berücksichtigt werden. Die einzelnen Erklärungsansätze stehen bisher weitgehend isoliert nebeneinander, es fehlt eine explizite systematische theorievergleichende Perspektive, die versucht, den Bewährungsgrad und die Leistungsfähigkeit der dominierenden Ansätze des Forschungsfeldes empirisch zu untersuchen und zu vergleichen. Ein solcher Vergleich wird in der vorliegenden Untersuchung durchgeführt. In der vorliegenden Studie wird neben dieser theorievergleichenden Strategie zusätzlich auch eine kulturvergleichende Strategie verfolgt. Zum einen weil die Umweltproblematik in Zeiten der Globalisierung ein internationales Problem ist. Zum anderen ist die Validierung der verschiedenen Theorien in verschiedenen kulturellen Settings ein wichtiger Weg der Theorieprüfung.:Vorwort 4 1. Einleitung 5 2. Sozialwissenschaftliche Umweltforschung 10 2.1 Umweltbewusstsein – empirische Ergebnisse 13 2.2. Umweltbewusstseinsforschung – im engeren Sinne 16 2.2.1 Was ist Umweltbewusstsein? 16 2.2.2 Sozialstruktur und Umweltbewusstsein 20 2.2.3 Umweltbewusstsein und Verhalten 22 2.3. Risikoforschung 23 2.3.1 Psychologische Risikoforschung 24 2.3.2 Sozialkonstruktivistische Risikoforschung 25 2.4 Werteforschung und Umweltprobleme 29 2.4.1 Der Materialismus/Postmaterialismus-Ansatz 30 2.4.2 Der Norm-Activation-Ansatz 34 2.5 Kosten-Nutzen-Ansätze in der Umweltforschung 36 2.5.1 Die High-Cost/Low-Cost-These 37 2.5.2 Framing-Modelle 40 3. Theorien zum Umweltbewusstsein und –verhalten im Vergleich 45 3.1 Einführende Bemerkungen zur Methodologie des Theorienvergleichs 46 3.1.1 Logischer Vergleich und Ansätze einer Theorieintegration 50 3.2 Einführende Bemerkungen zur Methodologie des Kulturvergleichs 57 4. Fragestellungen und Hypothesen 61 4.1 Hypothesen auf der Strukturebene 62 4.2 Hypothesen aus kulturvergleichender Perspektive 71 4.2.1 Die ausgewählten Länder 72 4.2.2 Unterschiedshypothesen auf Struktur- und Niveauebene 79 4.4 Unterschiede zu vergleichbaren Studien – Desiderate 84 5. Methodisches Vorgehen 87 5.1 Analysestrategien 87 5.2 Stichproben 91 5.2.1 Die Auswahl der Länder 93 5.2.2 Auswahl der Individuen 98 5.3 Messinstrumente - Messmodelle im Kulturvergleich 99 5.3.1 Die Frage der Vergleichbarkeit 99 5.3.2 Meßmodelle und Äquivalenz 100 5.3.2.1 Umweltbezogene Werthaltung und Einstellungen 103 5.3.2.2 Berichtetes tatsächliches Verhalten 113 5.3.2.3 Sozialstrukturelle Variablen 115 5.3.3 Messmodelle: umweltbezogene Einstellungen 116 5.3.4 Messmodell: Umweltverhalten 123 6. Ergebnisse 125 6.1 Ländervergleich oder Kulturvergleich? 126 6.2 Kulturvergleich: Unterschiede auf der Niveauebene 129 6.2.1 Umweltbezogene Werthaltungen und Einstellungen im ISSP 130 6.2.2 Konsumverhalten - Protestverhalten 141 6.2.3 Zusammenfassung der Ergebnisse auf der Niveauebene 143 6.3 Ergebnisse auf der Strukturebene 145 6.3.1 Das Gesamtmodell – alle sechs Länder im Vergleich 146 6.3.2 Das Kernmodell – ein multipler Gruppenvergleich 155 6.3.3 Konsumverhalten versus Protestverhalten 160 6.3.4 Die High-Cost/Low-Cost These 163 6.3.5 Die Framing-These 171 6.3.6 Der Norm-Activation Ansatz 174 6.4 Eine Bilanz: Umweltbewusstsein – Umweltverhalten 176 7. Ergebnisse im Zeitvergleich 1993 und 2000 180 7.1 Veränderungen auf der Einstellungsebene 181 7.2 Veränderungen auf der Verhaltensebene 183 7.3 Veränderungen auf der Strukturebene 184 8. Fazit 188 Anhang 197 Tabellen- und Abbildungsverzeichnis 201 Literatur 206

This study examines the linkages between environmental field trips and cognitive and affective gains in two groups of homogenous elementary-aged students in Mollepata, Peru. One group participated in an environmental field trip to a local, non-profit farm (Aprodes) to explore watershed and agricultural issues. The second group received the same content within the classroom setting. The research also examines the environmental perceptions of local residents via semi-formal open-ended interviews to assess their environmental awareness and their willingness to receive environmental education services from an outside organization. Data were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively via pre and post tests containing science content and environmental attitudes items; pre and post student journals and parent and teacher interviews. Data were analyzed within the framework of the United Nation's goals of environmental education in the Belgrade Charter (1975) and within the context of theories on human-nature relationships. Students in the field trip group scored slightly better in the cognitive portion of the tests though differences were not statistically significant. Similarly, slight gains in pro-environment attitudes occurred in the field trip group over the classroom groups though overall results for both groups were nearly identical. Parents and teachers are moderately aware of environmental problems within the town but do not equate agricultural problems of synthetic chemical usage or other agricultural related problems cited to broader watershed issues. They consistently desire for their children to receive advanced educations in the city so that they become better than their parents. Adults interviewed placed a high value on education and claimed to welcome an outside group providing environmental education to the entire community. The data indicates a need for additional environmental knowledge and awareness and that students in rural, Andean settings may benefit from structured classroom lessons paired with experiential experiences outside of the classroom. It is the researcher's firm belief that addressing cognitive and affective growth with regards to environmental education will collectively contribute to developing a world population that is aware and concerned for the environment and the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivation and commitment to work toward solutions to and prevention of environmental problems.