What Does Climate Change Mean to Italians? A Focus Group Study in Italy

Climate change is among the most prominent political issues of the twenty-first century. Yet, we still know little about what ordinary citizens actually mean when they talk about “climate change” (CC) and about the “pictures in their heads” appearing when they think about it. Existing research has overwhelmingly focused on attitudes, beliefs, levels of concern, and policy preferences, while what has remained implicit or inferred is how ordinary people make sense of the issue. Indeed, similar attitudes can originate from very different meanings for very different people (e.g., poor, rural pensioners and young, affluent tech engineers can both be unconcerned about climate change). Theoretically, we conceptualise “climate change meanings” as subjective definitions of what CC is (and is not) and the relational context in which people place it. We argue how this conception is analytically distinct from extant conceptualizations and studies of “climate change attitudes”, “understandings”, “beliefs”, “discourses”, “narratives”, and “issue frames”, and why meanings precede and structure the frames and attitudes that people recognise as legitimate. The study aims to uncover (1) which meanings can be observed in the Italian public opinion and (2) the worldviews, justifications, and experiences that sustain them. Italy in the mid-2020s provides a particularly interesting context: CC is “politicising but not yet fully politicised” (Biancalana and Ladini, 2024), public concern and policy support are rising after years of relative indifference, and extreme weather events have intensified media and political attention. Yet, qualitative public opinion research on the topic remains scarce and largely focuses on discourses from the élites, like activists or politicians. We fill this gap by conducting focus groups with Italian citizens, selected to maximise variation in age, gender, education, urban–rural location, regional identity, and political orientation. Participants take part in a 90-minute-long conversation about CC in groups of 5-6 people each. Transcripts are then analysed with inductive thematic analysis, using sensitising concepts but no pre-defined typologies, with the aim to uncover analytically distinct meanings and to relate them to social positions and life trajectories. Fieldwork is currently taking place (December 2025) and will be completed in the spring. We aim to conduct around 12 focus groups with a total of around 60 participants. Findings of the study will inform policymakers and public communicators to make them more able to craft effective climate-related policies and communication campaigns.