Abstract:

The impact of human actions on the Earth system is increasingly recognised. Earth’s habitability is being treated because of human behaviours. It is critical to educate citizens of all ages and social classes to develop the notion that humanity is part of a complex and adaptive system and must know how to live towards sustainability and respect Earth’s dynamic balance. However, access to education – and, therefore, to scientific knowledge – is not extended right to all citizens. Different classes of society need diverse and inclusive educational approaches adapted to their specific needs, such as senior citizens. With the increase in average life expectancy and improved health care, citizens live actively later. It is, therefore, necessary to promote quality and life-long learning opportunities as advocated in the fourth goal of sustainable development of the United Nations. Based on this theoretical framework, a PhD program with a citizen science approach was developed to promote lifelong learning about human impacts on the Earth system. Three educational resources were co-created with 31 senior citizens and tailored to their needs. The educational resources addressed topics such as the deoxygenation of the oceans, the anthropic occupation of the coastal line and human nutrition framed in a systemic and geoethical perspective of the Earth and according to the case-based teaching methodology. A quasi-experimental study was carried out to evaluate if educational resources developed promoted learnings about the Earth system and geoethics. The data collection instrument consisted of a cognitive test divided into two groups (Earth system and geoethics), composed of ten closed-answer questions and one open-answer question. The sample comprises 56 associates (N=56) attending a senior university in northern Portugal, mostly female (n=48; 85,7%) and with an average age of 72.3 years. The results revealed that the developed educational resources positively impacted seniors learning, with a statistically significant increase (t(55)=-15,495; p<0,05) in the mean of post-test classifications (68.5%) when compared to the pre-test (42.4%). The performance improvement is expressed in both groups, verifying a good performance in the group on the Earth system (71.8%) and a satisfactory performance in the geoethics group (63.8%) in the post-test, which contrasts with unsatisfactory performances in the pre-test in both groups, 48.6% and 33.9%, respectively. The knowledge developed allows a better understanding of the Earth system, citizens will be able to reflect on their actions and change behaviours to promote planetary sustainability.

Keywords:

Earth system, geoethics, lifelong learning, senior citizens.