Il cambiamento climatico nella percezione degli adolescenti: una prospettiva geografica

Nowadays, one of the most significant study areas for the Geographical approach is the social perception of uncertainty associated to climate change. More in particular, an interesting context is represented by the perception of the future in teenagers and young adults. By using a qualitative methodology, this study explores some ways in which climate change is perceived by high-school students aged between 16 and 20 of various nationalities living in Sicily, Italy. Through the use of a questionnaire made ad hoc and a contextual ethnographic participant observation, young people were asked to provide information on what they knew on climate change (based on schooling and on general knowledge acquired from medias). Moreover, students were asked what their own perception of risk was, in the short and long term, connected to climate change also in reference to solutions/strategies - including individual/collective behaviors - adopted to contrast this global issue. Finally, questions focused on the possibility of influencing the appropriate decision-making policies. Interviews not only allow us to outline and explore the ways in which groups of young students look at a possible climate crisis, they also help us track innovative communication paths especially in school when debating on environmental emergencies. This paper thus also highlights the potential problems connected to the reduction of the amount of hours spent studying Geography in Italian high schools and supports the idea of taking action in order to promote this subject in the Italian national education system.