Linking environmental knowledge, attitude, and behavior with place: a case study for strategic environmental education planning in Saint Lucia

This case study investigated whether and how urban/rural differences may impact environmental knowledge, attitude, and action levels of the youth to better understand the linkage between place and environmental behavior. A nation-wide survey was conducted in Saint Lucia, targeting secondary school students. A total of 1,349 self-reported questionnaire samples were collected and the results were compared between sex (male/female), age (younger/older), and location (urban/rural) groups using three-way ANOVA tests. Significant urban–rural differences as well as interactions between location and age, and location and sex factors, were found. A path analysis further confirmed that location had a significant direct impact on students’ knowledge, and indirect impacts on attitude and action levels via age factor. We discuss the impact of living place on students’ environmental characteristics, and how environmental education (EE) can incorporate such perspective in its design. We believe that the obtained insights are useful for making EE more effective.