Applications of Geospatial Technologies to Promote Environmental Education and Sustainability

摘要

This paper focussed on the application of geospatial technologies in the form of global positioning systems, geographical information systems (GIS), remotely-sensed satellite images, and a Virtual Globe to collect, analyze, and visualize environmental survey data from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Data from 9,062 survey questionnaires were first analyzed with loglinear modelling techniques. After statistically identifying that educational attainment, age, gender, and location, were major factors influencing concern for the environment and sustainability issues, a GIS was used to map and visualize the spatial differences in education and concern for the environment. Numerous areas throughout Iran were identified as having low concern for the environment. These areas could be considered as "hotspots" and should be the focus of spatial targeting. With the geospatial results policy planners, community leaders and environmentalists could now prioritize areas in order to deliver effective environmental education programs and environmental sustainability practices.