Toward a Greener Tomorrow: Turkish University Students' Perceptions, Challenges, and Future Visions for Sustainability in Turkey

In a time where human activity is overtaxing the planetary boundaries at a rapid rate, the concept of sustainability has subsequently become more important as well. All over the world, collective action groups are being created with the aim of preserving natural resources. Notable are the young people within these organizations who play a key role in the promotion of sustainability on a global scale. Nonetheless, youth from developing countries and their particular role in sustainability politics have been widely neglected in the past. As a bridge between different continents as well as the division of the Global North and South, Turkey’s youth provides novel insights into how their societal values and challenges are reflected in the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of young people towards sustainability and what they identify as implications for shaping a sustainable future in their country. Through fifteen semi-structured interviews, this thesis found that the overall...Show moreIn a time where human activity is overtaxing the planetary boundaries at a rapid rate, the concept of sustainability has subsequently become more important as well. All over the world, collective action groups are being created with the aim of preserving natural resources. Notable are the young people within these organizations who play a key role in the promotion of sustainability on a global scale. Nonetheless, youth from developing countries and their particular role in sustainability politics have been widely neglected in the past. As a bridge between different continents as well as the division of the Global North and South, Turkey’s youth provides novel insights into how their societal values and challenges are reflected in the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of young people towards sustainability and what they identify as implications for shaping a sustainable future in their country. Through fifteen semi-structured interviews, this thesis found that the overall positive attitude and behaviors towards sustainability can be attributed to Turkey's traditional cultural values rather than its economic and political values, which only seems to discourage them. Then, it showed that besides the economic crisis, also the limited awareness and lack of support for sustainable initiatives from the government are considered to significantly hinder Turkey’s sustainable future. This thesis, therefore, adds to existing theory on sustainability and young people from developing countries by providing novel subjective data on what societal values and limitations are deemed as challenges in reaching a sustainable future not only for Turkey, but for a wider world as well.Show less

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Toward a Greener Tomorrow: Turkish University Students' Perceptions, Challenges, and Future Visions for Sustainability in Turkey