The study we intend to present investigates the concept of ecological literacy in modern Russian society among the general population contrasted to professional community of environmental experts. To do so we offered a survey to an extensive group of students at the Institute of Environmental Engineering (Moscow) and a similar sized group of adults who had no prior academic or professional experience in environmental science.

We designed a survey to evaluate the level of environmental awareness of respondents, specifically in terms of their personal involvement in nature conservation as well as their stance towards existing environmental legislation and regulations. We also asked them to comment on their personal experiences from simple activities such as switching off water in the shower to complex higher order involvement in sustainable processes, e.g. founding an organization for protecting the environment. Besides, they were offered questions on green knowledge, the respondents had a multiple choice of answers with only one correct option in each case. We aimed to inquire whether understanding of environmental issues is limited to professional domain of ecologists.

We assessed qualitative and quantitative aspects of the survey feedbacks and found some similarities between two groups of respondents, i.e. both ecologists and general public demonstrate high degree of green agenda awareness, are quite knowledgeable when it comes to generic understanding of environmental challenges. However, we also managed to spot some stark differences, which relate to age, gender, social stance and professional involvement. We would like to report on those as well as our suggestions for further improvements at the conference.

Keywords: Ecoliteracy, Russia, sustainable education.