Post-COVID Environmental Education in Morocco: School Clubs as Drivers of Student Engagement and Sustained Self-Reported Sustainable Practices
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Global environmental challenges, amplified by climate change, pollution, and socio-ecological inequities, emphasize the urgent need for educational systems that foster durable self-reported eco-responsible practices among youth. This study investigates whether participation in school-based environmental clubs enhances Moroccan secondary school students’ capacity to sustain such practices, specifically the responsible disposal of pandemic-related waste, awareness of vaccination-related medical waste risks, and water conservation within the post-COVID-19 context. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 433 students (aged 15–19) from Fez, Sefrou, and Tangier, spanning urban and peri-urban contexts. Statistical analyses, including chi-square tests, two-way ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and K-means clustering, assessed the relationships between club membership, environmental knowledge, and self-reported practices. Results indicate that club members consistently reported higher self-reported eco-responsible practices (Cramer’s V = 0.20–0.22), with a mean practice score of 3.9 compared to 2.8 for non-members. PCA identified two engagement dimensions, Self-Reported Eco-Responsible Practices and Cognitive & Institutional Engagement, explaining 65.4% of total variance. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct profiles: Sustainably Engaged (25%), Latently Engaged (50%), and Unconcerned (25%). These findings confirm environmental clubs as pivotal drivers of sustained self-reported eco-responsible practices and awareness, despite territorial disparities, and support the integration of hybrid, health-oriented approaches to strengthen environmental education in underserved regions. This study highlights the critical role of school-based environmental clubs in fostering socio-ecological resilience, offering a scalable model for integrating public health and ecological sustainability into education systems, especially in post-crisis contexts.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Copyright of the published article belongs to the authors and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY SA) International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See the Effect of Open Access).
References
[1] Q. Miao and C. Nduneseokwu, “Advancing Environmental Leadership: Education, Development, and Training,” Environ. Leadersh. a VUCA Era, pp. 467–538, 2024, doi: 10.1007/978-981-96-0324-4_10.
[2] K. Das Malakar, M. Kumar, S. Anand, and G. Kuzur, “Climate, climate change ecology, and socio-ecological environments,” in Climate Change and Socio-Ecological Transformation: Vulnerability and Sustainability, Springer, 2023, pp. 29–116.
[3] UNESCO, Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 2021.
[4] P. Paillé, Y. Chen, O. Boiral, and J. Jin, “The Impact of Human Resource Management on Environmental Performance: An Employee-Level Study,” J. Bus. Ethics, vol. 121, no. 3, pp. 451–466, 2014, doi: 10.1007/s10551-013-1732-0.
[5] S. K. Yadav et al., “Environmental education for sustainable development,” in Natural resources conservation and advances for sustainability, Elsevier, 2022, pp. 415–431.
[6] H. Kopnina, “Teaching Sustainable Development Goals in The Netherlands: a critical approach,” Environ. Educ. Res., vol. 24, no. 9, pp. 1268–1283, 2018, doi: 10.1080/13504622.2017.1303819.
[7] K. C. Doell et al., “The International Climate Psychology Collaboration: Climate change-related data collected from 63 countries,” Sci. Data, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 1066, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41597-024-03865-1.
[8] A. Kollmuss and J. Agyeman, “Mind the Gap: Why do people act environmentally and what are the barriers to pro-environmental behavior?,” Environ. Educ. Res., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 239–260, 2002, doi: 10.1080/13504620220145401.
[9] R. Gifford and A. Nilsson, “Personal and social factors that influence pro-environmental concern and behaviour: A review,” Int. J. Psychol., vol. 49, no. 3, pp. 141–157, 2014, doi: 10.1002/ijop.12034.
[10] C. A. Velis, D. C. Wilson, and C. R. Cheeseman, “19th century London dust-yards: A case study in closed-loop resource efficiency,” Waste Manag., vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 1282–1290, 2009, doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2008.10.018.
[11] J. D. Sachs, The end of poverty: Economic possibilities for our time. Penguin, 2006.
