Disaster risk perception and local resilience near the “Duboko” landfill: Challenges of governance, management, trust, and environmental communication in Serbia

This study examines residents’ perceptions of environmental and disaster risks near the “Duboko” regional landfill in Serbia. It aims to uncover factors that affect public trust and community resilience. This approach is rooted in interdisciplinary perspectives on risk perception, institutional trust, and socio-ecological resilience. A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a stratified sample of 1,180 respondents across nine municipalities in Western Serbia. The statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression. The regression models indicated that gender, education level, type of settlement, property ownership, and household size were significant predictors across various thematic dimensions. The model addressing risk perception and environmental impact accounted for 5.6% of the variance, while the model regarding institutional trust and transparency explained 7.4% of the variance. Higher perceived risk and lower institutional trust were found among women, individuals with lower levels of education, rural residents, and respondents from smaller households. Furthermore, increased transparency and access to environmental information correlated with enhanced trust and perceived resilience. These results emphasise the complex nature of landfill risk perception and highlight the need for participatory communication, transparent governance, and context-sensitive community involvement to bolster disaster resilience and public health protection in areas impacted by landfills.