Citizens are looking for respite on the “green roofs”, according to research

“Citizens seem to have realized the ecological-environmental importance of the green roof in the urban fabric, as a result of which they wish to carry out such an installation that will bring them financial and aesthetic benefits. Furthermore, in the opinion of the respondents, they agree that as employees they would like to have a specially designed green common area for their break, if this is possible”.

These are the conclusions of research carried out in the period December 2020 – January 2021 as part of the course “Research methodology – Quantitative ecological methods” during the 1st Semester of the postgraduate study program “Multifunctional management of forest ecosystems and Bioeconomy” of the Department of Forestry, Wood Sciences and Planning of University of Thessaly and presented at 20th panhellenic forestry conference held in Trikalaon October 2021.

On the occasion of the then presentation, the researchers, who are Stefanos StephanopoulosForester and Evrykleia Mouzopoulou, also Dasoponos, speak today to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency, presenting key elements of this work. In particular, the research shows that citizens are more ecologically aware than before, resulting in the strengthening of their views on issues related to the environment. The combination of ecological awareness with financial and aesthetic benefits to themselves leads to positive results.

The installation of a green roof is a financial burden to the citizens and according to the positive responses received, it would be desirable to have a state contribution either with partial financing of the installation, or with an annual subsidy from the state for its upgrade. The research was based on the collection of primary data using a specially structured questionnaire for the purposes of the research.

The structure of the questionnaire was modeled on similar questionnaires for recording statistics. Also, the Google Forms application was used to finalize the questionnaire and then distribute it to citizens in scattered parts of Greece. The samples taken were random and with a varied age range. 364 completed questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The data were registered, processed and analyzed through a special statistical program IBM SPSS Statistics and the statistical tests were performed.

Speaking to the Athens-Macedonian Agency, the two researchers emphasize, among other things, that cities face a major problem during the summer months with the creation of urban heat islands with high local temperatures. Citizens as well as the State are looking for ways to create green spaces to improve the microclimate of cities. Thus, the idea of ​​”green roofs” or otherwise green roofs has been created.

The present survey showed that citizens are interested in participating in the creation of green roofs. The importance of the problem of the lack of greenery has been understood and the need to give space to such an alternative practice. Also, it seems that citizens perceive the contribution of a green roof to buildings as a means of saving energy, but also as a more general favorable environmental contribution to the urban fabric, the two researchers conclude.

RES-EMP

View the news feed and get the latest news.