Ecological Crisis from Children’s Perspective: Lessons Learned and Their Importance in Shaking Up Social Awareness

Inmaculada C. Jiménez-Navarro (), Catia Prandi, José Giner Pérez de Lucía, José M. Cecilia and Javier Senent-Aparicio
Additional contact information
Inmaculada C. Jiménez-Navarro: Department of Civil Engineering, Catholic University of San Antonio, Campus de los Jerónimos s/n, 30107 Guadalupe, Spain
Catia Prandi: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Università di Bologna, Via Zamboni 33, 40126 Bologna, Italy
José Giner Pérez de Lucía: Department of Computer and Systems Informatics, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
José M. Cecilia: Department of Computer and Systems Informatics, Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Javier Senent-Aparicio: Department of Civil Engineering, Catholic University of San Antonio, Campus de los Jerónimos s/n, 30107 Guadalupe, Spain

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: The Mar Menor (Murcia, Spain) has faced a eutrophication crisis in recent decades, significantly affecting local residents, including children. Considering the importance of involving children in scientific activities and the potential societal benefits of working with them, we conducted two environmental citizen science activities with students from the Los Nietos school. The study aimed to evaluate their knowledge about the Mar Menor crisis, understand their opinions and experiences, and assess the broader social impact of these activities. The children first created drawings related to the Mar Menor during a visit to Los Nietos beach, followed by a survey completed weeks later. Analysis of the drawings and survey responses revealed that while children may not fully grasp the causes of the ecological catastrophe, they are aware of its existence and maintain a hopeful perspective on the lagoon’s future. Additionally, a social network analysis of texts referencing children highlighted the societal reach of their actions and voices regarding the Mar Menor crisis. Our findings demonstrate that citizen science activities not only engage and educate children but also position them as influential communicators within their communities. This underscores the potential of such initiatives to amplify environmental awareness and drive social change by empowering younger generations as advocates for ecological sustainability.

Keywords: children’s drawings; citizen science; endangered ecosystem; social sensing; young children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/10824/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/24/10824/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:24:p:10824-:d:1540803

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().