The Impact of Knowledge of Sustainable Development on the Readiness of Rural Youth in Agricultural Faculties at Selected Egyptian Universities to Practice Green Skills | ||
| The Egyptian Science Magazine | ||
| Volume 11, Issue 1, December 2024, Pages 245-265 PDF (779.17 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/esm.2024.461272 | ||
| Author | ||
| Heba Noureldin Mohamed* | ||
| Department of Rural Society and Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The current study primarily aimed to identify the impact of sustainable development knowledge on the readiness of rural university youth to pratice green skills, Assessing the level of sustainable development knowledge among a sample of rural university students across its three dimensions (environmental, economic, and social), Determinig the level of readiness to practice green skills among rural university youth, Analyzing the factors influencing this readiness, Identifying the main sources of environmental knowledge and examining the influence of each source on students’ readiness to adopt green practices, Exploring the role of educational and training activities in addressing various environmental topics. To achieve these objectives, data were collected during August and September 2024 using an online questionnaire distributed to third- and fourth-year students at the Faculty of Agriculture in three Egyptian universities: Ain Shams University, Banha University, and Sohag University. A total of 350 valid responses were obtained. The data were analyzed using descriptive and statistical methods, including frequency tables, percentages, means, standard deviations, weighted averages, Cronbach’s alpha, Pearson correlation, Spearman correlation, and stepwise regression analysis. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS. Key Findings: Approximately 86.3% of the sample demonstrated a high level of knowledge about sustainable development, Around 78% of the students showed a high level of readiness to practice green skills, Among the different dimensions of readiness, the highest average score was for energy and water conservation (mean = 4.40), followed by sustainable transportation (mean = 4.24), and both sustainable food choices and recycling/resource conservation (mean = 4.20 each), The variables of sustainable development knowledge and environmental concept awareness explained about 45.6% of the variance in students’ readiness to practice green practices, Academic courses related to environment and sustainable development were identified as the primary source of knowledge (weighted mean = 3.32), followed by social media (weighted mean = 3.11). Recommendations: Integrate sustainable development concepts into curricula across all educational levels and link them to academic courses, Develop training workshops focused on green practices, Enhance the role of universities in the digital space to promote awareness of environmental issues and challenges, Design accessible financing programs to support rural youth in launching sustainable agricultural projects as part of green transformation initiatives, enabling them to apply their skills within their communities. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Green skills; Sustainable development; Rural youth; Readiness for practice | ||
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