Stakeholders’ Awareness Level for Greening Project Initiatives in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

Abstract

Environmental awareness is a key to promoting greening initiatives within the university campus. People who have environmental awareness are conscious of the footprint they leave on the environment. The study combines participatory action research with survey design to investigate the stakeholders' awareness level for greening project initiatives in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. A sample size of 386 comprising the proportions of three stakeholders – staff, students and commercial service providers were purposively selected and used for the study. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire with acceptable reliability of 0.930. The study found that 70 per cent of the university stakeholders are largely familiar with the term 'environmental protection or sustainability'. Using Relative Frequency Index, it was discovered that campus stakeholders often perform/use latent greening activities involving efficient transportation (0.671), efficient energy (0.795) and waste management (0.692) consciously or otherwise.  Further analysis involving Environmental Awareness Index (EAI) showed that the level of awareness for greening project implementation from the three dimensions (environmental motivation, knowledge and skills) is highest among the staff (0.823), followed by students (0.770) and commercial service providers (0.769) respectively. Kruskal-Wallis test showed a statistically insignificant difference in the level of awareness for greening project implementation among major stakeholders in the study area (X^2  (n=330)=3.909,p=.142). Consequently, the study recommended the implementation institution-wide policy supported by awareness creation among stakeholders to foster both individual and institutional levels commitments.

Keywords: Greening Project, Environmental Awareness Index, Relative Frequency Index, University Campus, Stakeholders

DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/66-06

Publication date:June 30th 2020