Being life on Earth threatened by many anthropogenic behaviours, the sustainable development (SD) goals claimed in the 2030 Agenda need to be achieved urgently. From climate changes to pandemics, loss of biodiversity, plastic in the oceans or the increasing exploitation of natural resources, there are many issues endangering the life on our planet. Science communication activities, like those developed in natural parks, allow citizens to be engaged in environmental education and disseminate sustainable development (SD) goals. The growth of scientific literacy is no doubt the first social attempt to alert people for the need of changing attitudes and to adopt pro-environmental behaviours. But before expecting citizens to use public transportation, change consumption habits or reduce the amount of waste, as examples of pro-environmental behaviours needed for a sustainable planet, it is necessary to diagnose citizens’ perceptions about sustainable development. Within this framework, the present article aims to evaluate a natural park visitors’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about sustainable development. The visitors (n = 134) of the natural park localized in the north of Portugal, voluntary answered a scale about knowledge, attitudes and behaviours concerning SD. Results showed that gender is a determinant, but no relation was found when exploring age and education. Women tend to have more pro-environmental behaviours than men, although in terms of knowledge and attitudes they are equivalent. As such, the authors do not attribute a direct relationship of an increase of pro-environmental behaviour due to environmental knowledge and attitudes. Knowing these determinants can contribute to enrich environmental education activities in science communication settings expecting an increase of pro-environmental citizens’ behaviours for SD.
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This research was partially supported by the Strategic Funding UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 through national funds provided by FCT.
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Authors and Affiliations
Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR/CIMAR), University of Porto, Novo Edifício do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Portugal
Clara Vasconcelos
Faculty of Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Environment, and Spatial Planning/Unit of Science Teaching, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre s/n, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
Clara Vasconcelos
Integrated Science Association (ISA), Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran
Clara Vasconcelos
Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros de Leixões, Av. General Norton de Matos, S/n, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Portugal
Telma Cruz & Tiago Ribeiro
Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Porto, Portugal
