Sustainable Development Education in Public Administration Graduate Programs: The Cases of Pamukkale and Nigde Omer Halisdemir Universities

Abstract

Adaptation of environmental literacy awareness to the education system and reflection of interest and attitude towards the environment in behavior is a critical element in order to ensure sustainable development. Turkey's interest in the environment and sustainable development began to increase at the end of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the reflection of this interest in the education system has not been at the desired level. The foremost aim of the study is to measure the level of consciousness and awareness about sustainable development of the students who are in the master's programs of the department of public administration. As a sample, students studying in the relevant field between 2018-2020 at Pamukkale University and Nigde Omer Halisdemir University Social Sciences Institute were selected. In this study, where the qualitative method was preferred, the data of 20 students who provided feedback to the 11-expression interview form were analyzed using the word cloud method. It was concluded that the participants began to examine the relationship between the environmental factor and sustainable development, understood the importance of sustainable development for future generations, but could not adequately reflect the consciousness and awareness they had achieved in their behavior.