Featured researcher: Alison Anderson
School of Society and Culture
Professor Alison Anderson is an internationally leading scholar with over 30 years of experience in public engagement and environmental communication. She has undertaken extensive interdisciplinary research on behavioural science and climate change.
Alison's research, focusing on empowering youth voices to mobilise behaviour change, was exhibited at
COP26
, and her work has featured on BBC Radio and in Der Standard, the Financial Times, the Toronto Star, and The TES.
In December 2021, she submitted evidence to the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee Inquiry which was cited in the House of Lords October 2022 report In our Hands: Behaviour Change for Climate and Environmental Goals. Her work on climate education features in UK Parliament POSTnote 714 and the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) report .
Alison is a founding member of the , and a former Editor-in-Chief of the Routledge journal . She is a Fellow of both the and the .
UK secondary school pupils call for relevant and rigorous climate change education
Alison has recently undertaken research with the British Science Association This included a national survey of 1,000 14-to-18-year-olds and two follow-up workshops to explore the responses in greater depth. In addition, she commissioned a national survey of over 8,000 teachers concerning their views about embedding climate change and sustainability across the curriculum.
How can the education system help to fight the climate crisis?
If the education system is to rise to the challenge, there must be a step change in how it prepares young people for a rapidly changing world.
Scaling up climate education in schools
In partnership with
The Box
, this project evaluates how recommendations from are being applied locally.
It focuses on a new initiative designed by The Box to engage young people with climate change by exploring its impact on Â鶹´«Ã½ Sound and showcasing the efforts of inspiring 'Marine Citizens' who help to care for and protect the Marine National Park. The research aims to assess the depth of this rollout, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness of place-based, arts-driven educational approaches to climate awareness.