Date of Award


Document Type

Open Access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts


Spanish and Hispanic Studies

First Advisor

Christine Henseler


Ecotourism, education, Costa Rica, sustainability, environmental education


Costa Rica is a unique country that has some of the greatest biodiversity in the world. In order to protect this rich biodiversity, Costa Rica has developed a system of conservation and sustainability. Conservation and sustainability are two of the primary focuses of the country. Another focus of the country, since it was formed, is education. Therefore, the country has combined the importance of education and sustainability to offer environmental education programs for future generations. There are a variety of programs for a wide range of ages, children and adults. Some local people need these programs in order to get a job in ecotourism and other people take the courses just to learn about the environment. The majority of programs in the ecotourism sector include some aspect of education. Environmental education is an effective method to create positive changes in the environment, but the efficacy of the educational programs varies. Environmental education is important for creating positive changes and giving people work opportunities, but Costa Rica needs to determine a method to evaluate the programs in order to decide how to best help the environment.



Rights Statement

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted.