In some youth milieus, it is no longer considered "chic" to get involved in environmental issues. IZT scientists therefore researched how today's young people can be successfully introduced to ecological issues. Their study "Insights into youth culture" was published as a brochure by the Federal Environment Agency. The study analysed different youth milieus and made ten recommendations for better communication with young people.

The life and everyday world of young people is characterised by ambivalence: On the one hand, young people show less interest in environmental issues; on the other hand, there is a high level of awareness of the major issues facing society. Against this background, the "Insight into Youth Culture" project investigated how the guiding principle of sustainable development can be introduced into youth culture and how the associated issues can be consolidated in youth culture.
The project dealt with the following topics:

  • Identifying the reasons for the decline in young people's interest in environmental issues and analysing these reasons
  • The identification of possibilities for connecting and linking the forms of communication frequently used by young people and an examination of the extent to which these forms of communication are suitable for communicating environmental issues
  • The development of successful communication strategies for communicating sustainability issues to young people
  • Embedding or linking such strategies in existing networks or with youth promotion programmes
  • An investigation into the possibilities of linking environmental topics with other topics, such as health and consumption, in order to increase young people's interest in sustainability in connection with these topics.

The aim of the project was to develop approaches and concepts for new forms of communicating sustainability issues that are more closely related to young people and their interests, needs and attitudes.

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Tobias Mickler