Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Research has shown that while environmental disease burden in the United Arab Emirates is lower than global average, outdoor air quality remains the leading factor for premature death. In the past, environmental literacy has been found to have significantly positive impacts on students’ environmentally responsible behavior. By providing air quality information in the form of bi-weekly summaries and critical level (AQI 200) email alerts, this study examines whether providing information about local air quality affects community members’ knowledge, behaviors and policy preferences related to the local environment. Participants were randomly assigned into one of three groups: critical level messaging, bi-weekly summaries, control. Randomization was blocked by respondent type, i.e., faculty, contracted workers, and students. The study found that overall levels of concern regarding air quality were high among all participants, and messaging had no significant impact on these levels. Furthermore, the bi-weekly summaries did not result in significant changes in participants’ knowledge, behavior, or policy preferences regarding air quality. However, the critical alerts treatment did lead to increased knowledge among participants on several dimensions, as well as a higher frequency of air quality checks before going outdoors, indicating a positive impact on behavior. While neither treatment had a notable effect on policy preferences, a large percentage of participants expressed interest in receiving timely messaging about air quality. Overall, the study suggests that the critical alerts approach is a more effective intervention strategy for providing air quality messaging to the New York University Abu Dhabi community compared to the bi-weekly summaries.