Environmental Education, Knowledge and Awareness in China: A Case of Xiamen University Students

This study documents China’s efforts to build its formal environmental education system and explores university students’ environmental knowledge and awareness using a survey carried out at Xiamen University, which is located on the southeastern coast of China. We find that the Chinese state made rapid progress in setting up environmental studies programs in its institutions of higher education, but it took the state over two decades to build a nationwide curriculum integrated with environmental studies for primary and secondary schools. The survey data revealed that these efforts have borne fruit. Students have improved in their environmental knowledge over time. Nevertheless, students remain disconnected from most environmental organizations. This may hinder China’s efforts to harness their environmental knowledge for the sake of effective action toward safeguarding the environment. The state should help encourage further cooperation among different social groups so China has a chance to fulfill its potential to become a global leader on environmental issues.

This study documents China's efforts to build its formal environmental education system and explores university students' environmental knowledge and awareness using a survey carried out at Xiamen University, which is located on the southeastern coast of China. We find that the Chinese state made rapid progress in setting up environmental studies programs in its institutions of higher education, but it took the state over two decades to build a nationwide curriculum integrated with environmental studies for primary and secondary schools. The survey data revealed that these efforts have borne fruit. Students have improved in their environmental knowledge over time. Nevertheless, students remain disconnected from most environmental organizations. This may hinder China's efforts to harness their environmental knowledge for the sake of effective action toward safeguarding the environment. The state should help encourage further cooperation among different social groups so China has a chance to fulfill its potential to become a global leader on environmental issues.
Keywords: environment; education; knowledge; awareness; students; China Chen: Environmental Education,Knowledge and Awareness in China 55 The United States was perceived in the 1970s as a global leader in domestic and foreign environmental policy-making, but it occupied that position for a very short time before it came to be widely considered a "laggard" in environmental policy by the early 2000s (Eckersley 2012). The Trump administration's 2017 decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement seems to reflect that general trend. Some scholars have speculated that China, the "nearest peer competitor" to the US in today's world (Nadkarni 2013), has a chance to become the next green leader (Griffiths 2017, Zhang 2017. One scholar even argues that China has transformed from an environmental "bad boy" into a potential leader in climate policy (Hilton 2016  These measures taken by the Chinese state were all laudable. Yet China will not be able to fulfill its potential as a green leader if the drive for innovation in environmentally sustainable development remains nothing more than a governmentled initiative. The general public must also learn to adjust their behavior to follow a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. The younger generation's perception of the environmental problems facing China is especially important. Their engagement in the process of making China a truly "green" civilization is certainly one of the key factors needed to achieve a lasting harmony between humanity and nature in China in the coming decades. As Chinese philosopher Guan Zi argues, "If you are thinking one year ahead, then nothing is better than growing grain; if you are thinking ten years ahead, then nothing is better than planting trees; if you are thinking one hundred years ahead, then nothing is better than educating the people." This study therefore explores the efforts China has made in formal environmental education 1 as well as the environmental knowledge and awareness of Chinese university students. China's efforts in building its environmental education system can be traced back to the 1970s when many institutions of higher education began setting up majors in Environmental Science/Engineering. In the 1980s these institutions also started offering courses in environmental protection for non-majors. Some secondary and primary schools incorporated environmental education into different subjects gradually over the 1980s and 1990s. Eventually, in 2003, Guidelines for the Implementation of Environmental Education in Primary and Secondary Schools (Trial), released by the Chinese Ministry of Education, formally required nationwide efforts to integrate environmental education into the curricula and activities of primary and secondary schools. It was at this time that China officially established an environmental education system ranging from higher educational institutions to primary and secondary schools.
What is the level of knowledge and awareness in university students after a decade of systematic environmental educational effort? Based on a survey of 150 students at Xiamen University in 2015, we found that, overall, China's environmental education programs have led to some positive outcomes. Environmental education reached most of the students (89 percent) while they were growing up. Nearly 99 percent of students had heard about global warming issues when they were in high school.
Students' general knowledge of environmental problems had substantially improved in comparison with previous studies (He et al. 2011). The students' gender and the development level of their home province was shown to have no significant effect on students' environmental knowledge. Students demonstrated positive environmental awareness and promising responsible behaviors in five out of six scenarios. One 1 This study limited its research scope to formal environmental education through the school systems while acknowledging that environmental education can be done through venues outside the school systems, such as family and the media.
Chen: Environmental Education, Knowledge and Awareness in China 57 exception was their slight preference for using private cars over public transportation.
Students lacked knowledge of environmental non-government organizations (NGOs), which could potentially serve as an avenue to participation in environmental protection or as a resource to learn more about environmental problems outside of campus. The challenge in the coming years for China's environmental education will be finding how to transform students' environmental knowledge and awareness into action that will have a concrete, positive impact on the environment. The Chinese government might want to encourage environmental NGOs to work with students on environmental issues. Otherwise, China might miss this opportunity to fulfill its potential to become the world's next green leader.
The following pages will present a concise history of China's formal environmental education initiative, and then will situate the current survey in the existing literature to highlight the contribution of this study. Next the article will discuss our major findings based on survey data. Finally, we will conclude by exploring the implications of our findings for China's future environmental efforts.

