The survey “Sustainability Literacy and Perspectives” was conducted online from April to June 2020. The respondents were young Greek university students and graduates, aged from 18 to 29, and of various academic backgrounds. UN SDSN Youth Greece and Get Involved cooperated to examine whether an increase in sustainable awareness affects people’s perspectives and beliefs on sustainability issues.
The aim of this research is also to examine the extent to which the variables of age, gender, and academic background affect the sample’s perspectives and beliefs. The research was conducted to promote the awareness of sustainability and find ways to promote its issues more efficiently.
The review of respondents’ answers led to some interesting conclusions. Among the demographic variables described above, only age seems to have a broad impact on the sample’s perspectives and beliefs, stemming from the noteworthy divergence across all ages on their perspectives about communication and interrelation of the Sustainable Development Goals. This fact stands as a strong indicator of the University’s poor performance in spreading the message of SDG’s. There is a general cognitive deficiency, across all ages, genders, and academic backgrounds on modern world issues as well as, more alarmingly, a mismatch of our sample awareness on the current social and economic dynamics.
Regarding our sample’s perspectives, most responses are concentrated on certain answers, but when it comes to their beliefs, this phenomenon fades away. This is not the case when the respondents are asked about their beliefs on the progress of the SDGs and the possibility of fulfilling them by 2030. Most of the survey participants are pessimistic regarding the attainment of these goals within the timeframe of the blueprint. To conclude, the analysis of our data shows that awareness of matters of sustainability does not heavily affect our perspectives but impact our beliefs.
Authors: Panteleimon K. Karamanlis & Anthony Efstathiadis
Vasilis Angelopoulos, President of Get Involved
Lydia Lekka, Network Coordinator of UN SDSN Youth Greece
Find the official report below: