Water recycling is becoming progressively more important as the need for Integrated Urban Water Management (IUWM) is increasing to ensure a transition towards a more sustainable use for water. Perceptions and public acceptance of water reuse are recognised as paramount factors for the successful introduction of wastewater reuse projects, regardless of the strength of scientific evidence in their favour. This article analyses perceptions of risks and benefits of using treated wastewater for irrigation purposes in agriculture when dealing with different crops. Data from an original farmer survey are analysed through descriptive statistics and a classification tree approach. The study reveals limited knowledge of wastewater treatment, yet a good level of openness towards the reuse of wastewater for irrigation. A lower risk perception and a higher acceptance level are mainly explained by positive expectations with regard to the environmental characteristics of effluent water, higher education, and specific cropping choices. Enhancing information availability is also found to positively affect social acceptance. The ease of converting current water-management practices to the new water source explains the perceived benefits of reusing water.
Outdoor education means increasing the opportunity to encounter and experiment with nature, but above all, it means rethinking one's own relationship with nature. Professionals working in the field of education cannot transmit to children what they do not know or share. Therefore, to foster education in nature with pedagogical skill, it is important for each practitioner to become aware of their own way of thinking and be willing to undergo an authentic noological revolution (Bateson, 1976), reviewing their own relationship with the environment in an educational key. Starting from these premises, the participatory research focuses on the role of the early childhood practitioner, the emotions they feel, and the meanings they give to the outdoor spaces of the educational facility they inhabit in on a daily basis and share with the children. Placing the focus on the adult's viewpoint meant investigating their experiences and how these can condition the children's relations with more natural, destructured spaces. The results gathered by two tools, heart maps and lived-experience descriptions reveal difficulties teachers experience in connection with some spaces which are considered challenging and the necessity to support teachers in the reappropriation of those spaces with a view to identifying new perspectives for improvement.
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