Norwegian Kindergarten Children’s Knowledge about the Environmental Component of Sustainable Development Sustainability

The study investigates kindergarten children’s knowledge about how human actions affect the environment around us and how children feel a sense of belonging to nature. The research questions are: 1) What do children recognise as ‘nature’? 2) Do children think they are part of nature? 3) What do children know about the impact different activities have on the environment? 4) Can factors such as the parents’ education, the kindergarten’s pedagogical profile and time spent in nature together with parents and kindergarten explain different knowledge about the environment between the children?

The results show that many of the children have an understanding of the environment and sustainability. The children were most aware that littering, deforestation and air pollution from vehicles were negative for the environment. The researchers found a positive correlation between the children’s knowledge about sustainable development and the amount of time they spent in nature.

The sample consists of 56 children between the ages of five and six from eight Norwegian kindergartens. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with the children in which they were presented with various images of nature and human actions in nature. In addition, kindergarten staff completed a questionnaire in which they provided information about sustainable activities in the kindergartens, how much time they spent with the children in nature and how often they discussed environmental challenges with the children. The children’s parents were also given a questionnaire where they filled in information on the same topic. Both the data material from the interviews and the questionnaires were statistically analysed.

Melis, C., Wold, P.-A., Bjørgen, K. & Moe, B. (2020). «Norwegian Kindergarten Children’s Knowledge about the Environmental Component of Sustainable Development Sustainability”, 12(19): artikkel 8037.