Early Sustainability Consciousness in Primary Education: Insights from the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire

This paper investigates whether sustainability consciousness is already developed in thefinal years of primary education. The study involvedn= 1532 students ingrades 5 and 6fromn= 48 primary schools in the Epirus region of Greece during the 2024-2025 school year.To assess their knowingness, attitudes, and behaviors related to sustainable development,we used the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire, which was reverse-translated intoGreek and tested in a pilot study for age appropriateness. Reliability was examined, andall three subscales-knowingness, attitudes, and behavior-showed statistically significantpositive correlations. Students generally reported high levels of sustainability conscious-ness, with girls consistently scoring higher across all categories. The findings highlight thepotential to foster sustainability-related values and practices early in education, providingoriginal evidence from Greek primary schools and expanding the instrument's internationaluse among younger learners.