The environment and NSW ethnic communities
The whole community has an interest in protecting the environment. But in culturally diverse societies such as Australia, significant groups may not be exposed to mainstream communications about environmental issues because of language and cultural barriers. This creates a demand for useful and relevant information on the relationships between ethnicity and environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.
The Environment and Ethnic Communities in 2004
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To meet this need, landmark research in 1996 investigated the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours in relation to environmental issues and water use of six of NSW's largest non-English speaking ethnic communities:
In 2004 the DEC conducted new research in partnership with the Sydney Catchment Authority and the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (now part of DEUS), to build on the 1996 research, as well as findings for the broader community in the Who Cares About the Environment? research series.
This research will assist educators, communicators and policy makers across many sectors in the design and delivery of communications, strategies and programs for ethnic communities.
The Environment and Ethnic Communities in 2004 contains the results of the research which included focus group discussions and a telephone survey of 805 NSW residents from eight of NSW largest ethnic communities:
- Arabic speakers
- Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) speakers
- Greek speakers
- Italian speakers
- Korean speakers
- Macedonian speakers
- Spanish speakers
- Vietnamese speakers
Full report
The full report is provided in four downloadable pdf sections:
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- Foreword, contents and executive summary: eecexec05213.pdf (pdf, 444kB)
- Introduction, Using this Research, Main Findings: eecintro05213.pdf (pdf, 1.4MB)
- Community Profiles: eecprofiles05213.pdf (pdf, 280kB)
- Appendices (Research Methods, Questionnaire, Qualitative Discussion Guide): eecappend05213.pdf (pdf, 153kB).
Community profile booklets
In addition to the full report, the Community Profiles are available as separate booklets for each community (web only). These booklets provide the same information as the community profiles section of the main report but they have a user-friendly format with a brief introduction to the research and results set out in graphs. They include a demographic profile, environmental profile and media profile for each community.
NOTE that amendments to these profiles were made in April 2006 and further information added. Please do not use older versions.
- Arabic speakers, 2006216_EthnicComm04_Arabic.pdf (pdf, 435kB)
- Chinese speakers, 2006217_EthnicComm04_Chinese.pdf (pdf, 389kB)
- Greek speakers, 2006218_EthnicComm04_Greek.pdf (pdf, 390kB)
- Italian speakers, 2006219_EthnicComm04_Italian.pdf (pdf, 397kB)
- Korean speakers, 2006220_EthnicComm04_Korean.pdf (pdf, 384kB)
- Macedonian speakers, 2006221_EthnicComm04_Maced.pdf (pdf, 391kB)
- Spanish speakers, 2006222_EthnicComm04_Spanish.pdf (pdf, 396kB)
- Vietnamese speakers, 2006223_EthnicComm04_Vietnamese.pdf (pdf, 393kB)
All files are Acrobat pdf files which require acrobat reader. Updated: April 2006
The 1996 research
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The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and Sydney Water undertook the first study of the environmental awareness of ethnic communities in NSW.
The study focused on adults aged 18 years and over in metropolitan Sydney from the Arabic, Chinese (including Mandarin and Cantonese), Greek, Italian, Spanish and Vietnamese communities.
This report can be downloaded here: The Environment and NSW Ethnic Communities (pdf, 393kB)