Original scientific paper
An Attempt at Identifying the Framework for Introducing a Decisive Ecological Policy
Dušan Vuković
; Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ljubljana
Abstract
In this paper the author establishes the connection between the ecological awareness of certain social structures and the ecological policy with regard to the true state of the environment in Slovenia. He also attempts to identify the framework which stands against introducing a more decisive ecological policy.
Data from the annual public opinion survey conducted by the RI FSNP concerning the opinions and attitudes about the environmental pollution issue, indicate that in the past decade Slovenia ’s public opinion has become considerably more environmentally-minded. The findings also provide the indisputable conclusion that an extremely wide circle of managers and leaders has become environmentally very conscious, which could lead to their promoting those developmental potentials of economic restructuring which would be ecologically oriented.
On the other hand, the physical data about the state of the environment indicate an outstandingly high level of environmental degradation in Slovenia. And also, that the political system has very clumsily responded to the ever clearer and ever more frequently appearing realization that these problems were structural and that they were emerging due to a defective conception of development Drawing on the power-structure of the one-party political system, the author speculates, for no relevant research about it exists, that the former political elite was simply incapable to accept the urgency of the environmental issue and that it was unprepared to successfully incorporate it into the economic social structure.
The author sees a possibility of change first of all in the general public’s achieving complete ecological awareness, especially the managerial and political leadership classes. The research of ecological awareness in Slovenia has so far been carried out primarily on the level of public opinion, registering its »passive« half, a certain superficial environmentalism.
In order to come to a well-founded conclusion on the actual readiness of the population for a true ecological debate, one should conduct more intensive research which would uncover also the »active« side of ecological consciousness, the real ecological awareness.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
155078
URI
Publication date:
30.6.1991.
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