Communication and education for sustainable development in a French university
This research comes within the framework of the Teaching and Sustainable Environmental and Social Development programme of the Social Responsibility of Universities (RSU) carried out in French universities. Its aim is to identify : the level of students’ awareness of the sustainable development actions carried out by their university, the communication variables affecting this level of awareness, and the variables traditionally known to influence the adoption of pro-environmental behaviour that could predict this awareness. One hundred and two students, including 67 women, aged 18 to 26 years (M =22.36 ; SD =1.89) completed a four-part questionnaire : a questionnaire identifying the level of awareness of the sustainable development actions of the university over the last six months, a place attachment scale, an environmental attitudes scale, and a values inventory. The results show that combining several communication means does not enhance awareness of the actions undertaken. Moreover, oral messages seem to confuse the information, increasing the percentage of errors. The multiple regression analysis that we then carried out reveals that attachment to the university, the visibility of the sustainable development action and Altruism are the explanatory factors of awareness of the sustainable development actions in the university (R = .56 ; F(6, 95) = 10.55 ; p < .001). This raises the question of the specificity of communication about sustainable development.