A cross-cultural comparative study of sustainability consciousness between students in Taiwan and Sweden
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A cross‑cultural comparative study of sustainability consciousness between students in Taiwan and Sweden Teresa Berglund1 · Niklas Gericke1 · Jelle Boeve‑de Pauw1,2 · Daniel Olsson1 · Tzu‑Chau Chang3 Received: 20 December 2018 / Accepted: 21 September 2019 © The Author(s) 2019
Abstract Education for sustainable development (ESD) is promoted as one important component in the endeavor toward sustainable development. Goal 4 in the Sustainable Development Goals (UN in Sustainable development goals—17 goals to transform our world, 2017) in particular targets the role of ESD in this respect. The importance of cultural specificity in ESD is emphasized in numerous international policy documents, but there are few crosscultural studies that focus on the broad context of sustainable development and ESD. The current study investigates the sustainability consciousness of grade 12 students (age 18–19) in Taiwan (N = 617) and Sweden (N = 583) and discusses the implications for ESD policy and practice. The findings indicate that significant differences exist between the two samples, both with respect to their sustainability consciousness and within the three subconstructs of knowingness, attitudes and self-reported behaviors. The differences are considered in light of the cultural value orientations of the East Asian and Western European regions. Implications for ESD are discussed from the perspective of cultural specificity. Keywords Sustainable development · Education · Culture · Sustainability consciousness · Knowledge · Attitudes · Behavior Abbreviations SD Sustainable development ESD Education for sustainable development SC Sustainability consciousness REF Reference group of students SCQ Sustainability consciousness questionnaire RMSEA Root mean square error of approximation * Teresa Berglund [email protected] 1
Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, Universitetsg. 2, 651 88 Karlstad, Sweden
2
Research Unit Edubron, Department of Training and Education Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Antwerp, S.Gk10.103, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
3
Graduate Institute of Environmental Education, National Taiwan Normal University, No. 162, Section 1, Heping E Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City 106, Taiwan
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T. Berglund et al.
CFI Comparative fit index TLI Tucker–Lewis index
1 Introduction Creating sustainable development (SD) is one of the biggest challenges that societies around the world face today. The global sustainability debate centers on how to achieve environmental sustainability and at the same time develop our world socially and economically. At international level, policies have highlighted the important role education plays for SD (e.g., UN-DESA 1992; UNESCO 2006, 2014). These point to the importance of cultural diversity and emphasize that ESD needs to be framed in different ways to adapt to the cultural context (UNESCO 2006, 2014). Culture influences how sustainability issues are viewed and approached in different contexts and situations
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