CAST publishes a range of resources including policy briefings, working papers, academic articles, reviews and other materials.
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Recent resources
CAST BRIEFING 28
How not to transform: Learning from the backlash against low-carbon heating policy in Germany
April 2024
This briefing is intended for academics and policymakers interested in climate policy backlash specifically concerning the decarbonisation of domestic heating.
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April 2024
This briefing is intended for practitioners, researchers, and community organisations working on encouraging low-carbon lifestyle changes related to food and diet, particularly with audiences who are more likely to identify as working class.
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April 2024
This briefing note is intended as a resource for specialists, researchers, policymakers, and others interested in public perceptions of climate change in the UK, China, Sweden and Brazil.
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April 2024
This briefing note explores how insights from everyday life – particularly from research that investigates the diversity and complexity of people’s ordinary patterns of water use – can support impactful, systemic changes to reduce water demand and its associated energy use.
Catalysts of Change: People at the Heart of Climate Transformations
March 2024
Drawing on five years of CAST research conducted in collaboration with policymakers, local authorities, charities, businesses and community groups, this report synthesises five key messages and sheds light on how we can achieve the social changes needed to tackle climate change. The report provides useful insights and recommendations for policymakers and practitioners working towards emissions reductions and net zero targets. It is a vital resource for people involved in policy, business, charity projects, community groups and the media and illuminates the importance of people-centred climate policy and provides actionable steps to better engage the public with climate solutions.
CAST BRIEFING 24
‘Moments of Change’ for Low-Carbon Behaviour
March 2024
This briefing note is intended as a resource for decision-makers and other stakeholders who aim to improve the design and implementation of climate policy.
Social visions for a low-carbon future
March 2024
Undertaken as part of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformation’s (CAST), as part of its Visioning Theme, this report details our approach to engaging local publics in imagining a low-carbon future. We provide a detailed account of our method, describing the visioning workshops we conducted with participants in the UK, China and Sweden. The main aim of this report is to showcase the co-developed place-based visions created by our participants, presenting illustrated accounts of their place-based visions for a low-carbon future in a way that would not be possible in an academic paper.
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How can you change sustainability behaviours in your workplace?
February 2024
This briefing note is a resource for businesses and organisations of any size that want to help employees be more sustainable at work.
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January 2024
This briefing note is intended as a resource for all those working in the university sector.
CAST BRIEFING 21
How public engagement can support reducing car use: A briefing for policy makers and communicators
December 2023
This briefing note from Climate Outreach and the Centre for Climate and Social Transformations (CAST) is aimed at policymakers and summarises key evidence on the social, cultural and communication challenges in reducing car usage.
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November 2023
This briefing note from Climate Outreach and the Centre for Climate and Social Transformations (CAST) aims to advise politicians and advocacy groups on the role of public engagement in reducing any net-zero ‘backlash’.
November 2023
This report, written by Carly Baker, Rhiannon Craft and Prof Wouter Poortinga, presents the findings of a pilot project, in collaboration with Keep Wales Tidy, exploring sustainable models for repair and reuse hubs in Wales. It includes a literature review, four case studies, and the results of in-depth interviews with two policy experts and six practitioners involved in the running of existing repair and reuse centres. As well as this, it comprises recommendations for the Welsh Government in their plans to support 80 repair and reuse ‘hubs’ across Wales.
CAST BRIEFING 19
Managing Water Demand in a Changing Climate
October 2023
This briefing note is intended as a resource for academics and stakeholders in the water industry who are exploring options for managing water resources in the context of a changing climate.
CAST BRIEFING 18
Motivating low-carbon behaviours in the workforce
– Insights from Cornwall Council
October 2023
The briefing note is intended as a resource for local authorities and other organisations wanting to encourage low-carbon behaviours in their workforce to help meet internal carbon reduction targets.
Cornwall Council behaviour change and engagement programme – survey of residents
September 2023
This report, written by Dr Mark Wilson and Professor Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE for Cornwall Council, presents the survey findings which measured Cornwall residents’ perceptions of climate change and their current behaviours in four key lifestyle areas: travel, home energy use, products they buy, and food, and their willingness to alter some of these behaviours in favour of low-carbon alternatives. It also measured to what extent the cost-of-living crisis has already prompted behaviour change. The purpose of this report is to help develop recommendations for encouraging low-carbon behaviours and to provide an evidence base to inform the Council’s climate action.
International Round Table – Accelerating Climate Mitigation at City Level
July 2023
This report, written by Dr Tim Braunholtz-Speight, Prof. Carly McLachlan and Harry Barton, provides a summary of key themes and questions that emerged from discussions at the online International Round Table on Accelerating Climate Mitigation at City Level hosted by CAST, The Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), giving an indication of the pressing issues and current approaches being adopted by those at the forefront of making climate change mitigation happen at city and regional scales.
