Dr George Warren
Academic and research departments
Environmental Psychology Research Group (EPRG), School of Psychology, Institute for Sustainability.About
Biography
My passion lies in the application of findings from environmental psychology and Energy-Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research into UK policy, especially aiming to address the climate crisis. My research is primarily focused on issues associated with risk perceptions and other individual or socio-demographic factors which shape pro-environmental behaviours. I have previously undertaken research on COVID-19 risk perceptions, communications and risk management strategies, evaluated domestic energy advice schemes, and investigated the motivators and barriers to domestic energy saving in England for my PhD thesis.
I currently work as a Knowledge Exchange Fellow for ACCESS (Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environment Social Science) and a Sustainability Fellow with the Institute for Sustainability, based at the University of Surrey, UK. ACCESS is a 5-year program of work, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, which will champion and coordinate social science to address key environmental challenges spanning biodiversity, sustainability and decarbonisation.
ACCESS is a team of world-leading social science and interdisciplinary experts led by Professor Patrick Devine-Wright (University of Exeter) as Director and Professor Birgitta Gatersleben (University of Surrey) as Co-Director, with Co-Investigators from the Universities of Bath, Sussex, Leeds and the Natural Environment Social Research Network (Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, NatureScot, Environment Agency and Forest Research). ACCESS also includes an extensive partner network including, amongst others, the Universities of Belfast, Cardiff and Manchester, the Tyndall Centre, and the National Trust.
Affiliations and memberships
Publications
Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environment Social Science (ACCESS) is an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded project, which aims to champion and coordinate social science research, to build capacity and promote and enhance the value of environmental social science in research and practice to address key environmental challenges. ACCESS’s first step is to learn from the past experiences of social scientists in climate and environment training, research, policy and practice through various research activities. This report summarises the key findings of one of these activities: exploratory interviews with participants from academic, governmental and non-governmental sectors to explore the impact of UK-based Environmental Social Science (ESS) into policy and practice. Specifically, this report focuses on participants’ experiences of the factors hindering or enhancing the integration of ESS into policy and practice. The aim of this research is to provide evidence to promote greater inclusion of ESS into policy and practice by outlining the key factors influencing its impact. To achieve these wider project aims, findings presented here will be combined with evidence emerging from other activities conducted within the ACCESS project to inform a broader set of recommendations to enhance the inclusion of ESS into research, training and policy and practice. This is with the wider ACCESS goal of supporting and building capacity for ESS in the UK. Findings presented in this report, and subsequent reports of this nature, can be applicable for those working in academia, the government agencies (intermediates), non-governmental organisations, and the policy makers wanting to understand current and future ways in which UK-based ESS can be integrated into research, training, and policy and practice. It is important to note that perceptions of enhancing and hindering factors were collected through the interviews; assessing the extent of their reality in practice would require other observatory methods that were not undertaken in this study (see Newman, 2023).