[12] V. Kioupi and N. Voulvoulis, “Education for sustainable development: A systemic framework for connecting the SDGs to educational outcomes,” Sustain., vol. 11, no. 21, p. 6104, 2019, doi: 10.3390/su11216104.
[13] R. McKeown and L. Down, “A Critical Reflection on Online Teaching for Sustainability,” Sustain., vol. 14, no. 21, p. 13905, 2022, doi: 10.3390/su142113905.
[14] M. Helbig and N. Sendzik, “What Drives Regional Disparities in Educational Expansion: School Reform, Modernization, or Social Structure?,” Educ. Sci., vol. 12, no. 3, p. 175, 2022, doi: 10.3390/educsci12030175.
[15] B. Hu, C. Wang, Z. Xia, C. Lu, and X. Ju, “Environmental education in low-income and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis,” J. Environ. Psychol., vol. 104, p. 102613, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102613.
[16] O. Krinochkina, L. Krinochkin, D. Mamina, L. Khurnova, and O. Fedoseev, “Indirect effects of oil products on the environment,” E3S Web Conf., vol. 531, p. 138813, 2024, doi: 10.1051/e3sconf/202453104015.
[17] A. Huoponen, “How eco-clubs foster pro-environmental behavior in a school context: a case from Finland,” Fennia, vol. 202, no. 2, pp. 227–246, 2024, doi: 10.11143/fennia.146717.
[18] J. Liu, “Bridging Digital Divide Amidst Educational Change for Socially Inclusive Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” SAGE Open, vol. 11, no. 4, p. 21582440211060810, 2021, doi: 10.1177/21582440211060810.
[19] G. Nhamo, L. Chapungu, and M. Togo, “COVID-19 impacts on school operations: a pushback on the attainment of SDG 4 in South Africa,” Cogent Educ., vol. 11, no. 1, p. 2381339, 2024, doi: 10.1080/2331186X.2024.2381339.
[20] J. Quay et al., “What future/s for outdoor and environmental education in a world that has contended with COVID-19?,” J. Outdoor Environ. Educ., vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 93–117, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s42322-020-00059-2.
[21] M. Berbés-Blázquez, M. Schoon, K. Benessaiah, E. M. Bennett, G. D. Peterson, and R. Ghimire, “Resilience in the times of COVID: what the response to the COVID pandemic teaches us about resilience principles,” Ecol. Soc., vol. 27, no. 2, 2022, doi: 10.5751/ES-13223-270216.
[22] J. Zhou and H. Zhang, “Transforming Education in the AI Era: A Technology–Organization–Environment Framework Inquiry into Public Discourse,” Appl. Sci., vol. 15, no. 7, p. 3886, 2025, doi: 10.3390/app15073886.
[23] K. Zhao, C. Wu, and J. Liu, “Can Artificial Intelligence Effectively Improve China’s Environmental Quality? A Study Based on the Perspective of Energy Conservation, Carbon Reduction, and Emission Reduction,” Sustain., vol. 16, no. 17, p. 7574, 2024, doi: 10.3390/su16177574.
[24] I. Bakkali, A. B. Pérez-Torregrosa, V. Cebrián-Robles, and M. Cebrián-de-la-Serna, “Digital Inclusion in the Moroccan Context: A Review of Research and Educational Initiatives in the Twenty-First Century,” Lect. Notes Educ. Technol., vol. Part F2266, pp. 377–394, 2023, doi: 10.1007/978-981-99-7645-4_17.
[25] A. Tadesse, Online learning and Human Capital development in Africa: Harnessing the digital and demographic dividends. University of California, Los Angeles, 2023.
[26] I. J. Akpan, O. F. Offodile, A. C. Akpanobong, and Y. M. Kobara, “A Comparative Analysis of Virtual Education Technology, E-Learning Systems Research Advances, and Digital Divide in the Global South,” in Informatics, 2024, vol. 11, no. 3, p. 53, doi: 10.3390/informatics11030053.
[27] A. Riouch and S. Benamar, “Evaluation and Proposals for Improving the Situation of Environmental Education in Morocco,” Am. J. Educ. Res., vol. 6, no. 6, pp. 621–631, 2018, [Online]. Available: http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/6/6/7.
