| Abstract |
This qualitative research focuses on the way in which college students of the Primary Education Department of the university of Crete perceive the urban environment of Rethymno and in particular its positive and negative elements. The research combines two modern trends in Environmental Education: Place-Based Education and Urban Environmental Education emphasizing on the importance of students engaging in Environmental Education through community based programs, especially when they live in urban areas. The purpose of this work is to make a trial application, in the context of Environmental Education, of the Photovoice method, an approach that puts cameras in the hands of community members in order to discover issues that concern them. 11 male and female college students participated in the study on a voluntary basis. 7 first semester students, 3 second semester students and one eighth semester student.Following a brief introductory seminar in digital photography, they were asked to photograph what they liked and what they didn’t like in Rethymno’s urban environment and then to describe their photographs. The aim of this research was to capture the urban environmental problems that students identify, at their place of study, Rethymno, but also what elements of the urban environment they like. The research questions were
1. Which elements of the urban environment are identified bythe students?
2. What elements of nature do the students identify in Rethymno?
3. What urban environmental problems do they identify?
114 photographs were taken in the category ‘’I like in Rethymno’’ and 107 in the ‘’I don’t like in Rethymno’’ category. The data analysis was made in two ways a) What did the students photograph and b) Why did they choose to photograph the specific
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material. In the category ‘’I like in Rethymno’’, students photographed a) elements of the urban environment and b) solutions to urban environmental problems. The biophysical elements of the urban environment dominated as a positive feature, as most of the participant’s photographs were portraying plants. The structured environment was photographed less than the biophysical environment, with a preference shown for city monuments. The human element was barely photographed. The reasons that led the students to photograph these positive elements of the city’s environment, were the aesthetic pleasure they offer, the positive memories, differences and comparisons with their places of origin and the ecosystem services.
In the category ‘’I don’t like in Rethymno’’, the students photographed a) urban environmental problems (mostly solid waste) and b) other negative themes such as graffiti and abandoned buildings, because according to the students, they make their urban environment less attractive.
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Αστική περιβαλλοντική εκπαίδευση : τί αρέσει και τί δεν αρέσει στους φοιτητές και φοιτήτριες του ΠΤΔΕ στο αστικό περιβάλλον του Ρεθύμνου : καταγραφή με τη μέθοδο photovoice
