Environmental awareness in the South of Italy: a theoretical statement or a real commitment?

The environmental protection, the territory promotion and the sustainable economic development are issues increasingly affecting individuals and societies, especially the local communities which have the important task of raising awareness and promoting virtuous behaviours. The growth of this awareness has certainly been fostered by the introduction of environmental education in the primary and secondary school programmes. Universities have also developed curricula regarding environmental issues, green economy and economic sustainability. Environmental awareness is largely defined; it deals with incorporating knowledge of all issues affecting nature, discovering which actions can make a difference in establishing how personal traits or lifestyle factors contribute to define a person’s environmental attitudes and behaviours (Shmidt J., 2007). Controversies about “organic versus heavily processed foods” or “a high fuel economy versus the effects of global warming” represent some examples of the influence of environmental issues on everyday life. The results of a survey concerning waste, commissioned by Legambiente in order to examine environmental awareness, opinions and behaviours of Italians, report their growing concern for environmental protection and their willingness to commit themselves even providing a personal contribution. Inspired by these aspects to reflect on, we carried out a survey in Apulia region to learn about the opinions of the interviewed people about the environmental protection and the behaviours adopted to counter the wastefulness and the inefficient use of natural resources. Thus, a questionnaire has specially been built up, composed by 28 questions split into three sections: the first, aimed at exploring the level of information and sensitivity towards the main environmental "emergencies"; the second deeply investigates the daily conduct towards the separate collection of waste, the daily use of polluting sources such as transportations and eco-sustainable materials; the third concerns perceptions and future expectations. The survey saw the participation of about 2,300 respondents, belonging to different age groups, involved by the secondary school students of the main Apulian municipalities. The analysis has been carried out to capture any significant differences between young people and adults pointing out the need to stress the importance of environmental awareness in an educational setting in order to benefit both student knowledge and welfare of the future generations. The findings could also provide policy directions to municipal and regional administrators for planning more local effective interventions.