Research themes

In CAST Theme 2: Learning, we are continuing to explore historic experiences of and new opportunities for transformational change, as we did in our first five years of research.  We focus on understanding the process of change – what drives it and what holds it back – using insights from multiple disciplines.  Theme 2’s work complements the present - and future-oriented work of Theme 1 and provides the foundations for the experimental and action-oriented work of Themes 3 and 4

In CAST Theme 3: Trialling, researchers work with a range of partners to develop, test and evaluate transformative interventions across a range of contexts and scales.   We’re interested in people doing things differently – from live music venues trying to decarbonise concerts to football clubs helping their fans be more sustainable.   We apply a ‘learning by doing’ methodology and support change in a collaborative, ongoing and iterative way.

CAST Theme 4: Engaging is all about making sure organisations, policymakers and practitioners get the insights they need to deliver people-focused climate solutions.   We focus less on data collection and more on synthesising CAST’s research and sharing it with relevant stakeholders.  We also work to build CAST’s varied network of partners and collaborators, and support CAST researchers to complete policy/business secondments and sit on advisory committees and boards.

In CAST Theme 1: Visioning, we are examining feasible and desirable visions for low-carbon futures – in other words, we ask: ‘what could sustainable transformed societies look like?’.  We’re diving deeper into public preferences for behaviours that might be part of low-carbon futures, such as active travel and reduced meat consumption, and how these vary within the UK and across other countries.  We make use of the data CAST produced in Phase 1, including interactive visioning workshops, policy roundtables and public perceptions surveys. We also analyse data from external sources, as well as collecting new survey data.