Meslek Yüksekokulu Öğrencilerinin Ekolojik Ayak İzi Farkındalıklarının Belirlenmesi

Abstract

As a result of activities such as rapid population growth, industrialization and urbanization, uncontrolled agricultural practices, nonrenewable resources are depleted. In addition, these activities destroy renewable resources. Consumption habits and how much of the living area is used and the amount of living space needed to re-use the resources reveals the concept of ecological footprint. With the ecological footprint analysis, it is determined how sensitive the individual is to the environment and contributes to the increase and development of environmental awareness. It is important to measure the ecological footprint in order to realize environmental problems and the individual effects that cause these problems. Ecological footprint is an indicator for sustainability. For this reason, its application in educational institutions contributes to gain individual positive behaviour. With this research, it was aimed to determine the ecological footprint awareness level of vocational school students. Our study was carried out in the 2022-2023 academic year. Quantitative screening method was used in the study. The 'Ecological Footprint Awareness Scale' was used to obtain the data. SPSS 22.0 package program was used statistically. The ecological footprint awareness levels of the students were compared according to gender and the program they studied. At the end of the study, it was seen that there was a significant difference in the gender and department factors of the students. The sub-dimension with the highest level of awareness is waste, transportation and shelter; it was determined that the sub-dimension of food, energy and water consumption was the lowest.