Rachel Howell

Effective Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) requires appropriate pedagogies that engage learners in transformative learning. These pedagogies include reflective and active learning, involving experiential, collaborative and learner-centred activities. This paper discusses student experiences and perceptions of an interdisciplinary social science ESD course at a UK university that incorporated reflective and active learning by using a 'flipped classroom' (FC) design and innovative assessments. FC creates time in class for reflective and active learning by moving content acquisition to pre-class study. Adoption of the flipped classroom in social sciences is rare and literature on use of FC for ESD is very scarce; hence this paper offers valuable insights into the design of a flipped social science ESD course, and participants' responses. Results of two surveys demonstrate very positive student perceptions of the course, and illustrate several benefits of the FC design. Over 90% of respondents agreed that in-class active learning exercises made the classes more engaging and the material more memorable than usual, offering useful opportunities to put information/learning into practice, with most students expressing strong agreement. In-class mini-lectures were nevertheless also appreciated, as were reflective practices. A large majority of the students considered the workload reasonable. Findings also reveal the importance of incentivising pre-class preparation using graded assessments such as quizzes, which additionally helped students understand/remember content, and gave confidence about contributing in class. It is clear that the active and reflective learning that FC facilitates engages students in ESD. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for successfully implementing this approach.

Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent.

The interests of children in a climate-challenged future are under-represented within UK policy-making and public discourse. Debates on intergenerational equity have centred on economic logic rather than the moral issue of harms to the next generation, or the responsibilities of today’s generation. Civil movements play an important role in changing public and political thinking on this issue; however, research on intergenerational climate justice activism has so far been confined to the youth movement. This study uses an in-depth diary and interview dataset of 20 UK-based activist mothers and fathers to explore the emotional spaces of parenting and campaigning for intergenerational climate justice. Attention was paid to the role of parenthood in the framing and motivation for action, and the way that campaigning was sustained or impeded by activist parents’ personal relationships. The study found that the emotional spaces of activist parenting were managed and demarcated through moral boundary work that was used to define, distinguish and legitimise a collective representation. These boundaries were relational and drawn selectively to include similar others and to form bridges with politicians; boundaries also functioned to delegitimise the role of adults without children, and to exclude and excuse younger children and older relatives from playing a part in justice activism. The paper concludes by considering how these processes might impede the movement and have implications for wider social justice.

A companion paper to the report on the 'Mindfuness, Behaviour Change and Engagement in Public Policy' courses run for the Welsh Government, this is an evaluation of a similar course tailored specifically to the work of NGO Global Action Plan.

This paper discusses a survey of public opinions on hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') for shale gas, conducted with a representative sample of 1745 British adults. Unusually, it examines beliefs about positive and negative statements about fracking as well as support/opposition. A majority of respondents correctly answered an initial question testing basic knowledge of shale gas extraction. More respondents supported fracking in Britain (36%) than opposed it (32%) but only 22% supported fracking locally, while 45% were opposed. Respondents were more united in negative beliefs than positive beliefs about fracking. More knowledgeable participants held more polarised views and were significantly more likely than others to agree with negative statements and to oppose fracking in their local area. More respondents disagreed than agreed that it is possible to compensate for fracking risks by payments to local communities. Policy implications include: increasing public knowledge about fracking will not necessarily lead to more positive beliefs and support regarding shale gas developments; promoting alleged economic benefits of shale gas is not enough to ensure support; engaging in genuinely inclusive participatory decision-making may be more likely to increase support than offering payments to communities; alternatively, developing more renewable energy capacity promises to be more popular than fracking. Highlights ► Results of a survey of a representative sample of 1745 British adults ► Respondents were more united in negative beliefs than positive beliefs about fracking ► More knowledgeable respondents more likely than others to agree with negative statements ► Much less support for fracking 'within 10 miles of home' than in Britain generally ► Acceptance of alleged economic benefits of fracking does not ensure support Citation for this paper: Howell, R.A. (2018) UK public beliefs about fracking and effects of knowledge on beliefs and support: A problem for shale gas policy. Energy Policy 113: 721–730.

