Perception and Effectiveness of Environmental Education for Tourists under Spatial Perspective: A Case Study of Wuyi Mountain National Park

Abstract

National parks are important spatial places for environmental education. To improve the perception and effectiveness of environmental education, it is critical to facilitate the public’s spatial experience. To explore influencing factors of perception and effectiveness of environmental education from a spatial perspective is of great significance for stimulating the public’s pro-environmental behavior and promoting the high-quality development of environmental education in national parks. Educational mode plays an important role in environmental education space, and spatial element is also an important part of it. In this study, Wuyi Mountain National Park was selected as a sample to explore whether educational methods and spatial elements affect the perception and effectiveness of environmental education through questionnaires and statistical methods. The results show that: (1) tourists prefer guided education mode, open space and road with interactive facilities and characteristic paving; (2) both educational modes and spatial elements have positive influence on the perception and effectiveness of environmental education; (3) educational mode and environmental education effectiveness are affected by the demographic characteristics, of which educational background is the main influencing factor. After analysis, it is suggested that when environmental education space is designed, tourists’ preference should be considered and personalized environmental education program should be customized, so as to improve the readability of environmental education space, and provide reference and support for strengthening the environmental education function of national parks.

Keywords

• environmental education space
• environmental education effectiveness
• environmental education perception
• Wuyi Mountain National Park