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Concepts of 464 university freshmen towards Environmental Education (EE) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) were analyzed. Responses were classified into seven main categories: ‘ecological aspects’, ‘ecological problems’, ‘economical aspects’, ‘social aspects’, ‘environmental attitudes’, ‘environmental behavior’ and ‘education’. Analyses of sustainability concepts show a large discrepancy between EE and ESD, whereby the latter includes an additional sub-group: ‘the next generation aspect’. Labeling individual sources of EE in a retrospective assessment identified the family as the most important source of knowledge, followed by media, school and outreach. Further differences were detected between students’ self-perception and their ideal conception of environmental behavior, by using the scale Inclusion of Nature in Self (INS). Only some EE statements produced higher (unfulfilled) expectations ‘economic aspects’, ‘environmental behavior’ and ‘ecological problems’. In contrast fewer (unfulfilled) expectations were observed in the categories of ‘education’ and ‘ecological aspects’.

Affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy consumption is a crucial goal of the Agenda 2030. To raise each citizen’s awareness for more effective energy consumptions, proper education is necessary. The classroom project GAIA (Green Awareness in Action) was designed to change energy consumption patterns to pursue green behaviour. The class-wise aim was to improve schools’ CO2-balance and to promote environmentally sustainable behaviour without impacting school life quality. Our target group were sixth graders (N = 132, M = 11.03, SD ± 0.23, 53.4% = girls) of one Greek school. To monitor the project’s effect, a pre- and post-test design was applied to measure environmental literacy regarding environmental knowledge, attitudes/values and behaviour. A regression analysis revealed that students with poor previous knowledge reached higher learning effects compared to those with good previous knowledge. Related to the environmental knowledge types, an ANCOVA analysis revealed a knowledge gain in action-related and effectiveness knowledge. The overall learning effect correlates positively with pro-environmental preference (high scores in preservation, low scores in utilisation) and negatively with weak pro-environmental preferences. Anthropocentric (utilitarian) preferences primarily focussing on nature exploitation have considerably decreased. The project illustrates how far individual behaviour can be targeted in green educational initiatives.

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The general decline of mountain farming all over Europe suggests encouraging farmers to adapt their farm management and to diversify their activities into tourism. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the impact of different types of farmer-based provision of accommodation on the preservation of the farm and the identification of farmers with farming activities. For our investigation in the case study area of Ötztal valley, Tyrol, Austria, we applied a mixed method approach. First, we developed a heuristic concept for categorizing the types of farms that offer farmer-based accommodation. The term ‘farmer-based’ refers to entities who are active in accommodation services and farming. We collected quantitative data in an online survey and carried out a qualitative focus group. Results reveal the importance of farmer-based accommodation even if decoupled from farm activities within the case study area. This type also supports, next to the ‘authentic’ form of farm-based tourism, the existing agricultural structure and contributes to the positive impact of mountain farming such as for the maintenance of multifunctional cultural landscapes, the provision of ecosystem services, and the viability of rural communities. Therefore, we suggest considering decoupled forms of farmer-based accommodation as agritourism.