Title_Student Leaders' Perception and Practice of Environmental Leadership Toward Sustainable Development

Author_Rendel B. Batchar

Pages_57-68

Abstract_Environmental problems are increasingly pressing the planet more severely than ever. The United Nations has called on member states to actively address socio-economic problems by considering the crucial role of maintaining environmental health in the pursuit of sustainable development. The youth are a catalyst for achieving sustainable development due to their willpower, dynamism, and creativity. Furthermore, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) provide avenues for training these young people as leaders who could help societies transition to a sustainability-inspired future. This study used a descriptive-evaluative method and a generic qualitative approach to determine student leaders’ perceptions and practices of environmental leadership toward sustainable development. The research involved content analysis of pertinent documents from student organizations and semi-structured interviews with ten purposively-sampled student leaders from the College of Education of a State University in Central Luzon, Philippines. The study found that student leaders manifest a foundational understanding of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development. They also manifest a working understanding of environmental leadership, though it is not widely practiced, as evidenced by their need for planned activities fostering care for the environment. The student leaders identified the need for more support and cited f iscal, academic, and other process-related constraints as significant challenges hampering their practice of environmental leadership towards sustainability, especially in the school community setting.

Keywords_Student leadership, Environmental leadership, Sustainable development