Model of the Effect of Environmental Knowledge and Awareness of Women in Border Areas on the Sustainability of Ecosystems Case Study: Settlements of Marivan Border City

Nowadays, environmental knowledge seeks to protect the environment in relation to the social environment by increasing environmental awareness at the community level and strengthening environmental knowledge and culture in various areas of society. In the meantime, the emphasis on the role of women as environmentalists is not hidden from anyone. Women have always been considered as one of the main educational institutions of the society and family, which have achieved significant progress in the present century due to their seriousness and efforts. The active participation of women in institutionalizing environmental culture and the need to create the necessary conditions to achieve a sustainable environment is something that in recent years has become a new paradigm in the sustainability of ecosystems; to some extent, residents' awareness of environmental issues, especially women's awareness, is considered essential. Considering the border areas of Iran, considering the long borders with neighboring countries, most of which are environmental elements, requires environmental planning and assessments. In this regard, the main purpose of this study is to explain how the knowledge and environmental awareness of women in border areas affect the sustainability of ecosystems. The present study is applied in terms of purpose and with an analytical approach. First uses documentary-library resources and examines the concepts related to women's environmental knowledge and awareness and then explains the model of the effective factors on the sustainability of ecosystems. Finally, by modeling structural equations, the effect of knowledge and environmental awareness of women in the settlements of Marivan border city has been assessed. The results show that "education rate" is the most important variable with an impact factor of 98% and among the dependent factors of the model, the variable "rate of protection of environmental resources" has the most impact. Also, based on the calculated coefficient of determination, the independent variables of the research model explain up to 90% of the sustainability of ecosystems. Therefore, it can be said that increasing the basic knowledge of women in border settlements can change their environmental attitudes and thus create a sense of responsibility for the protection of natural resources. Finally, in accordance with the conditions and border situation of the case study, basic solutions in this field are presented.