THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION IN FORMING PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR IN URBAN AND RURAL COMMUNITIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66303/xg1rn633Keywords:
Environmental Health Education, Pro-Environmental Behavior, Environmental Literacy, Urban Communities, Rural CommunitiesAbstract
The increasingly complex global environmental problems caused by urbanization, industrialization, increased consumption, climate change, and environmental pollution have driven the importance of fostering pro-environmental behavior in society. Environmental health education is one strategy considered effective in increasing public awareness, knowledge, and behavior towards the environment. This study aims to analyze the role of environmental health education in fostering pro-environmental behavior in urban and rural communities through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach. The research method was carried out by reviewing 20 national and international scientific articles published in the 2020–2025 period. The literature was obtained from the Scopus, ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Google Scholar, Frontiers, and SINTA-indexed journal databases. The analysis was carried out through a process of identification, selection, article quality evaluation, data extraction, and narrative synthesis. The results of the study indicate that environmental health education has a significant effect on increasing environmental literacy, ecological awareness, waste management behavior, healthy sanitation practices, natural resource conservation, and community participation in environmental conservation activities. In urban communities, digital technology and social media-based education are more effective in increasing pro-environmental behavior, while in rural communities, community-based approaches and local wisdom are more dominant in shaping environmentally adaptive behavior. This study concludes that environmental health education is a crucial instrument in developing sustainable pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, contextual educational strategies tailored to the community's sociocultural characteristics are needed to increase the effectiveness of environmental health programs.
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