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Influence of experience, interest, knowledge and learning source on children’s attitudes towards extensive grassland conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

Natalija Špur Open the ORCID record for Natalija Špur [Opens in a new window] ,
Sonja Škornik  and
Andrej Šorgo
Natalija Špur*
Affiliation:
University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroška cesta 160, 2000Maribor, Slovenia
Sonja Škornik
Affiliation:
University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroška cesta 160, 2000Maribor, Slovenia
Andrej Šorgo
Affiliation:
University of Maribor, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Koroška cesta 160, 2000Maribor, Slovenia University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Koroška cesta 46, 2000Maribor, Slovenia
*
Author for correspondence: Natalija Špur, Email: natalija.spur@um.si
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Summary

Decisions made by grassland owners are crucial for the conservation of extensive grasslands (EGs); however, the predispositions determining how adults decide to act in certain situations are developed during childhood. Children are future decision-makers and potential grassland owners; therefore, the factors that form and affect their attitudes towards EG conservation need to be examined. Positive attitudes could be developed during environmental education, and this study aimed to understand the influence of elementary school children’s interest in and knowledge of grasslands, sources of learning about grasslands and experience working with grasslands on their attitudes towards preserving EGs. Principal component analysis and structural equation modelling results showed that interest in grasslands directly influenced attitudes towards preserving EGs, while experience and learning also indirectly influenced these attitudes. Children’s interest should be stimulated through gathering experience with grasslands and education in order to resolve any potential misconceptions about EG management.

Keywords

biodiversitychildrenconservationeducationgrasslands
Type
Research Paper
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 130 - 137
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation

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