Ecological Awareness of the Citizens of Skopje

Istraživanja ekološke svijesti građana grada Skopja pokazalo je: — da postoji visok stupanj zainteresiranosti za stanje životne sredine u gradu i šire, — da većina njih (dvije trećine od od ukupno 400 anketiranih građana) smatraju da čovjek zloupotrebljava prirodu i uništava okolinu, da bi trebalo da zaštita prirode ima prednost pred svih drugih društvenih zadataka i da je za budućnost društva važnija zaštita okoline od drugih društvenih vrijednosti; — prisutan je izrazitiji pesimističan stav o održavanju ekoloških problema u narednih deset godina; — kritičko raspoloženje građana opada kad se postavi pitanje zaštite životne sredine u odnosu na ekonomski rast: blizu 50% od ispitanika smatra da društvo treba da ulaže u prljavu tehnologiju koja zagađuje ali i osigurava nova radna mjesta (primjer »Željezare« u Skopju) i da — blizu 2/3 od ispitanika smatraju da žive u gradu koji je najzagađeniji u Jugoslaviji. Osnovni zaključak: Ekološka svijest se nalazi pod utjecajem snažnog buđenja demokratske svijesti i kritika socijalističkih dništvenih odnosa. Manifestacija ekološke svijesti je direkno usmjerena k otvorenoj kritici legitimnih društvenih institucija.Research of the ecological awareness of the citizens of Skopje proved that a high degree of interest is expressed for the state of the environment in the city and greater area; that a majority of the citizens (two thirds of a total of 400 questioned) share the opinion that man is abusing nature and destroying the environment, that preserving nature should have priority over all other social tasks and that the preservation of the environment is more important for the future of society than any other social value; a more pronounced pessimist attitude is conveyed about solving ecological problems in the next ten years; the critical mood of the citizens decreases when they are questioned about environmental protection in relation to economic growth: close to 50% of the respondents consider that society should invest in »dirty« industry which pollutes but provides new jobs (for example the »Iron Works« in Skopje) and that about two thirds of the respondents believe that they live in Yugoslavia ’s most polluted city. The main conclusion: Ecological awareness is under the influence of a strong awakening of democratic awareness and criticism of the socialist system. The manifestation of ecological awareness is directed toward an open criticism of legitimate social instituions