Answer: The Environmental Knowledge Index (EKI) gives the Partnership a way to track changes in public understanding over time. The EKI uses data from the 2024 Long Island Sound Public Perception Study (PPS) to provide an overall measure of environmental knowledge. Instead of looking at each survey question on its own, the index bundles responses to five questions into one score. These questions look at whether people can identify a nearby waterbody, know whether they live in the Long Island Sound watershed, recognize behaviors that can help or harm water quality, and understand that actions on land can affect the Sound.
The 2024 EKI score of 40 establishes a baseline. As the survey is repeated every 3-5 years, changes will help show whether public understanding is improving and where additional education and outreach may be needed.
This indicator is based on data from the 2024 Long Island Sound Public Perception Study (PPS), specifically data from five knowledge questions.
The environmental knowledge index (EKI) has a current baseline score of 40 on a scale from 0 to 100, based on the 2024 PPS. A higher index score reflects greater environmental knowledge. This score suggests important gaps in knowledge and that there are substantial opportunities to strengthen public understanding.
Because the EKI is new, there are not enough data to identify a trend or establish what score should be a long-term target. Rather than aiming for a particular score at this time, the Partnership will look for improvement from the baseline (an increase in the score) over time. The index will be updated with each new public perception survey, which is planned to be conducted every 3-5 years.
The five questions used to create the index are:
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