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5 key messages from five years of CAST research: New report

5 key messages from five years of CAST research: New report

Read our latest CAST report: 'Catalysts of Change: People at the Heart of Climate Transformations', and watch our animation summarising 5 key messages from five years of CAST social science research on climate change and how we can achieve the social changes needed to tackle climate change.

Our Vision

The Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) is a global hub for understanding the systemic and society-wide transformations that are required to address climate change. At the core of our work is a fundamental question of enormous social significance: how can we as a society live differently - and better - in ways that meet the urgent need for rapid and far-reaching emission reductions?

People at the heart of transformations

We want to understand how people can participate in transformation in their multiple roles as citizens, consumers, parents, employees, business leaders, policy-makers. This means recognising that people can act both directly to reduce emissions – like driving less – but equally have the ability to shape wider structural change – like changing organisational practices and shaping policies.

A focus on values and co-benefits

We set out to align the positive outcomes of action on climate change with those in other domains like health and wellbeing. CAST seeks to identify low-carbon futures and actions that also provide other co-benefits - like cleaner air, lower bills, more resilient or fairer communities.

"We want to work closely with people and organisations to achieve positive low-carbon futures — transforming the way we live our lives, and reconfiguring organisations and cities."

Prof. Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, CAST Director

Explore our four areas of focus

Find out why we are focusing on four key areas: Diet, Mobility, Material Consumption and Thermal Comfort.

Our resources include policy briefings, working papers, academic articles, reports and other resources exploring the science of climate action.

We believe effective change requires working with people to understand their values and needs.

News from CAST

Our latest report

How far did COP26 go on putting public action at the heart of the agenda? Reflections from CAST

By Dr Amiera Sawas Four weeks after the last gavel landed at COP26 in Glasgow, the team at CAST are reflecting on what the international negotiations mean for our work. CAST’s mandate is to research and advocate how societies can live differently – and better – in ways that meet…

Early career researcher to advise government climate change policy

Research Associate, Dr Caroline Verfuerth, has secured a major fellowship in Welsh Government to advise policy makers on reducing environmental and agricultural carbon emissions. Caroline, who works at the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) at Cardiff University, will carry out behavioural and social change research within the Department of…

Mapping the transformative turn: a systematic review of the academic literature on transformations for climate change mitigation

Brendan Moore The past decade has witnessed a “transformative turn” in the social science literature on climate change mitigation as academics and policy makers increasingly use the concept of “transformations” to describe the rapid, fundamental societal changes needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. How does this growing…

Climate Exp0: Five days of new science and policy insight, all online and free!

Online, free and open to all, Climate Exp0 is the first virtual conference from the COP26 Universities Network and the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development (RUS), sponsored by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Cambridge University Press, the Conference of Italian University Rectors (CRUI), and the 2021 UN Climate Change…