Young Italian People: Perception of Future and Sustainable Consumerism

Risk and sustainability in terms of the future of man and our planet have become popular topics for discussion of late. However, to what extent are young Italians really aware of this problem? How anxious are they when faced with it? How do they evaluate critical phenomena? And how do they behave in everyday life, and how does it affect their decisions concerning consumption? Using these questions as a point of departure, the purpose of our research is twofold. The first is to see if, in young people, there is a correspondence between their vision of the world and perception of the future in general on the one hand and responsible behaviour with respect to the main dangers we encounter in our world on the other. The second is to compare the attitudes and behaviour of the young people of 2003 with the results of a previous, similar research project carried out by the research team of Sociology at the IULM University of Milan since 1983, and analyse the changes.