ACTION D.3 – Project visibility and public acceptance of bears and bear management

Working with public and with specific stakeholders has repeatedly proven to be the most challenging task when it comes to conservation of large carnivores in the cultural landscapes of Europe. During the last year of the project we will assess whether and if so, how did the public attitudes towards bears and bear management in Slovenia change during the project lifetime. We will use two main methods to assess the expected change in attitudes: (1) During the last year of the project we will repeat the quantitative attitude survey carried out at the beginning of the project (see Action A.2). (2) We will carry out content analysis of the newspaper (printed and electronic) articles about brown bears published in several recognized newspapers. We will analyse the period of several years before the project implementation and the period of project implementation. This analysis will allow an in-depth understanding of what has been going on with public opinion about bears, thus also allowing easier interpretation of the results under point one of this action (quantitative attitude survey). Collected data will be analysed and a report produced with assessment of the effects of specific project activities on public attitudes as well as the evaluation of the project visibility. The results will also be used to draft “best-practice recommendations” for working with stakeholders.

Latest D.3 actions: