Aqsa Sehar ¹ Orangzab . ¹ Minhas Akbar ^2* Petra Poulova ³ Asokan Vasudevan ⁴ Tianjiao Huang ⁵

• ¹ COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari, Punjab, Pakistan
• ² COMSATS University Islamabad, Sahiwal campus, Sahiwal, Pakistan
• ³ University of Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Hradec Králové, Czechia
• ⁴ INTI International University, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus, Malaysia
• ⁵ Shinawatra University, Pathum Thani, Thailand

Academicians with a pro-environmental attitude can play a pivotal role in developing curricula and new programs geared towards education for sustainable development. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to identify the factors that influence academicians' positive attitude toward the environment. This study attempts to investigate the effects of environmental consciousness, environmental knowledge, and biospheric values, along with the moderating effects of social influence, on the Attitude Toward the Environment among faculty members of Higher Education Institutes in Southern Pakistan. The data was collected from six universities in the district of Vehari, Punjab, Pakistan. After checking for reliability and validity, the study used the Structural Equation Modeling technique to examine the aforementioned association. The results reveal that environmental consciousness and biospheric values significantly influence the attitude of faculty members toward the environment. Further, Social influence positively moderates the relationship only between biospheric values and attitude toward environment. Overall, this study contributes original insights into the factors influencing pro-environmental attitudes among faculty in a specific cultural and educational context. Its findings can inform targeted strategies to enhance environmental education and engagement in higher education, making it a valuable addition to the literature on education for sustainable development. The findings could guide policymakers of Higher Education Institutes in promoting pro- environmental attitude among faculty members by implementing awareness programs that raise environmental consciousness and integrate biospheric values into their core mission. Further, HEIs should also establish 'green teams' to induce positive environmental attitude through social influence. 1 Formatted: Space Before: 6 pt, After: 12 pt Deleted: While, it's important to realize that consumer perceptions 127 of environment friendly products are greatly impacted by a 128 company's success in creating eco-friendly goods, which encourages 129 more green consumption (Ern, Dastane, & Haba, 2022). ¶ 130 Pakistan is currently confronted with significant environmental 131 challenges, including severe air and water pollution, deforestation, 132 and heightened vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. 133 Understanding how academics perceive and engage with these 134 environmental issues is essential for fostering a culture of 135 sustainability within higher education, which, in turn, can influence 136 future generations.