Social campaigns for protecting natural resources : the case of Poland

Purpose: The main goal of the research is to identify the role of social campaigns in the protection of natural resources, to relate their subject matter to the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) of the 2030 Agenda, and to discuss their potential effectiveness.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The article focuses on the quality analysis of environmental campaigns that have been organized in Poland over the last 25 years. In total, 341 descriptions (of 1698 contained in the base) were analyzed, from which only those social campaigns were selected that met the following criteria: organized by governmental and non-profit organizations; using various media to convey information; addressed to recipients at least at the regional level; covering a set of various activities; making people aware of the problem of using natural resources and promoting attitudes contributing directly or indirectly to their protection.

Findings: The research proved that ecology and the environment are still rare campaign topics. However, the literature on the subject shows that environmental campaigns can largely translate into the desired change in social attitudes and thus contribute to slowing down the process of depletion of natural resources and favor the implementation of SDGs.

Practical Implications: The results of the research indicated the need to develop a framework that could be used for evaluation of social campaigns impact on realization level of SDGs.

Originality/Value: The conducted research contributed to the narrowing of the research gap concerning the identification of the role of social campaigns in the implementation of SDGs.