In order to engage in carbon management at the household level, individuals need to understand how their everyday activities contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and how they can reduce their personal carbon footprint. This implies a need for 'carbon literacy', a term that has emerged in the literature in the last few years without being formally defined. This paper proposes a definition of carbon literacy and compares this with other, related concepts. I then present the results of two qualitative studies that reveal how three mechanisms help to increase carbon literacy: energy monitoring; carbon footprint statements; and peer/social learning through sharing information, skills and resources with others. The different aspects of carbon literacy that these mechanisms contribute to are highlighted. Especially notable is the significance of carbon footprint statements, which enable understanding of the relative emissions associated with different activities, and the value many interviewees placed on learning within a group. These two mechanisms enhance the impact of energy monitoring by individuals, which is part of the focus of schemes such as the introduction of 'smart' energy meters in several countries. The implications of these findings for policymakers and others who wish to promote carbon literacy are discussed.

We present a survey of 85 people involved in climate change education and mitigation, mainly in the UK, exploring the significant life experiences (SLEs) and formative influences that have contributed to their concern about climate change and their interest in climate change education and mitigation. In contrast with the findings of a large number of previous studies of environmentalists/environmental educators, outdoor experiences during childhood were not generally a major formative influence on the respondents. Although Western children nowadays commonly have fewer opportunities to enjoy such experiences, analysis showed that the differences were not due simply to changes over time. Uniquely in research on SLEs of environmentalists/environmental educators, we also examined respondents’ values and motivations, to further understand what inspires action. Social justice concerns were rated as more motivating than biospheric concerns by the sample as a whole, and altruistic and biospheric values were considered equally important as guiding principles. These findings have implications for the framing of climate change as an ‘environmental’ problem, and suggest that, contrary to conclusions that may have been drawn from past research, environmental education specifically directed towards stimulating engagement with climate change need not entail promoting outdoor experiences, nature connectedness, or biospheric values and motivations for action.

It is likely that climate change communications and media coverage will increasingly stress the importance of adaptation, yet little is known about whether or how this may affect attitudes towards mitigation. Despite concerns that communicating adaptation could undermine public support for mitigation, previous research has found it can have the opposite effect by increasing risk salience. It is also unclear whether people respond differently to information about mitigation and adaptation depending on whether action is framed as an individual or government responsibility. Using an experimental design, this study sought to examine how public attitudes towards mitigation are influenced by varying climate change messages, and how this might interact with prior attitudes to climate change. UK-based participants (N = 800) read one of four texts in a 2 x 2 design comparing adaptation versus mitigation information and personal versus governmental action. No main effect was found for adaptation versus mitigation framing, nor for individual action versus government policy, but we did observe a series of interaction effects with prior attitudes to climate change. Mitigation and adaptation information affected participants’ responses differently depending on their pre-existing levels of concern about climate change, suggesting that mitigation framings may be more engaging for those with high levels of concern, whereas adaptation framings may be more engaging for low-concern individuals.  Government mitigation action appears to engender particularly polarised attitudes according to prior concern. Implications for climate change communications are considered.

This paper presents results from a survey of 344 individuals who engage in climate change mitigation action, contributing to debates about whether it is necessary to promote 'nature experiences' and biospheric values to encourage pro-environmental behaviour. We investigate three factors – values, motivations, and formative experiences – that underlie such behaviour but have usually been considered in isolation from each other. In contrast to previous studies of significant life experiences of environmentalists, outdoor/nature experiences were not frequently mentioned as influential. Altruistic concerns about climate change impacts on future human generations and poorer/vulnerable people were considered more motivating than other reasons for action. There was no significant difference in how respondents rated altruistic and biospheric values. Variations in responses from those involved in 'biospherically-oriented' (e.g. traditional environmental/conservation) organisations versus climate change groups suggest that there are different routes into climate change mitigation action, and our results show that it is not essential to cultivate biospheric values or love of nature to encourage such action.

