Bibliometric evidence point to loci of empirical knowledge production in environmental education

Abstract

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), environmental literacy is the intended outcome of environmental education. Following this postulate, this study aims to investigate the presence of a spatial correlation between the OECD environmental literacy index and the levels of empirical knowledge production in environmental education. In particular, a frequency count of country-specific citations appearing in two leading environmental education journals was used as an indicator of empirical knowledge production. Data analysis showed that countries with higher levels of empirical knowledge production in environmental education (higher frequency of citations in environmental education literature) achieve better outcomes in international environmental literacy tests. Future studies can build on this work to explore the relationship between the production of environmental education knowledge and environmental literacy.