MohammadReza Farzaneh; Mohsen Badre; Javad Ramezani
Abstract
Introduction: Social capacity building and raising awareness on water and environmental problems through education of different groups of people is one of the most fundamental issues that should be considered so that the protection of water and the environment becomes a behavior pattern in society. Among ...
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Introduction: Social capacity building and raising awareness on water and environmental problems through education of different groups of people is one of the most fundamental issues that should be considered so that the protection of water and the environment becomes a behavior pattern in society. Among the foundations of participation in the field of water resources and environmental protection, we can mention building cultural capacity, which has a function beyond academic, professional, and human resources training. Many models have been developed to examine the position of behavioral sciences in the field of water resources management, most of them are organized with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) structuring water conservation behaviors, which has been successful in predicting proven behavior and growth and development. The upstream model of this research is also developed through it. Considering that children as the future heirs of resources and students as influential segments of society are of particular importance, so, they should be encouraged to accept the role of protecting water resources in the best possible way. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to identify the psychological factors affecting the behavioral logic and behavioral tendencies of students to participate in water conservation through a socio-psychological model and to investigate the effectiveness of indirect and informal education with an environmental scratch approach.Materials and Methods: In this research, the behavior of 90 students in three levels of education, primary, first, and second secondary, as well as 30 selected male and female undergraduate and master's students in Karaj city, about water, was investigated in the two axes of water consumption reduction and water reuse. For this purpose, a questionnaire was designed and prepared based on the defined components of the upstream model including intention, attitude, perceived behavior control, moral norm, understanding of risk, subjective norm, behavior, trust, and habit, and based on the review of international sources and interviews with experts to determine the behavioral logic of the statistical population of the research regarding the aforementioned policy options.Results: The obtained results showed that the indirect and informal educational programs for water protection have had a positive effect on people's attitudes towards water protection, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, behavioral inclination towards water protection, and moral norms. Also, education in female students has been more effective in the attitude component, but in male students, the level of knowledge and insight about water protection issues in the pre-test has been higher. In addition, education among primary students has been more effective than in first-secondary students.Discussion: In designing educational campaigns, it is better to pay attention to the intention of people to save water consumption and then implement this. Also, considering that it seems that the younger the training starts, the better the results. Therefore, special attention should be paid to education at younger ages. In addition, more educational programs should be carried out with an emphasis on indirect and informal education to facilitate water conservation for improving the behavior of water conservation among students.
Behnaz Yazarloo; Ali Shahidi; MohammadReza Farzaneh
Abstract
Introduction: In the present age, the issues and challenges of water crisis are at the center of attention of human life. To solve these crises, recent environmental policies have focused on encouraging pro-environmental behaviors and the determining factors of this behavior. Considering that one of ...
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Introduction: In the present age, the issues and challenges of water crisis are at the center of attention of human life. To solve these crises, recent environmental policies have focused on encouraging pro-environmental behaviors and the determining factors of this behavior. Considering that one of the reasons for this crisis is the lack of human knowledge in the sustainable management of resources, therefore, the present research aims to contribute in the explanation and prediction of cooperative use behavior of water resources by Investigating the rich experiences of a successful case study in the field of water consumption local management by focusing on the knowledge component.Materials & Methods: The theoretical framework of the research is the modify theory of planned behavior (MTPB) with an emphasis on the local knowledge component. This descriptive research was conducted using a survey method and a questionnaire among two groups of drinking and agricultural users in Toshan and Galand villages in Golestan province. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires have been confirmed using the Content Validity Ratio and Cronbach's alpha test. According to the research objectives, SPSS software was used for the statistical analysis of the questionnaires. In the following, structural equation modeling using Smart PLS software has been used for the simultaneous analysis of causal relationships between variables and the degree of conformity of the conceptual model with experimental observations.Results: The results of the statistical analysis show that the environmental knowledge of the users about water issues in the region is higher than the expected average, and this means that the level of cooperative behavior in the study area is high. Also, according to the Stone-Geisser scale, the structural model has a good structural quality in all cases. Investigating the structural part of the model by Average Variance Extracted (AVE) and Composite Reliability (CR) shows the appropriate reliability and convergent validity of the MTPB model. Also, the value of the R2 coefficient shows that in total, the variables of the modify model explain 92, 93, 74 and 79% of the behavior of the users of Toshan drinking, Galand drinking, Toshan agriculture and Galand agriculture, respectively, in relation to local participation in the use of water resources. Regarding the structural paths of the model, the results indicate that all components have a positive and significant effect on the variable of behavioral intention. Also, according to the obtained path coefficients, a positive and significant relationship has been observed between knowledge and attitude with the behavior of cooperative use of water resources, which confirms the hypothesis of the research and shows that the users have a positive attitude towards the cooperative behavior of water conservation in all cases.Discussion: According to the field experiences in the study area, the participation of stakeholders in the use of water resources facilitates the work by sharing environmental knowledge in cases where there are conflicts regarding the use of water. Adding the knowledge component, has not shown significant differences in improving behavior prediction between different cases of consumption. Of course, the results show that knowledge can be effective as a prerequisite for engaging in cooperative behavior. It should be noted that the results show that drinking water users, with a slight difference compared to agricultural users, have a greater behavioral intention to accept cooperative management of water resources.