This report provides an overview of an experimental trial conducted on mindfulness and behaviour change in the workplace from 2014 - 2016 by Aberystwyth University and the University of Birmingham. The research involved the development and delivery of a Mindfulness, Behaviour Change and Decision Making Programme in 3 partner organizations: the Welsh Government, Global Action Plan and Ogilvy & Mather.

This paper opens up a dialogue between mindfulness and the discipline of geography. As a meditative practice that cultivates ‘present-centred non-judgmental awareness’, we claim that the practices and insights of mindfulness have important implications for various forms of geographical enquiry. This paper argues that mindfulness can inform geographical practices in relation to epistemology and methodology, and contribute towards geographically informed critical psychological theory and action. More specifically, we claim that mindfulness could offer a practice-based context to support the study of affects, extend the application of psychoanalytical geographical methods beyond the therapeutic, and contribute to emerging geographical studies of behavioural power and empowerment. This analysis explores these sites of interaction through a series of reflections on the Mindfulness, Behaviour Change and Engagement in Public Policy programme that was developed and delivered by the authors. This more-than-therapeutic mindfulness programme has been delivered to approximately 47 civil servants working in the UK Government.

This report has been written in order to provide an account of the delivery and impact of the Mindfulness, Behaviour Change and Engagement in Public Policy programme. The Mindfulness, Behaviour Change and Engagement in Public Policy programme (hereafter MBCEPP) was developed as part of an Economic and Social Research Council funded project entitled Negotiating Neuroliberalism: Changing Behaviours, Values, and Beliefs and delivered in partnership with the Welsh Government. The programme was developed in order to explore whether the experience of practicing mindfulness would enable participants to enhance their understanding of the principles that inform contemporary behaviour change policies.

This report is the first of its kind. It provides a global overview of the emerging influence of the behavioural sciences (and nudging practices) on the design and implementation of public policy. While previous research (see Ly and Soman 2013) has reported on the influence of the behavioural sciences (such as behavioural economics, behavioural psychology, and neuroscience) on the activities of governments in different places around the world, none has provided a systematic global survey. Reflecting on public policy initiatives in 196 countries, the report  considers where nudge-type policies have developed and the particular forms they have taken. This report was developed as part of a Economic and Social Research Council (UK) (ESRC) project entitled Negotiating Neuroliberalism: Changing Behaviours, Values and Beliefs. It was funded as part of the ESRC’s Transforming Social Science programme.

""A number of recent films such as An Inconvenient Truth and The Age of Stupid aim not merely to
inform their audience about climate change, but to engage them in taking mitigation action. This
paper outlines the transtheoretical model of behavioural change, which incorporates six stages of
change that individuals progress through as they change their behaviour, and ten associated
processes of change. Using four climate change films as illustrations, I show how the model can be
applied to identify the processes of change employed or depicted by sustainability communications.
I then discuss research on the impacts of the films in the light of this analysis, considering the
strengths and limitations of the movies’ use/portrayal of processes of change with regard to
encouraging viewers to change their behaviour. The paper concludes with recommendations for
how film may be used more effectively as a tool to inspire climate change mitigation action."""""

To assess the effectiveness of climate change communications, it is important to examine their long-term impacts on individuals’ attitudes and behavior. This article offers an example study and a discussion of the challenges of conducting long-term investigations of behavioral change related to climate change communications (a vital and underresearched area). The research reported is a longitudinal panel study of the impacts on UK viewers of the climate change movie The Age of Stupid. The heightened levels of concern, motivation to act, and sense of agency about action that were initially generated by the movie did not measurably persist over the long term. The results also show that behavioral intentions do not necessarily translate into action. Data analysis raised issues concerning the reliability of participants’ causal attributions of their behavior. This and other methodological challenges are discussed, and some ways of avoiding or lessening problems are suggested.

