Next Article in Journal
AI-Based Campus Energy Use Prediction for Assessing the Effects of Climate Change
Next Article in Special Issue
Addressing Sustainable Development: Promoting Active Informed Citizenry through Trans-Contextual Science Education
Previous Article in Journal
Social Life-Cycle Assessment of Household Waste Management System in Kabul City
Previous Article in Special Issue
Education for Sustainable Development in STEM (Technical Drawing): Learning Approach and Method for SDG 11 in Classrooms
Article

Development of Environmental Health Competencies through Compulsory Education. A Polyhedral Approach Based on the SDGs

1
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Universitat de València, 46100 Valencia, Spain
2
Department of Experimental and Social Sciences Teaching, Universitat de València, Avda. Tarongers, 4, 46022 Valencia, Spain
3
Botanical Garden UV, Universitat de València, Calle Quart, 80, 46008 Valencia, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3215; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083215
Received: 31 March 2020 / Revised: 10 April 2020 / Accepted: 10 April 2020 / Published: 16 April 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Teaching Sustainable Development Goals in Science Education)
This paper focuses on the competencies in environmental health acquired by students during compulsory education. Questionnaires addressing environmental health problems were completed by 923 students of primary and secondary schools from five different Spanish regions. The results for five challenging situations related to hunger, consumerism, climate change, pollution in the cities and allergies are analysed according to the internal coherence of each sub-competency, i.e., addressing knowledge, skills and attitudes towards these topics. Our results show that problems related to air and water pollution were the most commonly described by the students. Focusing on competency achievement, the higher the educational level, the higher the score students obtained, especially regarding pollution and climate change, two problems that appear directly in the school curriculum. The complexity of the concept of environmental health matches with the necessary holistic perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals in a polyhedral approach including as many factors (facets) as necessary to complete the approach to this evolving concept. View Full-Text
Keywords: competency; compulsory education; climate change; pollution; consumerism; hunger; allergies; SDG competency; compulsory education; climate change; pollution; consumerism; hunger; allergies; SDG
Show Figures

Figure 1

MDPI and ACS Style

Montero-Pau, J.; Álvaro, N.; Gavidia, V.; Mayoral, O. Development of Environmental Health Competencies through Compulsory Education. A Polyhedral Approach Based on the SDGs. Sustainability 2020, 12, 3215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083215

AMA Style

Montero-Pau J, Álvaro N, Gavidia V, Mayoral O. Development of Environmental Health Competencies through Compulsory Education. A Polyhedral Approach Based on the SDGs. Sustainability. 2020; 12(8):3215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083215

Chicago/Turabian Style

Montero-Pau, Javier, Nuria Álvaro, Valentín Gavidia, and Olga Mayoral. 2020. "Development of Environmental Health Competencies through Compulsory Education. A Polyhedral Approach Based on the SDGs" Sustainability 12, no. 8: 3215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083215

Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Access Map by Country/Region

1
Back to TopTop