[28] GEEP, “Call to Action,” Global environmental education partnership, 2017. https://thegeep.org/get-involved/call-to-action.
[29] D. Fakoussa and L. L. Kabis-Kechrid, “Morocco’s Socio-Economic Challenges: Employment, Education, and Migration-Policy Briefs from the Region and Europe,” 2020.
[30] OECD, Equity and Inclusion in Education: Finding Strength through Diversity. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2023.
[31] B. El-Batri, A. Alami, M. Zaki, and Y. Nafidi, “Extracurricular environmental activities in Moroccan middle schools: Opportunities and challenges to promoting effective environmental education,” Eur. J. Educ. Res., vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1013–1028, 2019, doi: 10.12973/eu-jer.8.4.1013.
[32] H. Nourredine, M. Barjenbruch, A. Million, B. El Amrani, N. Chakri, and F. Amraoui, “Linking Urban Water Management, Wastewater Recycling, and Environmental Education: A Case Study on Engaging Youth in Sustainable Water Resource Management in a Public School in Casablanca City, Morocco,” Educ. Sci., vol. 13, no. 8, p. 824, 2023, doi: 10.3390/educsci13080824.
[33] F. Maaroufi, M. El Malki, and M. Arabi, “Environmental Awareness in the Oriental region of Morocco: A review,” in E3S Web of Conferences, 2024, vol. 527, p. 4003, doi: 10.1051/e3sconf/202452704003.
[34] H. R. Hungerford and T. L. Volk, “Changing learner behavior through environmental education,” J. Environ. Educ., vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 8–21, 1990, doi: 10.1080/00958964.1990.10753743.
[35] A. Riouch, S. Benamar, H. Ezzeri, and N. Cherqi, “Assessing Student Perceptions of Pollution and Management Measures Related to COVID-19 Vaccination Tools in Morocco,” Pakistan J. Life Soc. Sci., vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 1338–1360, 2024, doi: 10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.2.0094.
[36] C. Chen, P. Shahbaz, and S. ul Haq, “Transforming students’ green behavior through environmental education: the impact of institutional practices and policies,” Front. Psychol., vol. 15, p. 1499781, 2024, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1499781.
[37] J. M. Simmons, V. L. Crittenden, and B. B. Schlegelmilch, “The Global Reporting Initiative: do application levels matter?,” Soc. Responsib. J., vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 527–541, 2018, doi: 10.1108/SRJ-12-2016-0218.
[38] D. Perkumienė, A. Atalay, L. Safaa, M. Škėma, and M. Aleinikovas, “Innovative Strategies of Sustainable Waste Management in Recreational Activities for a Clean and Safe Environment in Turkey, Lithuania, and Morocco,” Forests, vol. 16, no. 6, p. 997, 2025, doi: 10.3390/f16060997.
[39] B. Bekhat, M. Madrane, R. J. Idrissi, R. Zerhane, and M. Laafou, “Towards an Effective Environmental Education: a Survey in the Moroccan Education System,” Int. J. Environ. Ecol. Fam. Urban Stud., vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 25–¬34, 2020.
[40] F. M. Reimers, “The Role of Universities Building an Ecosystem of Climate Change Education,” in International Explorations in Outdoor and Environmental Education, Springer International Publishing Cham, 2021, pp. 1–44.
[41] T. MacIntyre, D. Tilbury, and A. Wals, Education and learning for sustainable futures: 50 years of learning for environment and change. Taylor & Francis, 2024.
[42] L. M. Cameron, S. Kovalchuk, S. M. D’Angelo, and A. A. Igodoe, “Localizing the education development research agenda in the Global South: The case of GPE KIX,” Int. J. Educ. Dev., vol. 113, p. 103207, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2025.103207.
[43] M. B. Tafese and E. Kopp, “Embedding Social Sustainability in Education: A Thematic Review of Practices and Trends Across Educational Pathways from a Global Perspective,” Sustain., vol. 17, no. 10, p. 4342, 2025, doi: 10.3390/su17104342.
