Overview

This book examines how environmental attitudes and behaviours are evolving across Europe in an age shaped by climate crisis, covid pandemic, wartime, economic stress, energy and other crises – an emerging polycrisis. Drawing on decades of International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Environment data, it traces shifts in worldviews and lifestyles. The chapters explore how Europeans think about environmental problems, how their priorities change over time, and how everyday lifestyles differ across countries. The volume investigates risk perceptions, public trust in science, ideas of progress and growth, and the ways in which political identities – from far left to far right – shape perceptions of climate change. The book also analyses conditions that encourage or hinder environmental activism. Comparative case studies from Italy, Spain, France, Finland, Austria, and Lithuania reveal the diversity of European environmentalism. By combining longitudinal data, cross-national comparison, and sociological interpretation, the book offers an accessible portrait of how European societies understand and respond to environmental and related issues today. It is essential reading for researchers, policymakers, and anyone interested in Europe’s environmental future.

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9783032183590

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Author Information

Audrone Telesiene is Professor in Sociology and Communication Science at Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania. She directs the KTU Center for Data Analysis and Archiving, has chaired the European Sociological Association’s ‘RN12 Environment and Society’ research network, and served as lead author and co-convener of the Behavioral, Social and Cultural Task Group for UNEP’s GEO-7 report. Matthias Gross is Professor of Environmental Sociology at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ in Leipzig, Germany, and by joint appointment, the University of Jena, Germany. He is a founding editor of journal Nature + Culture, coordinating editor of Restoration Ecology, and has chaired the European Sociological Association’s ‘RN12 Environment and Society’ research network. Markus Hadler is Professor at the University of Graz, Austria. He convened the global 2020 ISSP Environment surveys and is Austria’s representative to ISSP. He serves as editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Sociology, and is vice-coordinator of the European Sociological Association’s ‘RN12 Environment and Society’ research network.

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