A Concise History of China's Formal Environmental Education
China strove to build up its environmental education system over the years in response to two factors. One was connected to China's domestic environmental crises. Chinese institutions of higher learning responded immediately to these demands from the state. For instance, Peking University, Beijing Engineering University, Zhongshan University, and Tongji University began to offer courses in environmental studies between 1973and 1978(McBeath et al. 2014Palmer 1998, 177). Tsinghua University established the first major in Environmental Engineering in 1977 (Tian and Li 2016, 85). Due to the consistent emphasis put on environmental education in the higher educational institutions, by the end of 1995 there were 241 higher educational institutions that had established majors in environmental fields at different levels ranging from two-year colleges to postdoctoral institutions (Hu et al. 1998). By 2012, the number had increased to 500 (Tian and Li 2016). In addition to the efforts to train specialists and professionals in environmental fields, in the late 1980s many higher educational institutions also started offering elective courses for non-specialists and non-professionals to spread environmental knowledge and awareness (Palmer 1998, 178).
Unlike the early and rapid development of environmental education in institutions of higher learning, the pace at which environmental education was established in primary and secondary schools was much slower. The call to action for primary-and secondary-level institutions (K-12) came five years later than for  (He et al. 2011). This study represented an effort to use comparative methods to determine whether regional factors such as level of economic development and environmental problems were influencing students' environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior.
Given that the survey sites in the previous studies concentrated on Beijing, Shanghai, and Gansu and the latest survey was carried out in 2012, our study represents a new survey site (i.e. Xiamen) and an updated dataset (i.e. 2015). Moreover, Xiamen University is similar to universities in Beijing and Shanghai, recruiting students from all over China. Therefore, the results can be comparable. In particular, to facilitate the comparison, we drew survey questions from existing studies. For example, we borrowed 11 statements from He et al.'s 19 statements used to assess students' environmental knowledge. As a result, we can compare students' environmental knowledge over time.

Data and Findings
The survey questionnaire was written in English and then translated into Chinese for respondents to answer. Students were randomly selected from the library and cafeteria during final exam week of the spring semester of 2015. The total sample size was 150 students. In total, 76 male students (50.7 percent) and 74 female students (49.3 percent) were selected. Since Xiamen University is a comprehensive research university, we had eight students (5.3 percent) pursuing a doctoral degree, 26 students (17.3 percent) pursuing a master's degree, and 112 students (74.7 percent) pursuing a bachelor's degree. The four remaining students (2.7 percent) did not provide information about the degree they were pursuing.
To measure if environmental education had reached all students, we asked if they had learned about the environment while growing up. In 2003, China had established an environmental education program that exposed students to these issues during primary school, secondary school, and in institutions of higher education. Given that, we expected a "yes" to this question. However, we also expected there might be an implementation gap between policy and reality. We found that 89 percent of the students answered yes to this question. This shows that China's environmental education reached most of the students, but there still were some implementation gaps.
We cross-examined students about the reach of their environmental education by asking when they had first heard about global warming issues. About thirty-seven percent of students (36.7) indicated that they had learned about it in primary school, whereas 55.3 percent indicated that they had learned about it in middle school. By the time they reached high school, 98.7 percent in total had heard about global warming issues. This finding further supports the wide reach of environmental education in China. Table 1 presents the data showing when the students heard about global warming issues.
To assess students' environmental knowledge, we ask students to answer thirteen true-or-false questions. Eleven of these questions were drawn from a comparative study of university students' environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behavior based on a survey conducted in 2007 in Shanghai and Gansu (He et al., 2011). Given that eight years had passed between 2007 and 2015 and given that China had launched major initiatives in environmental education in that period of time, we expected that students' environmental knowledge would have improved over time. Our findings indicated that students at Xiamen University in 2015 scored better in eight out of 11 common true-or-false statements than their counterparts in Shanghai and Gansu in 2007. Table 2 provides an item-by-item comparison. Overall, university students in 2015 knew more about the environment than their counterparts in 2007.
Based on students' responses to the thirteen true-or-false questions, an index was created to examine the overall distribution of students' environmental knowledge  Table 3 presents the descriptive data on the scores. Each correct answer earned students one point, and each wrong answer earned students zero points. The highest possible score for each student was 13 and the lowest possible score was zero. We found that the highest score students earned was 12 while the lowest score earned was five with a mean score of nine. The average percentage of correct answers in students' environmental knowledge was 69.23 percent with a mean score of nine, being divided by the highest possible scores (13). This was improved from 54 percent among Shanghai and Gansu students in 2007 (He et al. 2011). Coral reefs and rainforests are places with rich biodiversity.