[44] H. Idrissi, “Examining STEM pre-service teachers’ perceptions of climate change education: insights from Morocco,” Environ. Educ. Res., pp. 1–20, 2025, doi: 10.1080/13504622.2025.2471984.
[45] J. M. Nicholson, “Public participation and environmental protection,” in Environmental Impact Assessment Review, vol. 1, no. 1, Springer International Publishing Cham, 1980, pp. 5–7.
[46] K. Velempini, “Assessing the Role of Environmental Education Practices Towards the Attainment of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” Sustain., vol. 17, no. 5, p. 2043, 2025, doi: 10.3390/su17052043.
[47] A. Papavasileiou, G. Konteos, S. Kalogiannidis, D. Kalfas, and C. I. Papadopoulou, “Investigating the Impact of Sustainability-Themed Extracurricular Activities on Student Engagement with the 17 SDGs by 2026: A Case Study of Greece,” Sustain., vol. 17, no. 7, p. 3071, 2025, doi: 10.3390/su17073071.
[48] A. M. ‘Ainul Yaqin, A. K. Muqoffi, S. R. Rizalmi, F. A. Pratikno, and R. Y. Efranto, “Hybrid learning in post-pandemic higher education systems: an analysis using SEM and DNN,” Cogent Educ., vol. 12, no. 1, p. 2458930, 2025, doi: 10.1080/2331186X.2025.2458930.
[49] E. Zaidan, L. Cochrane, and M. Belal, “Adapting to change and transforming crisis into opportunity - Behavioral and policy shifts in sustainable practices post-pandemic,” Heliyon, vol. 11, no. 10, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42046.
[50] M. W. H. Spitzer, R. Gutsfeld, M. Wirzberger, and K. Moeller, “Evaluating students’ engagement with an online learning environment during and after COVID-19 related school closures: A survival analysis approach,” Trends Neurosci. Educ., vol. 25, p. 100168, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.tine.2021.100168.
[51] V. M. J. Aeschbach, M. Schwichow, and W. Rieß, “Effectiveness of climate change education—a meta-analysis,” in Frontiers in Education, 2025, vol. 10, p. 1563816, doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1563816.
[52] T. Su, J. Liu, L. Meng, Y. Luo, Q. Ke, and L. Xie, “The effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) in enhancing critical thinking skills in medical education: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” Front. Educ., vol. 10, p. 1565556, 2025, doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1565556.
[53] G. Popovic et al., “Four principles for improved statistical ecology,” Methods Ecol. Evol., vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 266–281, 2024, doi: 10.1111/2041-210X.14270.
[54] J. F. Hair, W. C. Black, B. J. Babin, and R. E. Anderson, Multivariate Data Analysis, 7th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson New International Edition, 2014.
[55] A. Malah and H. Bahi, “Integrated multivariate data analysis for Urban Sustainability Assessment, a case study of Casablanca city,” Sustain. Cities Soc., vol. 86, p. 104100, 2022.
[56] I. Ajzen, “The Theory of planned behavior,” Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis. Process., 1991.
[57] P. C. Stern, “Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior,” J. Soc. Issues, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 407–424, 2000, doi: 10.1111/0022-4537.00175.
[58] S. H. Schwartz, “Universalism values and the inclusiveness of our moral universe,” J. Cross. Cult. Psychol., vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 711–728, 2007, doi: 10.1177/0022022107308992.
[59] UNESCO, Universal declaration on bioethics and human rights. Paris: UNESCO, 2005.
[60] B. Bieszk-Stolorz and K. Dmytrów, “Application of multivariate statistical analysis to assess the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 8 in European Union countries,” Wiadomości Stat. Polish Stat., vol. 2023, no. 3, pp. 22–43, 2023, doi: 10.59139/ws.2023.03.2.
[61] S. Puiu, S. O. Idowu, G. M. Meghisan-Toma, R. M. Bădîrcea, N. M. Doran, and A. G. Manta, “Online Education Management: A Multivariate Analysis of Students’ Perspectives and Challenges during Online Classes,” Electron., vol. 12, no. 2, p. 454, 2023, doi: 10.3390/electronics12020454.
