Bridging the Knowledge–Behaviour Gap: Environmental Education for Sustainable Development in Kenya

Abstract

Environmental education (EE) has emerged as a cornerstone of global sustainability agendas, particularly within the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) framework endorsed by UNESCO. In developing countries, where ecological vulnerability intersects with poverty, food insecurity, and climate exposure, EE holds special promise. Kenya presents a compelling case study: a lower-middle-income country with significant biodiversity assets, advanced policy commitments to EE, and a dynamic civil society tradition of community-based ecological stewardship.This review provides the first systematic synthesis of evidence on the role of environmental education (EE) in driving sustainable development outcomes in Kenya across formal, non-formal, and community settings. It examines the policy architecture governing EE, the nature and scope of EE interventions, documented effects on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour, and the structural and contextual factors mediating EE effectiveness. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across six electronic databases, supplemented by grey literature. Forty-seven studies published 2000–2024 met final inclusion criteria after double-blind screening (Cohen’s kappa = 0.82).EE demonstrates positive effects on environmental knowledge (80.9% of studies) and pro-environmental attitudes (84.4%). Behavioural outcomes are more variable (62.1% positive), reflecting a persistent knowledge-attitude-behaviour (KAB) gap. Community-based programmes integrating indigenous knowledge and livelihood co-benefits show the strongest behavioural effects. This review provides the first comprehensive systematic synthesis of EE effectiveness across formal, non-formal, and community settings in Kenya (2000–2024), offering transferable lessons for comparable developing-country contexts. EE is a necessary but insufficient driver of sustainable development without systemic support. Priority recommendations include strengthening EE within the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), building sustainable financing mechanisms, and establishing a national EE monitoring and evaluation framework aligned with the SDGs.