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Citizens play a crucial role in attaining the United Nations 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs). There is growing awareness of the importance of understanding citizen perspectives on environmental issues, in relation to developing and maintaining sustainable lifestyles, and in addressing perceived threats to protection and restoration of ecosystems and biodiversity. This analysis sought to understand people's attitudes towards environmental conservation, how they relate to perceived threats to the countryside, and to determine how attitudes and perceived threats vary demographically and between countries. A survey was administered to citizens (quota sampled on age, gender, education, and split between rural and urban residency) across five countries representative of differing biogeographical regions (N = 3,190): Czech Republic (n = 649) (Continental); Spain (Mediterranean) (n = 623); Sweden (Boreal) (n = 645); Switzerland (Alpine) (n = 641); United Kingdom (UK) (Atlantic) (n = 632). Attitudes were measured using the Environmental Attitudes Inventory (EAI-24) on 2 factors (utilization; preservation) and perceived threat to the countryside on 1-factor (15 items). Multigroup regression analysis indicated that preservationist attitudes were associated with greater perceived threat to the countryside in all five countries. Higher perceived threat was associated with activities linked to environmental degradation, socio-economic uncertainty and risks in agri-food supply chains in all countries. The "bad behaviour of visitors" was the greatest perceived threat in the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the UK, while "lack of young farmers taking over farming" was the greatest perceived threat in Spain and Sweden. To promote pro-environmental attitudes and obtain greater public support for policies and interventions targeting environmental conservation, communication about environmental threats is needed, together with threat mitigation measures. Raising peoples' awareness of threats to the countryside through targeted communications could promote pro-environment attitudes and potentially result in pro-environmental behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the need for food systems that, in addition to being economically viable and socially equitable, use environmentally friendly production processes has made sustainable production one of the olive oil sector's main concerns and priorities. In this context, evaluation of the economic, social and environmental performance of olive oil companies and the design of sustainable management alternatives have become fundamental activities for companies. Thus, this article's main objective is to measure the sustainability of a representative sample of olive mills located in Andalusia (Spain), the leading olive oil-producing region internationally, and to identify its determinants. First, based on data envelopment analysis, synthetic sustainability indices are constructed. Second, truncated regression analysis and bootstrapping techniques are used to identify the determinants of the sustainability of olive oil mills. The results show that factors such as company size, commitment to quality, and manager training and professionalisation are crucial elements for the sustainable development of olive oil mills. These results can be useful for company managers in the design of strategies aimed at improving company sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]