civic education

Education is the key that leads all waste management programs, ideas, and plans to success. However, many educational initiatives do not foster long-term participation. Therefore, this study aimed to present an educational model for sustainable citizen participation in waste management. This research is exploratory and applied. The study was conducted in two phases. First, relevant literature was reviewed using MAXQDA software to identify and classify the factors and indicators of the model. In the second phase, the designed model was validated using expert opinions and SMART PLS software. The findings revealed 12 components: environmental awareness and knowledge, teaching methods, type of education, media and communications, infrastructure and practical facilities, encouragement and motivation, social support, cultural development and behavior change, policy-making and regulations, social experiences and interactions, sustainable public participation, and governmental support, along with 53 indicators. Additionally, the Kappa coefficient confirmed the reliability of the model with a value of 0.95. The quantitative results also showed that the alpha value, divergent validity, and average variance extracted for all variables were appropriate and had high factor loadings. The highest Q² value was for the media and communications variable, indicating its high predictive power within the model. Moreover, the t-values and p-values for all paths supported the hypotheses of the model and its structural fit.