Swiss Environmental Panel

Public opinion is highly relevant for the actions of politicians and decision-makers. It gives information on support and interests of the public and motivates people on all levels to get involved (EUA, Eurobarometer). In the realm of environmental public opinion such data is rarely taken into account in political planning and reporting. A systematic documentation of such data does not exist, and, for Switzerland, the availability of public opinion data is scattered and fragmented, lacking continuity. Based on the central elements of previous public opinion surveys (“Umweltsurvey”, “Univox Umwelt”, “BFS Omnibus Umwelt”), it is therefore the goal of the Swiss Environmental Panel to provide a continuous and flexible survey instrument, adhering on the one hand to high scientific standards and being on the other hand practice-oriented. With the data generated, this project aims to provide a valuable information base for scientific purposes, political decision making, the public administration and the general public.

The Swiss Environmental Panel is based on a representative sample of the Swiss resident population from 15 years of age, based on the harmonized population registry of the Swiss Federal Statistical Agency (Bundesamtes für Statistik, BFS/SRPH). This includes the resident population with non-Swiss nationality. Respondents were invited with a letter in the main language of their municipality. The survey could be taken on paper or electronically in Swiss German, French, Italian or English. In order to assess changes over time, some questions were adopted from similar surveys in 1994 and 2007 (“Schweizer Umweltsurvey” by Andreas Diekmann and colleagues). The project is a panel-study, i.e. the same persons are surveyed repeatedly. The project conducts two survey rounds per year.

Press 

• Interview with Sarah Gomm on the CO2-footprint within the Swiss population (Le Temps): external page En graphiques – En Suisse, les personnes qui contribuent le plus au réchauffement ne sont pas celles que vous pensez (in French).
  
• Interview with Sarah Gomm and Clara Brügge about the 8th wave (Circular Economy): external page Kreislaufwirtschaft? Ja, aber bitte nicht so ernst (in German)
  
• Short empirical analysis on potential Download urban-rural divide in Swiss environmental politics (PDF, 2.2 MB) (in German)
• Interview 'The majority wants to reduce foodwaste' with Lukas Fesenfeld on external page Radio SRF 4 News
• Interview 'City versus country -  The place of residence has little to do with how environmentally conscious we are' with Sarah Gomm and Thomas Bernauer on external page SRF Wissen
• Article in Migros Magazine on the results of the 5th survey wave: 'external page The big fight for 5G-Netz' (page 48 ff.)
• Article on Heise Online about the results of the 5th survey wave: 'external page Switzerland: Divided opinion of the population about 5G network expansion'
  
  

Publications

• Gomm, S., Huber, R. A., Kolcava, D., Smith, E. K., & Bernauer, T. (2024). external page Procedural inclusiveness can mitigate trust challenges in environmental policymaking. Journal of European Public Policy, 1–27. 
• Quoß, F., Rudolph, L. & Däubler, D. (2024). external page How does information affect vote choice in open-list PR systems? Evidence from a survey experiment mimicking real-world elections in Switzerland. Electoral Studies, Volume 91, 102837.
• Rudolph, L. & Gomm, S. (2024). external page How does an economic shock affect environmental attitudes, preferences and issue importance? Evidence from Switzerland. Climatic Change, 177, 63.
  
• Presberger, D., Quoß, F., Rudolph, L. & Bernauer, T. (2023). external page Factual information on the environmental impacts of consumption abroad increases citizens' problem awareness, but not support for mitigating such impacts. Environmental Science & Policy, 146, 101-112.
  
• Gomm, S., & Bernauer, T. (2023). external page Are actual and perceived environmental conditions associated with variation in mental health?. Environmental Research, 223, 115398.
  
• Rudolph, L., Quoß, F., Buchs, R. & Bernauer, T. (2022). external page Environmental Concern Leads to Trade Skepticism on the Political Left and Right, International Studies Quarterly, 66, 4.
• Swiss Federal Office of the Environment (2022). external page Belastung hängt von subjektiv wahrgenommenen Umweltstressoren ab.
• Fesenfeld, L., Rudolph, L. & Bernauer, T. (2022). external page Policy framing, design and feedback can increase public support for costly food waste regulation. Nat Food 3, 227–235. 
• Däubler, T., Quoß, F., & Rudolph, L. (2021). Do citizens use sociodemographic characteristics as cues to infer candidate issue positions? Swiss Political Science Review, 00, 1-​23. external page https://doi.org/10.1111/spsr.12493