Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Central and Eastern European countries have a lower level of awareness of global ecological and sustainability concerns in comparison with other EU countries. However, when dealing with the interdisciplinary issues of sustainability, it is important to understand trends in the attitudes, opinions, and behaviours of Latvian society. The aim of this paper is to describe longitudinal trends in ecological and sustainability attitudes in order to assess the overall awareness and resilience of people in the time of ongoing environmental breakdown (Steffen et al., 2018, Ceballos & Ehrlich, 2017, Hallmann et al., 2017). Theoretically the paper relies on social and ecological metabolic rift approach developed by John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, Richard York et al. and Ulrich Beck’s risk society theory. Methodologically the paper is based on several waves of quantitative survey data starting from International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) questionnaire on ecological and economic issues in in 2000 and 2010. The ISSP questionnaire questions were partially repeated and other questions were added in subsequent general population surveys in Latvia in 2017 and 2020. Thematically questions cover topics of agreement or disagreement with statements regarding ecological and economic attitudes as well as questions regarding various ecologically orientated practices. Hypothesis for slow and insufficient adaption for necessary changes is formulated and tested. The data indicate that ecological and sustainability attitudes are changing slowly and people’s sustainable lifestyle practices remain stagnant or even decline, in spite of ongoing environmental breakdown with multi-faceted impacts on population, particularly in regions and rural areas in Latvia.