Abstract
Sustainability has become essential concerns throughout the world due the high damage to the environment. Education is one of the aware tool that have the ability to create initiatives to lead future generations to a new path in which sustainability in general can be attainable. This chapter is to investigate how education can play a major role in the transition from the current situation for developing countries toward sustainability, especially in the areas of energy generation and consumption. Also, this chapter examines common problems that have already been identified around the globe and attempts to make a contribution to the debate on the awareness of sustainability and its needs, especially in terms of the education of Saudi’s students and the general Saudi’s society based on age. The conducting survey questionnaires were designed to investigate Saudi students’ attitudes towards sustainability. This chapter highlights the great importance of educating the current and future generations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to avoid economic and environmental catastrophe. Additionally, this chapter has identified the knowledge gap pertaining to sustainability and sustainable development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The survey has 1821 participants were all Saudi nationals, mainly students with tertiary degree, students who are currently studying in universities in Saudi Arabia or abroad, and Saudi’s who participates socially. The results show that responded has a basic knowledge of sustainability, and sustainability has various opportunities such as create new jobs and improve corporate social responsibility. However, participants indicated the main risks are increase governance failure and increase litigation and compliance breaches (including environmental actions and environmental compliance failures).
Keywords
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Al-Gahtani K, Alsulaihi I, El-Hawary M, Marzouk M (2016) Investigating sustainability parameters of administrative buildings in Saudi Arabia. Technol Forecast Soc Change 105:48–48. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2016.01.016
Borgmann M (2016) Saudi Arabia’s amazing new renewables target: 9.5GW by 2023. Available via Renew Economy http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/potentially-game-changing-saudi-arabian-government-restructuring-bolsters-9-5-gw-renewable-energy-target-by-2023. Accessed 11 May 2016
Cortese AD, Hattan AS (2010) Research and solutions: education for sustainability as the mission of higher education. Sustain J Rec 3:48–52. doi:10.1089/SUS.2009.9802
El-katiri L, Husain M (2014) Prospects for renewable energy in GCC states: opportunities and the need for reform. Available via The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies http://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/MEP-10.pdf
Fien J (2001) Education for sustainability: reorientating Australian schools for a sustainable future. Tela: Environment, Economy and Society. http://eev.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/tela08_education_-for_sustainability-Fein.pdf
Hashmi MA, Al-Habib M (2013) Sustainability and carbon management practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. J Environ Plan Manag 56:140–157. doi:10.1080/09640568.2012.654849
Hoekstra AY, Wiedmann TO (2014) Humanity’s unsustainable environmental footprint. Science 344:1114–1117. doi:10.1126/science.1248365
Issa T (2013) Online survey: best practice. In: Isaias P, Nunes MB (eds) Information systems research and exploring social artifacts: approaches and methodologies. IGI Global, Hershey, pp 1–19
Karban A (2014) Developing a framework for neighborhood-level urban sustainability assessment in Saudi Arabia. The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio
KPMG (2012) Future-proofing business in the GCC: opportunities for sustainable growth. http://www.kpmg.com/NL/nl/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/PDF/High-Growth-Markets/Future-proofing-business-GCC.pdf
Kuhlman T, Farrington J (2010) What is sustainability? Sustainability 2:3436–3448. doi:10.3390/su2113436
Meltzer J, Hultman N, Langley C (2014) Low-carbon energy transitions in Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council Region. Available via The Brookings http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Research/Files/Reports/2014/03/low-carbon-energy-transitions-qatar-meltzer-hultman/low-carbon-energy-transitions-qatar-meltzer-hultman-full.pdf
OPEC (2015) OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin. Available via Vienna http://asb.opec.org/images/pdf/ASB2015.pdf
Saied Al Surf M, Trigunarsyah B, Susilawati C (2013) Saudi Arabia’s sustainable housing limitations: the experts’ views. Smart Sustain Built Environ 2:251–271. doi:10.1108/SASBE-04-2013-0022
Song Q, Li J, Zeng X (2015) Minimizing the increasing solid waste through zero waste strategy. J Clean Prod 104:199–210. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.08.027
Susilawati, C, Al Surf, M (2011) Challenges facing sustainable housing in Saudi Arabia: a current study showing the level of public awareness. In: The 17th Pacific Rim Real Estate Society Conference. pp. 1–12. Gold Coast, Australia: PRRES Conference. http://www.prres.net/papers/Susilawati_and_Al-Surf_Challenges_Facing_Sustainable_Housing_Saudi.pdf
Taher N, Hajjar B (2014) Energy and environment in Saudi Arabia: concerns and opportunities. Energy Environ Saudi Arab Concerns Oppor. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-02982-5
Taleb HM, Sharples S (2011) Developing sustainable residential buildings in Saudi Arabia: a case study. Appl Energy 88:383–391. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.07.029
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Albahlal, A., Alqahtani, S., Al-Muqri, AH. (2017). Sustainability Awareness in Saudi Arabia. In: Issa, T., Isaias, P., Issa, T. (eds) Sustainability, Green IT and Education Strategies in the Twenty-first Century. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57070-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57070-9_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-57068-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-57070-9
eBook Packages: EnergyEnergy (R0)