The importance of environmental attitudes in dealing with the environmental crisis and the relationship between education systems: a systematic review

Abstract The environmental crisis represents one of the most pressing challenges of the 21st century, deeply rooted in anthropogenic behaviors and maladaptive interactions with natural systems. This study investigates how environmental attitudes can be effectively cultivated through educational systems. A systematic review of the literature and a bibliometric analysis of 45 peer reviewed Scopus articles were used between 2020 and 2025, according to the PRISMA guideline. Biblioshiny, correspondence, multiple correspondence, multidimensional, thematic map, and co-occurrence network analyzes were performed. The quality of the studies was assessed with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. The aim of the work is to explore certain elements of environmental attitudes at various levels of education and to provide a toolkit that contributes to the development of curriculum through bibliometric analysis. The elements of the environmental attitude must be aligned with sustainable research-based education practices, the implementation of which is essential in the curriculum system. The development of environmental attitudes is effective if it focuses on action-oriented activities for primary and secondary students and is linked to higher-level thinking skills in higher education. It is necessary that the curriculum focuses on environmental elements (soil, water, air, biotic structures) in a complex way. The study shows that effective environmental education must not only require information transfer, but incorporate interdisciplinary content, cultural sensitivity, and action-oriented learning.