Green Minds, Smart Tools: Exploring the Mediating Role of Digital Citizenship in the Relationship Between Environmental Education Awareness and Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Environmental education awareness (EEA) often fails to translate into confident environmental action, representing a critical knowledge–action gap in sustainability education. This study investigated whether digital citizenship mediates the relationship between EEA and self-efficacy among university students. A cross-sectional design was employed with 879 Egyptian university students from Al-Azhar University. Participants completed validated instruments measuring EEA, digital citizenship competencies (including internet political activism, technical skills, critical perspectives, and networking agency), and general self-efficacy. Mediation analysis using Hayes’ PROCESS macro revealed that digital citizenship significantly partially mediated the relationship between environmental awareness and self-efficacy, accounting for 21.9% of the total effect. Environmental awareness directly predicted self-efficacy (β = 0.590) and indirectly through digital citizenship (β = 0.166). These findings demonstrate that digital competencies serve as “smart tools” enabling students to transform ecological knowledge into confident environmental agency. The results underscore the necessity of integrating digital citizenship training within environmental curricula to cultivate climate-literate, digitally empowered citizens capable of meaningful contributions to global sustainability and climate action initiatives.