From awareness to knowledge transfer: behavioural pathways of citizen participation in water ecosystem protection

Protecting aquatic ecosystems depends not only on regulations and technology but also on the ways in which people understand, learn about, and act on environmental issues. This study explores how citizens’ awareness, education, and involvement interact to shape meaningful engagement in protecting water environments. Using data from 534 respondents across all eight development (NUTS3) regions of Romania, we applied the Value-Belief-Norm (VBN) framework and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine how individual awareness translates into collective knowledge and action. The results reveal that education strengthens the link between awareness and active involvement, and it also encourages people to share what they learn with others. Involvement further enhances this process by turning knowledge into community-based learning and collaboration. The study, which introduces knowledge transfer as a new outcome within the VBN model, highlights that environmental behavior is not only personal but deeply social, as it grows through communication, collaboration, and shared experiences. The findings suggest that effective water governance should focus on empowering citizens as co-creators of environmental knowledge, integrating education and participation into every step of water ecosystem management.