Abstract
Lake protection is a very important element of environmental management. This is especially true of lake districts, where the lakes are an important resting place for residents, especially young people. The crucial is the question whether young people who participate in lake management in the future, are ready for it. It was assumed that their attitude towards lakes would be an indicator of such preparation. This study aimed to define a set of respondents’ features that may condition the specific model of participation. Based on the research conducted among young residents (N = 167) of the Szczecinecki District in Poland, it was found that their pro-environmental attitudes were dominated by high values of the traits that make up the emotional component, average values of the cognitive component and the lowest values of activity. The lower the score of the overall attitude, the more often the respondents chose Recreational Lakes, rather than General Development or Natural Lakes. The most important feature that may determine the level of participation in the future is readiness to act. A comprehensive attitude index was created, which shows that it is worth examining the characteristics of respondents that correlate with the willingness to act, i.e., knowledge, logical thinking, creativity and belief in the effectiveness of actions taken and attachment to the place of residence, when planning participatory management in lakeland areas.
Highlights
The idea and practice of participation has developed since the 1960s, mainly due to research undertaken by Arnstein (1969)
Lakes Wierzchowo, Spore, and Dołgie are assigned to the Natural Environment (NE) lakes type (Figure 2)
When looking at the presented results, it should be born in mind, that education by increasing only cognitive components, does not go hand in hand with the motivation to participate (Choudhury, 2014). In areas such as the Szczecinecki District, where both the potential and demand for ecosystem services are very high, young people should be properly prepared to participate in environmental management
Summary
The idea and practice of participation has developed since the 1960s, mainly due to research undertaken by Arnstein (1969). In Poland, the position of individual participation in environmental management is growing. After a period of large investments in environmental protection, mainly in industry, the time has come to tackle pollution related to diffuse sources. This mainly concerns air and water protection, and in this respect, Poland is far behind in relation to most EU countries. The conviction and involvement of individual users of the environment can bring the expected results, but the they are delayed in time. In the case of surface water, the problem has been gradually reduced, among others, through
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