This exploratory mixed-methods study uses in-depth interviews to investigate the values, motivations, and routes to engagement of UK citizens who have adopted lower-carbon lifestyles. Social justice, community, frugality, and personal integrity were common themes that emerged from the transcripts. Concern about ‘the environment’ per se is not the primary motivation for most interviewees’ action. Typically, they are more concerned about the plight of poorer people who will suffer from climate change. Although biospheric values are important to the participants, they tended to score altruistic values significantly higher on a survey instrument. Thus, it may not be necessary to promote biospheric values to encourage lower-carbon lifestyles. Participants’ narratives of how they became engaged with climate action reveal links to human rights issues and groups as much as environmental organisations and positive experiences in nature. Some interviewees offered very broad (positive) visions of what ‘a low-carbon lifestyle’ means to them. This, and the fact that ‘climate change’ is not necessarily seen as interesting even by these highly engaged people, reveals a need for climate change mitigation campaigns to promote a holistic view of a lower-carbon future, rather than simply offering a ‘to do’ list to ‘combat climate change’.

Carbon Rationing Action Groups (CRAGs) are grassroots voluntary groups of citizens concerned about climate change, who set themselves a carbon allowance each year and provide support to members seeking to reduce their direct carbon emissions from household energy use and personal transport. Some groups have a financial penalty for carbon emitted in excess of the ration, and systems whereby under-emitters are rewarded using the monies collected from over-emitters. CRAGs therefore operate the nearest scheme in existence to the proposed policy of Personal Carbon Trading (PCT). This paper reports the findings of a study of the opinions and experiences of individuals involved in CRAGs (‘CRAGgers’). In general, interviewees have made significant behavioural changes and emissions reductions, but many would be unwilling to sell spare carbon allowances within a national PCT system. The choices made by CRAGgers with respect to the design and operation of their ‘carbon accounting’, their experiences of reducing fossil fuel energy use, and their views on personal carbon trading at CRAG and national level are discussed. Some possible implications for PCT and other policies are considered, as well as the limitations of CRAGs in informing an understanding of the potential impacts and operation of PCT.

The film The Age of Stupid depicts the world in 2055 devastated by climate change, combining this with documentary footage which illustrates many facets of the problems of climate change and fossil-fuel dependency. This study investigates the effects of the film on UK viewers’ attitudes and behaviour through a three-stage survey. Analysis of changes in attitudes focussed particularly on respondents’ concern about climate change, motivation to act, fear about the potential for catastrophe, beliefs about responsibility for action, and sense of agency. The film increased concern about climate change, motivation to act, and viewers’ sense of agency, although these effects had not persisted 10-14 weeks after seeing it. It was also successful in promoting some mitigation actions and behavioural change, although respondents reported barriers to further action, such as limited options for improving home energy efficiency among those in rented accommodation. However, filmgoers were atypical of the general public in that they exhibited very high levels of concern about climate change, knowledge about how to reduce their carbon emissions, and contact with organisations campaigning about climate change, before they saw the film. The paper considers how these factors may have enabled viewers to respond to the film as they did, as well as policy implications for those seeking to develop effective climate change communications.

