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Changes of public environmental awareness in response to the Taihu blue-green algae bloom incident in China

Author

Listed:
  • L. Xu
  • J. Shen
  • D. Marinova
  • X. Guo
  • F. Sun
  • F. Zhu

Abstract

Environmental problems are becoming increasingly severe in China with industrial discharges and household sewages being the main sources of water pollution in the country. For example, in the case of Taihu Lake, more than half of the total phosphorus in the lake comes from household sewage. While industrial pollution can be treated through technology innovation and controlled by environmental regulations and laws, decreasing household sewage relies entirely on residents. Raising public environmental awareness therefore is essential for ensuring effective environmental improvement and protection. A quantitative assessment of public awareness can inform policy and decision makers; however, not many such studies have been conducted. Changes in the awareness levels in response to a major environmental pollution incident are of particular interest because of the people’s first-hand experience of the triggered consequences. The present paper establishes a system of indicators for the assessment of public environmental awareness. Combined with a fuzzy matter-element analysis method, a model is set-up to quantitatively assess the public environmental awareness. The model is then applied to assess the environmental awareness of the residents of Wuxi City after its major lake Taihu suffered a severe algae bloom in 2007. This study examines whether this serious environmental incident affected people’s environmental awareness and to what degree. The findings show that the matter-element model is capable to resolve well the fuzziness of the ranking affiliation and classification of subjective perceptions, such as public environmental awareness. They show that this environmental incident has had significant positive impacts on the environmental awareness of Wuxi residents. The paper concludes with recommendations related to raising public environmental awareness. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

Suggested Citation

  • L. Xu & J. Shen & D. Marinova & X. Guo & F. Sun & F. Zhu, 2013. "Changes of public environmental awareness in response to the Taihu blue-green algae bloom incident in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 1281-1302, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:15:y:2013:i:5:p:1281-1302
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-013-9440-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    2. Saaty, Thomas L., 1990. "How to make a decision: The analytic hierarchy process," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 9-26, September.
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    2. Shahid Rasool & Aisha Rehman & Roberto Cerchione & Piera Centobelli, 2021. "Evaluating consumer environmental behavior for sustainable development: A confirmatory factor analysis," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 318-326, March.
    3. Henk J. Steinz & Frank J. Van Rijnsoever & Frans Nauta, 2016. "How to Green the red Dragon: A Start‐ups' Little Helper for Sustainable Development in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8), pages 593-608, December.
    4. Giancarlo Giudici & Massimiliano Guerini & Cristina Rossi-Lamastra, 2019. "The creation of cleantech startups at the local level: the role of knowledge availability and environmental awareness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 815-830, April.
    5. Fathey Mohammed & Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim & Ahmed Ibrahim Alzahrani & Yousef Fazea, 2023. "The Impact of Social Media Shared Health Content on Protective Behavior against COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-16, January.
    6. Shiwang Yu & Jianxia Bao & Wen Ding & Xue Chen & Xiaonan Tang & Jianli Hao & Wei Zhang & Prateek Singh, 2021. "Investigating the Relationship between Public Satisfaction and Public Environmental Participation during Government Treatment of Urban Malodorous Black River in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Shahid Rasool & Roberto Cerchione & Piera Centobelli & Eugenio Oropallo, 2022. "Smoking kills you, littering butts damages others too: analysing sustainable consumer behaviour in the era of circular economy," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 7115-7137, May.

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