Environmental education via television: Eskisehir Camlica district case

Abstract

We define an environmentally aware individual as: someone who has knowledge about the ecological principles and relations, who cares about environmental problems and events, who knows the meaning and significance of the social, political and economic aspects of environmental problems, and who can organize their close environment to solve these problems. However, we encountered a target society that was only partially aware of the environmental problems and events. The individuals of this society had very little knowledge regarding ecological principles and their social, political and economic aspects and relationships. A study was conducted on women aged 15 and above who live in the Camlica district of central Eskisehir. These women were unemployed and uneducated housewives. As these women were not aware of environmental problems, they were distant to any solutions. This is the basic cause of their inability to organize their neighborhood. As a result of the aforementioned study, it can be inferred that education is an inevitable necessity to carry the targeted society to the position of environmentally aware individuals. Television is considered to be a good educational tool regarding education in environmental matters, especially when targeted towards a group with a high ratio of television watching habits as opposed to reading habits. With these considerations, the properties of an environmental education program must be determined. To summarize, an environmental education television program which appeals to the target society in a sequence from simple to complex, general to specific is capable of captivating the interest of the target society for a duration long enough to achieve its objectives. This program must be presented clearly and understandably by an aurally and visually appealing and effective host for the audience to be able to comprehend the program.