There is a growing interest in greening schools, campuses, and workplaces due to the perceived ecosystem services provided by trees. However, students’ willingness to participate in and financially support the greening process is less examined. Using a questionnaire survey based on the contingent valuation method (CVM) and Likert scale, 1278 students from 13 universities were interviewed on their willingness to participate in tree planting and pay for their maintenance to promote green and clean campuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Most of the students interviewed were male (61%) and enrolled as undergraduates (60%). While 65% of the respondents agreed with the idea of planting trees, this agreement was significantly associated with students’ awareness of climate change, the university attended, and the sources of information on the roles of trees in the community. The binary logit results showed that university courses (environment-related) and television broadcasts significantly affected students’ willingness to participate in tree planting. Overall, students (70%) agreed to pay for tree maintenance, and their willingness to pay (WTP) was estimated mainly at less than USD 5 per year. The price to pay was a significant factor in determining students’ willingness to pay for tree maintenance. Findings suggest that students’ willingness to support tree planting and maintenance is a crucial factor for academic authorities and planners to consider in order to successfully implement green infrastructures to improve the campus environment and make educational and work spaces sustainably attractive.

Students are often portrayed as future leaders. Their participation in climate change mitigation would improve when they access climate information and gain a high level of climate change awareness. This study was initiated to assess the Congolese students’ awareness of climate change by focusing on their sources of information on climate change, knowledge about the causes and impacts of climate change and activities that can raise awareness on climate change. Using a convenience sampling technique, we collected data through individual interviews conducted among 1,278 students from 13 universities across the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The interview results showed that all students irrespective of their disciplines were concerned about climate change, a phenomenon strongly driven by human activities, such as deforestation (78%), urbanisation (30%), agriculture activities (30%) and transport services (26%). The students’ perceptions of climate change impacts included increase in temperature (82%), decrease in the number of rainy days (66%), proliferation of pests (60%) and increase in the number of malaria patients (39%). The primary sources of information that significantly affected students’ awareness of climate change included environment-related university courses and television broadcasts. The awareness-raising and mitigation actions related to climate change recommended by the students included educating people about good waste management (56%), planting trees (65%) and using the taxes paid by mining companies for the restoration of degraded ecosystems. The students believed that in DRC, all layers of the society (educational institutions, civil society organisations, community members and businesses) are important in building resilience to climate change. This study can guide teachers to focus their educational efforts on shaping pro-environmental behaviour in students.

La République démocratique du Congo figure parmi les plus grands pays bénéficiaires de l'aide publique au développement (APD) au monde et est comptée simultanément parmi les pays les plus pauvres du globe avec l'indice de développement humain et le revenu national brut par habitant les plus bas. Cela soulève de sérieuses questions sur l'efficacité de l'APD à promouvoir la croissance économique et à réduire la pauvreté dans le pays. Pour ce faire, les données relatives à l'APD de près de trois décennies (1990 à 2018) ont été triées de bases de données de la Banque Mondiale et de la Banque Centrale du Congo et ces dernières ont été soumises à une analyse économétrique par la méthode de moindre carré ordinaire pour comprendre l’impact de l'APD sur la croissance économique et la réduction de la pauvreté en RD Congo. Les résultats ont montré qu’après l’an 2000, l’aide publique a connu une reprise fulgurante après une tendance de vache maigre (1990-2000) et celle-ci a contribué à la croissance économique et à la réduction de la pauvreté. Cependant, l’effet de l’aide sur le niveau de pauvreté ne passe pas par le canal de croissance économique. La croissance ne contribue pas à la réduction de la pauvreté en RD Congo. En réalité, si la croissance peut se réaliser sans forcément entrainer la réduction de la pauvreté, ce qu’il s’agit d’un partage inégalitaire de richesses et/ou de la captation des fruits de la croissance par une élite au détriment du reste de la population. Ces résultats sont bel et bien un signal que le régime de croissance de l’économie congolaise reste fondamentalement non inclusif et masque de profondes disparités et de la misère au sein de la population. Les pistes d’amélioration de la gestion de l’aide publique sont proposées.