Geographical Education and Climate Change Perception in Secondary School: A Case Study in Southern Italy

Abstract

This contribution proposes a study on how young people aged between 16 and 18 who live in Catanzaro, the capital of Calabria (southern Italy), perceive climate change. Through ethnographic interviews, based on the use of an open questionnaire and on participatory observation conducted in a secondary school, an attempt was made to reconstruct the degree of awareness of the students interviewed regarding the climate change underway, asking them to indicate which are the forms of knowledge involved and the possible causes of the phenomenon, as well as the critical issues and solutions currently available, both locally and globally, to limit any irreversible damage. The results show that students are aware of climate change and of the decisive human action in determining it, but show gaps in differentiating it from weather. Furthermore, they do not trust politics as regards mitigation and adaptation actions but are convinced that each individual can make his/her own contribution by changing consumption habits and lifestyles, reducing waste and focusing on greater respect for sustainability. Finally, greater awareness of climate change can also be acquired by enhancing the teaching of geography in schools and integrating climate change issues into courses, subjects or programs in the universities or educational institutes of developed and underdeveloped world institutions.