A well-designed curricula in schools and universities that include environment-based concepts play an important role in the formation of children’s positive attitudes towards the environment. The importance of aesthetically rich environmental friendly low maintenance planting designs in sustainable landscape management is highlighted in the Landscape Horticulture curriculum offered for undergraduates at the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the environmental consciousness of undergraduates before and after their exposure to the Landscape Horticulture module. A questionnaire was used to assess their response to three different planting designs with; only wild plants, wild plants enriched with Zinnia elegans and only Zinnia elegans in three different time periods viz. prior to the exposure the course, 2 and 8 weeks after exposure to the Landscape Horticulture lectures respectively. They were asked to rank each planting design based on their preference according to the given scale (3- like most, 2-like moderate and 1-like least). Data were subjected to the Kruskal Wallis test and were analyzed using Minitab version 16.A significant (p<0.05) change in the undergraduates’ attitudes towards the three planting designs was observed among the three different time periods. Prior to exposure to the course, the highest median rank (3) was recorded for the design with only Z. elegans while the design with wild plants enriched with Z. elegans obtained the median ranks of 2 followed by the design with only wild plants. After being exposed to two weeks of course, the highest median rank was recorded for the design with wild plants enriched with Z. elegans and the design with only Z. elegans recorded a median rank of 2 followed by the design with only wild plants. After being exposed to the course for 8 weeks, the undergraduates’ preference for the design with wild plants enriched with Z. elegans still recorded the highest rank. However, the other two designs recorded similar ranks (2). The value of both biodiversity conservation is highest in the design with wild plants enriched with Z. elegans. This study proved that exposing undergraduates to environment related modules in the formal educational programs could lead to attitudinal changes towards environment consciousness. Hence, educational institutes should teach environment related concepts in formal curricular and thereby educating future leaders and enriching their attitudes toward resources, the environment and quality of life.

Attitudes, Formal Education, Environmental Consciousness, Planting Designs, Wild Plants