Determining the Ecological Footprint Awareness of Vocational School Students

Abstract

As a result of activities such as rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization, uncontrolled agricultural practices, nonrenewable resources are depleted. In addition, these activities destroy renewable resources. Consumption habits and how much of the living area is used and the amount of living space needed to re-use the resources reveals the concept of ecological footprint. With the ecological footprint analysis, it is determined how sensitive the individual is to the environment and contributes to the increase and development of environmental awareness. It is important to measure the ecological footprint in order to realize environmental problems and the individual effects that cause these problems. Ecological footprint is an indicator for sustainability. For this reason, its application in educational institutions contributes to gain individual positive behaviour. With this research, it was aimed to determine the ecological footprint awareness level of vocational school students. Our study was carried out in the 2022-2023 academic year. Quantitative screening method was used in the study. The 'Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale' was used to obtain the data. SPSS 22.0 package program was used statistically. The ecological footprint awareness levels of the students were compared according to gender and the program they studied. At the end of the study, it was seen that there was a significant difference in the gender and department factors of the students. The sub-dimension with the highest level of awareness is waste, transportation and shelter; it was determined that the sub-dimension of food, energy and water consumption was the lowest.

Keywords

• Ecological footprint
• environment
• sustainability

Meslek Yüksekokulu Öğrencilerinin Ekolojik Ayak İzi Farkındalıklarının Belirlenmesi

Öz

Dünya genelinde hızlı nüfus artışı, sanayileşme, kentleşme ve kontrolsüz tarım uygulamaları sonucu yenilenemeyen kaynaklar tükenirken yenilenebilir kaynakların tahribi artmaktadır. Tüketim alışkanlıkları ile yaşanılan alanın ne kadarının kullanıldığını ve kullanılan kaynakları tekrar elde etmek için ihtiyaç duyulan yaşam alanı miktarı ekolojik ayak izi kavramını ortaya koymaktadır. Ekolojik ayak izi analizinin bireysel olarak insanın çevreye ne kadar duyarlı olduğu belirlenerek çevre bilincinin arttırılması ve geliştirilmesi yönünde katkı sağladığı görülmektedir. Çevre sorunlarına ve bu sorunlara neden olan bireysel etkilerin fark edilmesi için ekolojik ayak izi ölçümünün yapılması önem arz etmektedir. Ekolojik ayak izi sürdürülebilirliğin bir göstergesi olduğundan, eğitim kurumlarında uygulandığında bireysel olarak olumlu davranışların kazanımını sağlamaktadır. Bu araştırmanın amacı meslek yüksekokulu öğrencilerinin ekolojik ayak izi farkındalık düzeyinin belirlenmesidir. Çalışmamız 2022-2023 eğitim-öğretim yılında gerçekleştirilmiş olup nicel tarama yöntemi kullanılarak yapılmıştır. Verileri elde etmek amacıyla ‘Ekolojik Ayak İzi Farkındalık Ölçeği’ nden faydalanılmıştır. Elde edilen veriler, istatistiksel olarak SPSS 22.0 paket programı kullanılarak öğrencilerin ekolojik ayak izi farkındalık düzeyleri cinsiyet ve öğrenim gördükleri programa göre karşılaştırma yapılmıştır. Çalışma sonunda cinsiyet ve öğrenim gördükleri program faktörlerinde anlamlı fark olduğu görülmüştür. Bunun yanında farkındalık düzeyinin en yüksek olduğu alt boyutun atıklar ile ulaşım ve barınma olduğu; gıda, enerji ve su tüketimi alt boyutunun ise en düşük olduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• çevre
• ekolojik ayak izi
• sürdürülebilirlik

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