Study of the Global Environmental Perception of Students of the Ecology, Environment and Sustainability Curricular Unit (EAS): Interfaculty Vision. Caracas and Guyana Headquarters

Estudio de la Percepción Ambiental Global de los Estudiantes de la Unidad Curricular Ecología, Ambiente y Sustentabilidad (EAS): Visión Interfacultades. Sedes Caracas y Guayana

Abstract

Due to the importance of raising awareness about the environmental field, starting in October 2015, the Andrés Bello Catholic University began to teach a curricular unit called Ecology, Environment and Sustainability (EAS) to all undergraduate students in the fourth semester of their degrees. . These students are distributed in two locations: Montalbán, west of Caracas, and Guayana, located in the city of Puerto Ordaz, in the south of Venezuela, very close to natural environments such as the Cachamay, Llovizna, and the confluence of the Orinoco rivers. and Caroní, and basic industries such as Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor), Aluminio del Caroní (Alcasa) and the Venezuelan Aluminum industry (Venalum), among others. This research proposed to carry out a field study to determine the possible variation of the global environmental perception in EAS students, in both locations, in order to recognize if the subject generated changes in the students and the possible influence of the geographical context. For this purpose, a survey was applied to the students of the EAS course, both in Caracas and Guayana, at the beginning and at the end of the September – January 2017-2018 semester. The percentage results revealed increases in the following aspects (i) interest in the environment and its care, at a regional and global level, (ii) consideration that environmental well-being has greater importance than social well-being, (iii) appreciation of warnings of risks that threaten the balance of the environment and concern about them, and (iv) perception of society's responsibility in improving the environment. It was concluded that after having taken EAS, the students consulted, in both locations, increased their global environmental perception. It is suggested to improve monitoring of the survey application to mitigate the loss of the sample and studies on environmental perception by gender.