[62] World Medical Association, “World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects,” Jama, vol. 310, no. 20, pp. 2191–2194, 2013.
[63] L. Houmam and I. Aomar, “Effects of school-based environmental clubs: fostering environmental awareness and strengthening eco-citizen behaviors among students,” J. Law Sustain. Dev., vol. 11, no. 12, pp. e1775–e1775, 2023.
[64] W. L. Filho et al., “The role of universities in accelerating the sustainable development goals in Europe,” Sci. Rep., vol. 14, no. 1, p. 15464, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-65820-9.
[65] J. Westheimer and J. Kahne, “What kind of citizen? The politics of educating for democracy,” Am. Educ. Res. J., vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 237–269, 2004.
[66] C. Folke, S. R. Carpenter, B. Walker, M. Scheffer, T. Chapin, and J. Rockström, “Resilience thinking: Integrating resilience, adaptability and transformability,” Ecol. Soc., vol. 15, no. 4, 2010, doi: 10.5751/ES-03610-150420.
[67] J. Torney-Purta, B. Wilkenfeld, and C. Barber, “How adolescents in 27 countries understand, support, and practice human rights,” J. Soc. Issues, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 857–880, 2008, doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.2008.00592.x.
[68] A. Moreira et al., “A Road Less Travelled and Beyond: Towards a Roadmap for Integrating Sustainability into Computing Education,” arXiv Prepr. arXiv2406.18945, 2024, [Online]. Available: http://arxiv.org/abs/2406.18945.
[69] S. Timmis and M. C. Valladares-Celis, “Digital inequalities and the COVID legacy in higher education in the global South and North: intersecting inaccessibilities and institutional assumptions,” Compare, pp. 1–19, 2025, doi: 10.1080/03057925.2025.2483691.
[70] J. van de Wetering, P. Leijten, J. Spitzer, and S. Thomaes, “Does environmental education benefit environmental outcomes in children and adolescents? A meta-analysis,” J. Environ. Psychol., vol. 81, p. 101782, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101782.
[71] V. Servant-Miklos, “Environmental education and socio-ecological resilience in the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from educational action research,” Environ. Educ. Res., vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 18–39, 2022, doi: 10.1080/13504622.2021.2022101.
[72] P. S. Plan, “Pan American Health Organization,” Disaster Prev. Manag. An Int. J., vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 379–380, 1999, doi: 10.1108/dpm.1999.07308aag.007.
[73] S. Naidu, “Building resilience in education systems post-COVID-19,” Distance Education, vol. 42, no. 1. Taylor & Francis, pp. 1–4, 2021, doi: 10.1080/01587919.2021.1885092.
[74] A. A. Millward, I. Borisenoka, N. Bhagat, and G. T. O. LeBreton, “Environmental education during the COVID-19 pandemic: lessons from Ontario, Canada,” in Frontiers in Education, 2024, vol. 9, p. 1430882, doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1430882.
[75] R. Veenstra, “Harnessing peer influence: A summary and synthesis of social network and peer-led intervention research,” Int. J. Behav. Dev., p. 01650254251331201, 2025, doi: 10.1177/01650254251331201.
[76] C. H. Liao, “Exploring social media determinants in fostering pro-environmental behavior: insights from social impact theory and the theory of planned behavior,” Front. Psychol., vol. 15, p. 1445549, 2024, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1445549.
[77] Y. Meng, D. Chung, and A. Zhang, “The effect of social media environmental information exposure on the intention to participate in pro-environmental behavior,” PLoS One, vol. 18, no. 11 November, p. e0294577, 2023, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294577.
[78] S. C. Boyle, S. Baez, B. M. Trager, and J. W. LaBrie, “Systematic Bias in Self-Reported Social Media Use in the Age of Platform Swinging: Implications for Studying Social Media Use in Relation to Adolescent Health Behavior,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 19, no. 16, p. 9847, 2022, doi: 10.3390/ijerph19169847.