Organisational transformations for a greener future
February 2023
This report shows how transformative change is being driven through the integration of behavioural and technological innovations and provides a set of principles with applicability across the diverse business community. It provides evidence from 4 case studies of different UK businesses, with each working to achieve their own vision for sustainability.
From carbon footprints to cultural influence: engaging live music audiences on travel choices
November 2022
By harnessing the cultural footprint live events have, can faster progress be made on cutting their carbon footprint? This report – supported by the CAST Impact Fund – is based on roundtable discussions with specialists from across the music industry, a survey of festival audience members, and a review of climate communication research.
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Public worry about climate change and energy security in the cost-of-living crisis
November 2022
The briefing note is intended as a useful resource for academics, decision makers and other stakeholder who are interested in public responses to climate change, energy security and affordability.
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November 2022
This briefing is intended as a resource for academics, decision makers and other stakeholders who are interested in the advice provided to policymakers by climate change advisory bodies.
Developing an evidence-based toolkit for car reduction
October 2022
In collaboration between CAST, Climate Outreach and the Scottish Government we seek to understand and support the development of evidence-based messages to build awareness of and engage with some key audiences around visions of transitions to lower-carbon transport lifestyles in Scotland.
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September 2022
This briefing note is intended as a resource for academics, decision makers and other stakeholders who aim to improve the design and implementation of climate policy.
CAST BRIEFING 14
The road to net zero: UK public preferences for low-carbon lifestyles
September 2022
This briefing note is intended as a resource for academics, decision makers and other stakeholders who are interested in public climate change opinions and societal responses to climate change.
June 2022
Together with Ipsos we have taken an in-depth look at the public’s attitudes towards climate change and how policymakers can increase support for, and participation in, sustainable policies.
June 2022
The Accessible Veg project was set up to help food-insecure households get fresh vegetables by becoming members of their local community-supported agriculture (CSA) veg bag scheme.
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Coronavirus and Climate Change in the United Kingdom: Perceptions, Policies and Trade-Offs
February 2022
This briefing note is intended as a resource for academics, decision makers and other stakeholders who are working with transformation-related concepts.
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What do we know about transformational climate change mitigation?
January 2022
This briefing note is intended as a resource for academics, decision makers and other stakeholders who are working with transformation-related concepts.
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Policy feedback and climate change
January 2022
This briefing note is intended as a resource for decision makers and other stakeholders who aim to improve the design and implementation of climate policy.
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Public perceptions of climate change and policy action in the UK, China, Sweden and Brazil.
November 2021
This briefing and associated infographics are intended as a useful resource for practitioners and researchers who are interested in public climate change opinions and societal responses to climate change.
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UK public support for net zero policies
October 2021
This briefing is intended as a useful resource for practitioners and researchers who are interested in public climate change opinions and societal responses to climate change.
Citizens’ Climate Assemblies: Understanding public deliberation for climate policy
July 2021
This report presents an in-depth analysis of climate deliberation, focussed on the UK’s national Climate Assembly, France’s Convention Citoyenne, and regional UK processes.
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March 2021
This briefing and associated infographics are intended as a useful resource for practitioners and researchers who are interested in public climate change opinions and societal responses to climate change.
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Achieving low-carbon and equitable lifestyle change
January 2021
This is part of a series of CAST Briefing Papers which are intended as an accessible resource for researchers and practitioners working on societal responses to climate change.
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Tracking the effect of Covid-19 on low-carbon behaviours and attitudes to climate change.
December 2020
This is part of a series of CAST Briefing Papers which are intended as an accessible resource for researchers and practitioners working on societal responses to climate change.
Prof Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE, Dr Stuart Capstick, Isabelle Moore, Jana Köhler, Corinne Le Quéré.
Global Environmental Change (2020)
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How has Covid-19 impacted low carbon lifestyles and attitudes towards climate action?
August 2020
This briefing is intended as a resource for both academic and non-academic teams engaged in climate change mitigation and adaptation planning, particularly those interested in societal responses to climate change.
The Co-Benefits of Climate Action: Accelerating City-Level Ambition
August 2020
This report from CDP, The Tyndall Centre, and CAST, looks at the additional benefits that climate action delivers, and how cities can utilise these in their decision-making processes.
April 2019
The report, commissioned by the Low-carbon Lifestyles & Behavioural Spillover (CASPI) team at Cardiff University, is designed for the wide range of individuals and organisations involved in influencing sustainable behaviours, including national policy-makers, local authorities, professional campaigners, and those leading community-level initiatives.