Formation mechanism of public participation willingness in urban nature education: A case study of Jinan City

As a form of public-participatory education, nature education establishes connections between humans and nature through participatory experiences, enhance public environmental awareness, thereby promoting the construction of an ecological civilization and facilitating harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, nature connectedness, and pro-environmental behavior theory, this study designed a questionnaire to investigate the willingness of the public to participate in urban nature education and conducted surveys among the public in Jinan City. The results show that while the public in Jinan City has a high level of awareness of nature education, their participation rate is low. Subjective norms and perceived behavioral control are core factors influencing participation willingness. The chain mediating effect of nature cognition-emotion-behavior is significant. Additionally, objective conditions play a moderating role in the impact of perceived behavioral control on behavioral willingness. Therefore, it is suggested to systematically enhance the public's willingness to participate in nature education and promote better development of nature education in Jinan City by enriching the content and programs of nature education, building a social support network, improving the conversion path from cognition-emotion to behavior, and strengthening infrastructure construction.