Why social science, citizen science and behavioural science for climate action matters
Integrating social and behavioural sciences into climate change research is crucial for better understanding human interactions with the environment, promoting behavioural change, informing policy decisions, and engaging the public.
Our collective decisions — what we eat, where we live, how we travel, and how we produce and consume goods - drives climate change, making social sciences crucial to tackling the problem. Understanding the motivations underlying people’s choices, how they think about climate change, and what they expect from policymakers is indispensable for devising impactful strategies to promote more sustainable lifestyles.
In the realm of policy, social sciences lend a critical lens to the crafting of climate solutions by exploring non-technical aspects of technologies and by helping to navigate the complex landscape of human values, interests and trade-offs, and power dynamics.
Through participatory approaches and stakeholder engagement, they also help ensure that climate policies are not only effective but also equitable and inclusive. In the realm of adaptation, for instance, they offer invaluable insights into the human dimension of climate impacts, harnessing local knowledge and community networks to foster adaptive capacity and resilience.
This makes a strong case for better integrating SSH disciplines into climate related research as well as a more interdisciplinary approach where social and climate scientists work hand in hand to understand climate change in a more comprehensive way in the pursuit of most effective solutions.
EU projects
Projects currently supported by Horizon Europe under Destination 1 “Climate sciences and responses for the transformation towards climate neutrality” of Cluster 5 (Climate, Energy and Mobility)
