A key challenge in environmental and sustainability education (ESE) is determining whether school-based interventions effectively shape students' real-world pro-environmental behaviours and perspectives. Research suggests that environmental attitudes and behaviours are shaped by multiple social influences, including family, peers, and formal education (Collado et al., 2019; Palmer & Nael, 2000). However, the effectiveness of environmental education is not uniform: while some programs positively influence students' engagement, others may fail to induce behavioural change or even have counterproductive effects (Staples et al., 2019; Csonka, 2020).

The present study explores the extent to which environmental education moves beyond formal school settings and becomes embedded in students’ everyday practices.

Based on data from the 2024 Students and Teachers on Sustainability research project, this study examines the factors shaping students’ waste-related attitudes and environmental behaviours. The analysis focuses on:
(1) how frequently students engage in school-led environmental initiatives,
(2) the role of discussions with family, peers, and educators in shaping sustainability perspectives, and
(3) the impact of demographic (e.g. age, gender) and socio-economic background, including housing conditions and digital access, on environmental commitment.

This research examines the interaction between formal schooling, socialization, and socio-economic background to explore whether and how environmental education can transition from an isolated school subject to a broader social learning process.

While environmental education enhances knowledge, its direct link to behavioural change remains complex and context-dependent (Marcinkowski & Reid, 2019). Instead, behavioural change is shaped by socialization processes and environmental attitudes, which mediate the relationship between education and action (Grob, 1995; Liu et al., 2020).

The role of school-based environmental education remains complex. While many interventions have shown positive effects (Zelezny, 1999; Varela-Candamio et al., 2018), research suggests that the frequency and nature of educational experiences matter. Some school-based environmental activities may be ineffective or even counterproductive, leading to disengagement rather than action (Staples et al., 2019; Csonka, 2020).

Beyond school, social interactions with family and peers play a crucial role in reinforcing environmental values (Collado et al., 2019). Reverse socialization models suggest that children can influence their parents’ environmental awareness, highlighting its bidirectional nature (Singh et al., 2020).

Expanding on these theoretical perspectives, this research explores the intersection of students’ socio-economic environments and their environmental engagement, questioning the extent to which formal education alone can drive behavioural shifts.

This study is part of the Students and Teachers on Sustainability research series, a large-scale survey program conducted since 2020 among upper primary and secondary school students within the framework of the Sustainability Thematic Week (STW). The research aims to assess students' and teachers' perspectives on sustainability-related topics, with a focus on environmental attitudes, behaviours, and educational experiences. The 2024 online survey contained 77 questions, with this year’s primary focus being waste management—including attitudes and behaviours related to recycling, redemption systems, household waste, composting, and food and textile waste. Additionally, the survey covered other key topics such as nature connectedness, willingness to make sacrifices for the environment, general pro-environmental behaviour, and standard setting. In addition to demographic and socio-economic questions, four items assessed how frequently students engage with environmental themes in formal and non-formal school settings, within their families, and among their peers. The questionnaire was composed of freely available, pre-existing scales, originally developed in English and adapted to Hungarian through a two-step independent translation and synthesis process. Participation in the study was voluntary, and students had the option to skip questions or withdraw from the survey at any time. After data cleaning, the final dataset included 12,647 completed responses from students aged 10 to 21 years. The mean age of respondents was M = 14.32 years (SD = 2.323, Med = 14.00). In terms of gender distribution, 6,442 students (51.0%) were female, while 6,191 (49.0%) were male. The 2024 research was commissioned by Alapértékek Nonprofit Ltd. (the organizer of the Sustainability Thematic Week) and conducted by Forsense 2.0 Ltd., in collaboration with several Hungarian universities. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Eötvös Loránd University, Faculty of Education and Psychology (Approval No. 2024/199). The implementation of the Sustainability Thematic Week was supported by the Ministry of Interior, the National Office of Vocational Education and Adult Training, and the Blue Planet Foundation. The data were collected using the Forsense 2.0 Ltd. questionnaire software and analysed with SPSS version 27.0.

Findings indicate that students who never participated in the Sustainability Thematic Week (STW) reported lower levels of nature connectedness than their peers. Those who participated multiple times, including in 2024, exhibited the highest willingness to make sacrifices for the environment and engage in pro-environmental behaviours, reinforcing the idea that environmental education is most effective when embedded in long-term learning processes. This year’s research focused on waste management, revealing that students who participated in STW in 2024 were more likely to engage in pro-environmental waste management practices, such as the national deposit return system and sustainable textile waste management. Additionally, students with sustained STW participation viewed their families’ waste management efforts more positively, suggesting that school-based environmental learning extends into household practices. However, STW participation did not correlate with lower household waste production, particularly food waste. Interestingly, students who had never participated in STW reported generating less food waste, raising questions about the limitations of school-based environmental education in influencing home practices. This highlights the need for more integrated approaches that connect formal education with everyday experiences to effectively foster pro-environmental behaviours. While these initial analyses focus on STW participation, further research will examine the role of family, peers, school discussions, and socio-economic factors in shaping pro-environmental behaviours. These findings will contribute to understanding how every education can become environmental education by ensuring sustainability is not just taught but practiced in daily life.

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