title: Can Environmental Education Actions Change Public Attitudes? An Example Using the Pond Habitat and Associated Biodiversity.
abstract: Ponds provide vital ecological services. They are biodiversity hotspots and important breading sites for rare and endangered species, including amphibians and dragonflies. Nevertheless, their number is decreasing due to habitat degradation caused by human activities. The "Ponds with Life" environmental education project was developed to raise public awareness and engagement in the study of ponds by promoting the direct contact between the public and nature, researchers and pedagogical hands-on exploration activities. A pre-post- project survey was set-up to assess the effects of the project on the environmental consciousness, knowledge and attitude changes towards ponds and the associated biodiversity of school students aged 15 to 18. The survey questions were based on Likert scales and their pre-post project comparisons used an innovative multivariate hypothesis testing approach. The results showed that the project improved the students' knowledge and attitudes towards ponds and associated biodiversity, especially the amphibians. Ponds can be found or constructed in urban areas and despite small sized, they proved to be interesting model habitats and living laboratories to foster environmental education, by encompassing a high number of species and a fast ecological succession.
authors.affiliation: CIIMAR-Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research, Porto, Portugal.|CIBIO/InBIO-Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Associated Laboratory, Porto, Portugal.|Department of Biology & CESAM-Research Center Environmental and Marine Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Eunice
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology & CESAM-Research Center Environmental and Marine Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Quintino
authors.affiliation: CIBIO/InBIO-Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Associated Laboratory, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Jael
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palhas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology & CESAM-Research Center Environmental and Marine Research, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Ana Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: CIIMAR-Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research, Porto, Portugal.|CIBIO/InBIO-Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, Associated Laboratory, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teixeira
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D061005:Ponds; D011639:Public Opinion