Investigating the Role of Formal Education in Changing Environmental Behaviors (Case Study: Optimal Water Use)

In a world where irrational human activities have caused irreparable damage to the environment, it is naturally necessary and inevitable to design a procedure for achieving sustainable development within which limited and irreplaceable resources can be managed. Protecting the environment, and in particular water resources, has become crucial in the current climate change. This is doubly important in Iran due to limited water resources, while in Iran water conservation programs and research are generally focused on technological innovations rather than behavioral issues. This article examines the status of behaviors related to the protection of environmental resources, especially water resources and its education in Iran to examine the impact of formal education on environmental behaviors. The present study was conducted in District One of Tehran with the target community of students in all educational levels. In addition to library reviews, this research has analyzed the content of textbooks in different educational levels and has analyzed textbooks in terms of text, images, maps and diagrams. The findings show that although 95% of the participants were aware of the protection of water resources, only 42% of them paid serious attention to the need to protect water resources, and increasing the level of education and training led to improved behaviors Water retention has been. In addition, water conservation education in the formal education program has a low level, so it can be said that education in the field of environment and in particular water and the protection of related resources have been neglected in formal education. This can be seen in the lack of place for this issue, especially in textbooks.