THE ROSIA MONTANA - GOLD CORPORATION PROJECT IN THE OPINION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING STUDENTS - CASE STUDY

The present study is an exploratory one representing the first endeavor to test the opinion of a small group of Environmental Engineering students from the "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi, Romania in terms of environmental issues. The purpose of the research presented in this paper is to determine the opinion of the students who are likely to become professionals in the field of Environmental Engineering, on the consequences of the Rosia Montana - Gold Corporation project implementation. To this purpose, a brief opinion questionnaire was used. It was required that the respondents say whether they approve or disapprove of the implementation of the above mentioned project; additionally, the respondents have to provide general information about their knowledge on the Rosia Montana area and on the project and they have to share their experience on this topic. The questionnaire was sent out anonymously by teaching staff (not involved in the research) to 40 undergraduate students (Bachelor studies) and 59 postgraduate students (Master studies). The data was processed with the SPSS software. The collected data showed that Environmental Engineering students from the "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iasi do not share the same opinion on the Gold Corporation project as a means of economic development in the Rosia Montana area. The percentage of students who oppose the implementation is higher than the percentage of students who support it, but agreement is not accidental or contextual, because the difference between the two subgroups is statistically significant.