Implementing change
Technology is important, but it become meaningless unless it's used.
Social scientists work to understand systems and behaviours – why and how things work in societies. They therefore play a vital role in solving the many complex barriers that prevent potential solutions from being implemented. The research below includes studies ranging from why people choose certain behaviours over others, to how we can finance the transition in a just and equitable way.
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- SHORT ARTICLE: Securing a fairer global economy
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- The climate crisis, the most complex and critical challenge of our time, must be tackled on many fronts. It requires coordinated, strategic and evidence-based action, yet working in harmony towards a shared goal is not always easy.
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- It is time to employ some radical thinking on the future of our food systems.
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- This research paper examines public perceptions and acceptability of a range of current DSM possibilities in a representative sample of the British population. It explores concerns over climate change, affordability, and acceptance of new technology to understand barriers to adopton of new technologies.
- SHORT: Government's role in promoting wood burning stove emissions
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- Based on an analysis of over 18,000 government records of heating and cooking appliances exempt from smoke control rules, and interviews with air pollution officers from local councils across the UK, the research shows how the Deregulation Act 2015 opened the door to a market of stoves exempt from urban air pollution controls (see graph).
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- Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West reflects on COP27 and says to tackle the greatest challenge of our time we must accelerate the delivery of sustainable technologies and solutions.
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- Matthew Rendall joins Ben to talk about the ethics of financing climate change solutions. Is it justifiable to fund greenhouse gas mitigation through deficit spending? Matthew brings Ben up to speed on his latest research.
- SHORT ARTICLE: The great outdoors 鈥� reimagining teaching and learning
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- After the world started opening up again post-Covid, and our relationship with the outdoors had been reimagined, Dr Jenny Elliott started working with a small group of colleagues from within the School of Education to think about the potential for developing an outdoor learning and community space on Jubilee Campus.
- SHORT ARTICLE: Paying for the transition to sustainable energy
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- Energy security, climate change, sustainable energy and the transition to renewable energy are linked topics. Increasingly, the preferred policy direction across the globe is to promote renewable energy options, in order to tackle climate change and create a sustainable economy while maintaining energy security.
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- Does the assumption that future generations will be overall better off justify discounting future damages away? In this video, Matthew Rendall discusses the implications of ignoring the costs on climate change.
- SHORT ARTICLE: We need to talk about haze
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- The recent IPCC Working Group 1 report has made it clear that the climate crisis is not fundamentally a challenge of science but a challenge of our beliefs, commitments and actions. The UN Secretary General commented that "the evidence is irrefutable" and that the report sets out "a clear moral 鈥� imperative to protect the lives and livelihoods of those on the front lines of the climate crisis". With morality at the heart of the crisis, the question then arises: which organisations can help direct such action at the scale and speed required to avert climate catastrophe?