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Grant support

This study was funded by the Pontificia Universidad CatOlica del Ecuador Sede Esmeraldas. The authors want to thank the Arte sobre Escombros Collective, the Don Bosco Institute, the community of Tachina and the fishermen of the artisanal fishing port of Esmeraldas as well as the students from the Don Bosco School for their participation in the project and for helping validate this methodology.

Analysis of institutional authors

Rey, NuriaAuthor

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April 24, 2023
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Use of muralism to promote awareness about aquatic ecosystems and wise water consumption in northwestern Ecuador

Publicated to:Ocean & Coastal Management. 190 105165- - 2020-06-01 190(), DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105165

Authors: Sanchez, Estefania; Vinueza, Ruben; Izurieta, Xiomara; Rey, Nuria

Affiliations

Pontificia Univ Catolica Ecuador, Carrera Diseno Graf, Sede Esmeraldas, Esmeraldas, Ecuador - Author
Pontificia Univ Catolica Ecuador, Carrera Gest Ambiental, Sede Esmeraldas, Esmeraldas, Ecuador - Author
Pontificia Univ Catolica Ecuador, Dept Biol, Quito, Ecuador - Author

Abstract

In this article, we present the results of the use of muralism as an artistic tool applied to environmental education with a focus on the promotion of awareness of aquatic ecosystems and rationed water consumption in the province of Esmeraldas in northwestern Ecuador. The research was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of professors and students from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador Sede Esmeraldas between 2017 and 2018 with the support of mural artists.The project involved a target audience in participating in the design and painting of four large-format murals with graphic representations of the ecosystems and people's relationship to water. The murals were developed in four different locations in the city where they could be viewed and appreciated by the community in general. One corner of each of these murals was deliberately left blank to serve as a slate where people could reflect and leave their comments.Pre- and post-test surveys were administered to the participants of this study and then evaluated and analyzed using McNemar statistics to measure the changes in participants' knowledge, awareness, and attitude. The reaction of the public to the murals was also part of the study. Their interaction was analyzed using a qualitative evaluation matrix specifically designed for this project.The results obtained in this study show that the use of mural art is an effective tool for environmental education programs. Murals represent a place for interaction; therefore, they become effective spaces for expressing and communicating messages. The impact of murals on awareness of aquatic ecosystems and use of water were more significant in children and teenagers because people are more receptive at a young age. The rest of the target groups participating in the study, although stimulated by the murals, presented minor changes in their responses.The public's reaction to the murals was extremely positive. The results showed that murals that depicted elements relating people's identity to the ecosystem helped reconnect them with nature and reminded them of their responsibility to conserve it. Thus, mural art can serve as a pedagogical tool for environmental education, helping communities connect with the environmental reality and encouraging them to commit to conservation through tangible work.

Keywords

ArtEcuadorEnvironmental educationEnvironmental-educationMuralismOcean resourcesWater conservation

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Ocean & Coastal Management due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2020, it was in position 16/64, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Oceanography.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2025-07-03:

  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 7

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-03:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 78.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 78 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 1.5.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Ecuador.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Rey Somoza, Nuria).