Analysis of children’s consciousness about participating in environmental conservation activities in suburbs in Japan and Sri Lanka

Abstract

In this study, we ask Japanese and Sri Lankan junior high students living in suburbs about environmental issues and their desire to join environmental protection activities. The tendencies of the children’s consciousness concerning the environment were different. The influence of knowledge on and experience with the environment on the participation behaviour in environmental conservation activities was analysed by performing structural equation model based on the results of the questionnaire. For Japanese children, three items regarding consciousness of the environment, that is, ecocentrism, anthropocentrism, and environmental apathy, directly influenced the participation behaviour in environmental protection activities. Furthermore, experiences such as play strongly influenced ecocentrism. For Sri Lankan children, both ecocentrism and environmental apathy directly influenced the participation behaviour in environmental conservation activities at the same level. However, these items of consciousness do not have a relationship with two latent variables, as we revealed in this investigation. These results are affected by the social economic status of each country.