The Six Italys: the Influence of Socio-Economic and Educational Background on the Environmental Awareness of Youth Italian Population

Climate change is one of the key issues that directly affects youth population: several scholars highlighted that young people are increasingly informed and sensitive towards the issues of sustainability and environmental justice. The dimension of young people’s awareness on environmental issues was investigated in this paper through a survey conducted among secondary school students in Italy, which collected 12,658 responses. In particular, the paper explores the adaptability of the Sassy – Six Americas Super Short SurveY, developed by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, to a context such as Italy: can the proposed typology – which distinguishes unique groups that perceive and respond to global warming in different ways – be applied to the analysis of the Italian youth population? To examine the possible adaptability of this survey, the main characteristics of students belonging to the different categories identified are highlighted, with particular attention to students’ social and educational background as a possible predictor of youth commitment.