This Article Full Text (OnlineFirst PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0963662508089540v1 18/4/383    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Lorenzoni, I. Articles by Hulme, M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Believing is seeing: laypeople's views of future socio-economic and climate change in England and in Italy

¹ Irene Lorenzoni is Lecturer in environmental politics and governance at the School of Environmental Sciences and Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia.
² Mike Hulme is Professor of climate change in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

	Abstract

Cross-cultural studies are particularly relevant in the context of climate change, given its pervasive character and the growing demand for climate change mitigation at both global and local levels. This paper reports on findings from comparative cross-cultural mixed-methods research eliciting perceptions of the future among citizens in Norwich (UK) and Rome (Italy). The paper explores how individuals at the two locations interpret socio-economic and climate scenarios, and how they relate environmental change to human behavior. Attitude segmentation was found to be similar in both localities. Although most participants in both locations realized the benefits of a future centered on sustainable resource use and societal welfare, individuals' attitudes and considerations about the future were not largely influenced by the scenarios. Discussions revealed that the credibility of the projections depended on individuals' prior beliefs and their trust in the science portrayed.

Key Words: climate change, cross-cultural comparison, participation, perceptions, public, scenarios

First published on January 16, 2009, doi:10.1177/0963662508089540

Public Understanding of Science 2009;18:383.

A more recent version of this article appeared on July 1, 2009


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?