Water-related perceived harms and pro-environment behaviours: A taxonomy of EU citizens

The chapter aims at proposing a taxonomy of citizens based on their attitudes towards water-related issues. Water is a multi-faced environmental resource, that represents at the same time a basic input for human life and a threat to human safety (e.g. water-related extreme events) and health (e.g. contamination of freshwater). Water use and water-related services are not fully rival and excludable in consumption, which leads to over-exploitation and failure to consider positive externalities. In this study, we identify the likely link between the perception of the 'public' component of water-related uses and services and the attitude of EU citizens towards private and public mitigation and preservation measures. Results are based on a cluster analysis on a representative sample of more than 25 thousand EU citizens collected in the Flash Eurobarometer survey No. 344 (March 2012). The study also provides a typical profile in terms of location, age, education, and occupation for each of the different categories of citizens with the aim of understanding the ultimate drivers of pro-water behaviors (or absence thereof).