72 43
Burning plastic waste is the most effective way to control white pollution.

89 92
Most ozone in the atmosphere is found in the troposphere.

47 66
Soil degradation only happens in the northwest of China.

82 96
Sandstorms can cause air pollution and degrade the soil.

86 41
Domestic discharge of waste-water is the main source of river pollution.

61 75
Carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor are considered greenhouse gases.

14 13
Oil is considered one of the major pollutants of the ocean.

35 32
Acid rain only occurs in industrial areas. 96.7 75 81 The major characteristic of white pollution is that it does not decompose.

85 49
Coal is a nonrenewable resource. 90 Red tide is increased due to runoff. 17.3 Existing literature has found that female students are generally more concerned about environmental problems, and students from more developed areas are more willing to prioritize environmental protection (Kong et al. 2014). We hypothesized that we would find a similar effect on students' environmental knowledge by gender and the level of development of a student's home province. Statistical analysis of the effect of gender and the level of development of a student's home province, however, showed no significant impact on students' environmental knowledge in our data.
To measure students' environmental awareness, we asked them to agree or disagree with six statements on their environmental behaviors or their intentions to commit to these behaviors. The number 1 indicated they strongly disagreed, 2 indicated they disagreed, 3 indicated they remained neutral, 4 indicated they agreed, and 5 indicated they strongly agreed. The data showed that in five out of six areas students did have a positive attitude toward the environment. However, students slightly preferred the use of a personal car over public transportation.
Existing literature has found that less than six percent of university students had joined environmental protection associations or organizations, and only 1.7 percent indicated that they were active members (Wong 2003). World Values Survey data presented in Figure 1 showed that after a decade of environmental education, the percentage of active membership in environmental organizations did not change much. For instance, only 1.8 percent of respondents with a university-level education leading to a degree were active members of environmental organizations (WVS 2010(WVS -2014 Table 4: Items used to measure environmental awareness (with 1 as strongly disagree and 5 as strongly agree), 2015.

Mean Median Mode
If you see trash on your way to school, you would pick it up and throw it in the proper place (such as a trash can).

4 5
In your residence you have a recycling bin that you use frequently.

4 4
You would sign a petition to increase protection of an endangered species. Highest EducaƟonal Level AƩained be an environmental NGO. This seems to be speculation based on the context of the survey questionnaire. The data supports our hypothesis that there is a lack of connection between environmental NGOs and university students. If university students have never even heard about the environmental NGOs active in their area, it is certainly not very likely that they would ever get involved or become members. If these environmental NGOs cannot draw participants from the most highly educated segments of society, how can they expect to succeed in their mission to effectively safeguard the natural environment through civic engagement?

Conclusion and Implications
This study documents China's efforts to build its formal environmental education system and also explores university students' environmental knowledge and awareness using a survey carried out at Xiamen University in 2015-about a decade after China's formal environmental education system was established in 2003. History shows that China made rapid progress in setting up environmental studies in its higher educational institutions, but it took China over two decades to build a nationwide curriculum for primary and secondary schools that included environmental studies.
Our survey data revealed that these efforts bore fruit, as indicated by the statistics. For instance, 89 percent of college students learned about environmental issues during their formative years. When they were in high school, 98.7 percent of students in total had heard about global warming issues. University students' overall environmental knowledge improved when compared with the results from a survey carried out in 2007. Gender and the level of development in students' home provinces showed no effect on their environmental knowledge. Students showed positive environmental awareness in five out of six occasions-except for their slight preference for using private cars over public transportation. Students lacked awareness of environmental NGOs, which may help explain why the membership of environmental organizations in China is low even among the most highly educated groups in the country.
This data is generally promising for China's environmental future, given the trend of improvement in environmental knowledge and positive environmental awareness among university students. Yet knowledge and awareness do not automatically translate into behavior. To summarize this critical issue, there is a low percentage of membership in environmental NGOs among highly educated groups -herein lies the gap between knowledge and action. Environmental protection is still a very fragmented effort in Chinese society. Coordination between NGOs and students is much needed. The Chinese state should expand its efforts beyond formal environmental education to further cooperation between different groups and thus move closer toward achieving its goal of an "ecological civilization." This kind of shift in state policy might help strengthen China's chances to eventually fulfill its potential to become a global leader on environmental issues.