Data comprise results of social surveys carried out in China during 2016 – 2018 to environmental scientists and the local stakeholders (farmers and village to county level officials) to understand their knowledge learning dynamics and preference. Surveys were conducted in the rural villages in Puding County, Guizhou Province, Changwu County, Shaanxi Province, and Yujiang County, Jiangxi Province. Full details about this dataset can be found at https://doi.org/10.5285/e674e08c-fbf5-411b-940c-7e31014f0e76
