Abstract
The study goal was to evaluate the effectiveness of school eco-clubs and digital technologies as instruments for fostering environmental responsibility amid the environmental challenges in rural areas of Southeast Kazakhstan.A descriptive-analytical design with mixed methods was applied.The sample consisted of 186 "student-parent" pairs from 10 schools in the Almaty Region and 30 experts.Data was collected from September 2023 to April 2024 using validated questionnaires, focus groups, and expert interviews.A statistically significant relationship was identified between the duration of participation in eco-clubs and the level of students' environmental knowledge (p < 0.01) and between the intensity of intergenerational communication and changes in family practices: safe handling of agrochemicals (62.2% of families), composting organic waste (55.1%), and the use of organic fertilizers (38.8%).Regression analysis showed that practical demonstrations (β = 0.42, Cohen's d = 0.89) and virtual reality (VR) technologies (β = 0.35, Cohen's d = 0.74) are the strongest predictors of changes in environmental behavior (R 2 = 0.51, p < 0.001).VR outperforms traditional methods: knowledge acquisition is 35% higher (4.6 versus 3.4 points), and practical application is twice as high (89.3% and 45.2%, respectively).The study confirms the effectiveness of school eco-clubs as a catalyst for environmental changes in rural families.The authors demonstrate the potential of virtual technologies in compensating for the limitations of environmental education in remote agricultural regions.