"Personal Carbon Allowances (PCAs) have been proposed as a policy to
facilitate reductions in individuals’ carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. A PCAs
scheme would be a cap-and-trade system covering emissions from home
energy use and personal transport. Many questions remain to be
answered about the practical and psychological implications for individuals
of a PCAs scheme and about how a policy could best be designed to
maximise public acceptability and encourage emissions reductions. This
study attempts to begin exploring such issues by examining the
experience of members of Carbon Rationing Action Groups (CRAGs).
Carbon Rationing Action Groups are grassroots groups of concerned
citizens who set themselves a voluntary carbon ration for the year and
provide support and encouragement to members seeking to reduce their
carbon footprint. Some groups have a price for carbon emitted in excess
of the target, and even basic trading systems whereby under-emitters are
rewarded using the financial penalties collected from over-emitters. These
groups therefore operate the nearest scheme in existence to PCAs.
The overall objective of this research was to determine whether the
operation of the CRAGs movement, and the experiences of individuals
involved, can offer any useful information about the process of
individual/household level carbon footprint reductions, the psychological
effects of having a carbon allowance and trading system, and therefore
any issues for consideration in the design of a Personal Carbon Trading
policy.
Semi-structured interviews were carried out between June and August
2008 with 23 members of the movement, from 10 different CRAGs. Topics
covered included participants’ motivations for involvement; how the group
carbon ‘ration’ was chosen and what was included; carbon accounting,
including the conversion factors used and the process of tracking energy
use and calculating carbon footprints; whether/how emissions reductions
were achieved, and what was easy and what was difficult about reducing
emissions; the use (or otherwise) of financial penalties for over-emitters;
participants’ opinions of a compulsory, national PCAs scheme and on
whether they would be likely to trade within such a scheme; and the
benefits and limitations of belonging to a CRAG.
The interviewees were generally highly motivated, well-educated, middleclass
homeowners, and therefore not representative of the general public.
Most CRAGs had chosen to apply the same ‘carbon ration’ to each
member of the group, although some had differentiated targets. Members
generally did their own carbon accounting, and most reported that they
had more understanding of where their emissions come from and the
relative impact of different activities than they had before joining the
CRAG. Many members reported reducing their emissions since joining a
CRAG, although not all attributed these changes to their involvement with
the group. Reductions were made both through installation of technologies
such as solar thermal water heating, and behavioural changes such as
taking fewer flights. Barriers to change included cost, housing situation
(eg. renting), family commitments necessitating flying, and lack of public
transport options in rural areas. Not all CRAGs instituted a financial
penalty for members who exceeded the ration, and among those that did,
it was more common for the monies to be given to environmental
charities, projects, or offsetting organisations than to under-emitters.
Payment of a carbon price for over-emitting, or receiving a monetary
reward for under-emitting were not strong drivers of behaviour for
interviewees. They reported many benefits of belonging to a CRAG, chiefly
a sense of ‘moral support’ and the potential for sharing information.
The experiences of those involved in CRAGs suggest that it is possible for
at least a certain section of the population to make significant cuts to their
direct carbon emissions, provided that they are motivated. Whether the
proponents of PCAs are correct in suggesting that such an allowances
scheme would provide motivation for the general population is not
possible to determine from this study. The findings of this study do
suggest that:
• Equal-per-capita allowances may not be perceived as fair by
everyone;
• The issue of what allowance, if any, should be given to children
might well be controversial, as might the boundaries of the scheme
and the conversion factors used;
• Some under-average emitters will be unwilling on principle to sell
their spare allowances on an open market. Widespread
unwillingness or inability to trade could have implications for the
operation of the system. More research is necessary to explore how
people would deal with carbon budgeting and their likely trading
behaviour: for example, whether they would be willing to trade
allowances, whether people will prefer to immediately sell all their
allowance and purchase necessary units at point-of-sale etc;
• The carbon literacy achieved by CRAGgers came about largely
because they computed and compared their own footprints;
provision of detailed carbon statements to individuals would be
necessary to try and encourage a similar effect in a national
scheme;
• Some of the benefits of belonging to a CRAG (such as information
sharing) would not necessarily apply in a national PCAs scheme;
they might occur in a more ad hoc way, but there would still be a
place for grassroots support/information groups such as CRAGs.""

Kate Saffin of the LSE suggests that this book ‘will be particularly interesting to those studying or practicing science communication’. I shall be using it with students and others to illustrate how not to communicate about climate change or other global challenges, especially if one wishes to promote appropriate responses to mitigate the problems...