Environment

Considering the unbreakable links between human behavior, environmental health, and the well-being of all species, education for citizenship behavior, the environment, and sustainable development has emerged as a beacon of hope, leading humanity towards a more harmonious relationship with our planet. This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of face-to-face and virtual education using a comprehensive package of citizenship education on the environmental and sustainable development behaviors of students. The experimental method employed a four-group design, including two test groups (face-to-face and virtual) and two control groups, with a pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up design. Among the students of Azad University of Isfahan in the winter and spring of 2023, 25 individuals who met the desired entry criteria were selected for each group and randomly assigned to 4 groups. Citizenship education was implemented using a researcher-made package with a specialized reliability of 0.93, delivered in person for one group and virtually for another group. Data were collected using the Irannezhad et al. (2023) questionnaire. The data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and Bonferroni's post hoc test in SPSS software version 26. The findings of this research showed that both face-to-face and virtual education were effective in enhancing environmental behaviors and sustainable development. There was no significant difference between the outcomes of the behaviors resulting from the two educational methods.

The aim of this research was to validate an educational model for environmental etiquette that was designed based on the Islamic-Iranian progress model. To this end, a descriptive survey method was employed, and the perspectives of 111 specialists were collected through purposive sampling using the snowball technique and a researcher-made questionnaire. The reliability of the tool was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha, and its validity was established through convergent and divergent validity tests, as well as the Fornell-Larcker criterion. The results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. After examining the fit of the measurement models, the fit of the confirmatory factor analysis model was assessed, and the proposed model was presented using structural equation modeling techniques and SmartPLS software. The overall model fit was evaluated using the GOF criterion, and the comprehensive validity of the model from the specialists' perspective was also examined. Ultimately, the validity of the model and its comprehensive validity from the specialists' viewpoint were confirmed.

The present study aims to present an analytical review of the relationship between development-driven education and environmental improvement. Previous research in this field has often examined the effect of environmental pollution on the human development index in general. However, this study uniquely focuses on a separate review of human development indicators on the environment and education. Thus, this study applied an econometric method using Eviews13 software during the years 1990-2023. The analytical review of the effect of development-driven education on environmental improvement, with an emphasis on the human development index, was conducted among selected countries of the Middle East (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Turkey, Syria, Cyprus, and Saudi Arabia) and Iran. The dependent variable in this paper was CO2 emission, and the independent variables included education, health, standard of living (a measure to evaluate the human development index), fossil fuel consumption, and the growth rate of the urban population. The results of the study in the Middle Eastern countries indicate that the measurement dimensions of the human development index have a negative and significant effect on environmental pollution. Higher human development is beneficial for the environment and mitigates CO2 emissions and other pollutants. Additionally, this protects the environment by lowering pressure on natural resources. The variables of urbanization rate and fossil fuel consumption have a positive effect on the level of air pollution. In addition, the results of the study in Iran demonstrate that fossil fuel consumption and urbanization are factors that directly influence the country’s air pollution, and the measurement dimensions of the human development index. No significant relationship was found regarding education (average years of education for adults), but a negative and significant effect was shown on environmental pollution.

Regional and international environmental regimes are considered as one of the tools for protecting the environment. In classification of regimes based on the obligations of member states of a regime, they are usually divided into two groups of positive and negative. In positive regimes, governments are required to implement measures in the area of agreement and jurisdiction, while the government in the negative regimes is banned from implementing certain measures. The implementation of positive legal regimes is more difficult than achieving negative regimes. In a positive legal regime, participating governments will need financial, technical, administrative, and legal resources to implement these regimes. International agreements must be reflected in the internal legislation of the countries and the behavior of all of them must be changed. In that case, a regime can be effective. In this regard, the Caspian ecological convergence regime in the light of effective protection and conservation can provide a positive approach to the obligations of the five Caspian states.

Safe extraction from oil and gas reservoirs in the seas and its transfer to the consumption market is among the most important concerns of energy-rich countries to secure their financial interests along with preserving the environment to increase the duration of extraction. The employer's requirement for the contractor to compile a report on the environmental effects of the work is one of the most significant initial steps in concluding the contract to estimate the risk, evaluate and manage the work. Apart from the legal obligations of the oil and gas contractor to comply with principles such as prevention and precautionary measures to prevent environmental damage, the contractor should take essential measures to prevent environmental damage through meeting the highest environmental standards in the field of exploration, drilling, extraction, maintenance and transportation, provision and usage of new methodologies, preservation of protected areas, non-interruption of others' access to water resources and preservation of mineral resources, dismantling facilities after the completion of the contract, and obligation to comply with the principles of the host country. Although contractors usually try to include a stability condition in their contracts in order to avoid more environmental obligations in the future, it seems that the principle of government ownership of natural resources can ignore this right at any time. The condition keeps environmental rules and principles as a priority. The present article has been compiled in a descriptive analytical way and in a library way.