Sustainability Education Through Green Facades: Effects of a Short-Term Intervention on Environmental Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices

Annalisa Pacini, Marie Brüggemann, Maren Flottmann, Jörg Großschedl and Kirsten Schlüter ()
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Annalisa Pacini: Institute of Biology Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Marie Brüggemann: Institute of Psychology, Otto-von-Guericke University, 39016 Magdeburg, Germany
Maren Flottmann: Institute of Biology Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Jörg Großschedl: Institute of Biology Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Kirsten Schlüter: Institute of Biology Education, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Teaching can contribute substantially to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by addressing traditional curriculum-relevant topics in new contexts related to sustainability. A suitable context is green facades, which support several SDGs at once. The aim of sustainability education should be to foster all components of the KAP triad, i.e., not only promoting environmental knowledge (K) and attitude (A) but also enabling appropriate practices (P). This study analyzes the effect of a short-term didactic intervention on green facades (4 h) on the KAP triad. Pre-, post-, and follow-up tests were conducted with n = 71 students aged M = 14.19 ( SD = 1.54). Knowledge and attitude development were analyzed using ANOVA. Regression analyses were calculated to assess the relations of knowledge and attitude with practices. The results show that even a short-term intervention can lead to longer-term effects regarding knowledge growth but will only bring about short-term changes in attitude. Attitude items with the strongest change were not related to students’ direct or immediate activities. In addition, environmental knowledge and attitude appear to support different kinds of activities. Therefore, it seems important that didactic interventions focus on knowledge and attitude to enable students to engage in pro-environmental behaviors.

Keywords: facade greening; sustainability; SDGs; education for sustainable development; extracurricular learning; knowledge; attitude; practices; behavior; KAP (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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