Wouter Poortinga

UKRI award rate halves in seven years as grant applications double - Research Professional News Trends across research councils prompt warning that system is “overstretched or broken”

Feels about right

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

After 3 desk rejects and 2 major rewrites (with a 17-page rebuttal (!), and cutting word count by 25%), I am pleased that my paper on policy appraisals and second-order beliefs in climate policy has found a home in @climate-policy.bsky.social: (1/) @cast-centre.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1469...

The takeaway is
✅ Climate policy success not only depend on what it does, but also how it is perceived
📣 Communicating actual levels of support can help, esp for popular measures
⚖️ But for less-liked policies, communication alone won’t cut it. These need to be designed with fairness in mind (5/5)

This matters. When support is underestimated, both citizens and politicians may hesitate to act or speak up.

But here’s the twist: While people underestimate support for popular pull measures, they are more accurate about how unpopular push policies (like taxes or restrictions) are (4/)

So, what climate policy do people support?
🔹Pull measures are more popular than push measures, especially in energy and transport.
🔹People are more likely to support policies they perceive as fair and effective.
🔹Crucially, they underestimate how much others support climate action (3/)

The paper is part of an effort to bring together different strands of research on #PolicyAttributes, perceived #fairness and #effectiveness, and the role of second-order beliefs (i.e., #PluralisticIgnorance) in public acceptance of #ClimatePolicy in a structured way. (2/)

doi.org/10.1080/1469...

After 3 desk rejects and 2 major rewrites (with a 17-page rebuttal (!), and cutting word count by 25%), I am pleased that my paper on policy appraisals and second-order beliefs in climate policy has found a home in @climate-policy.bsky.social: (1/) @cast-centre.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1080/1469...

The role of policy appraisals and second-order beliefs in public support for climate policies in the UK

🔓 Policy appraisals + second-order beliefs can explain public support for #climatepolicies, finds @wouterpoortinga.bsky.social in new UK study 🇬🇧

More support for:
➡️ Non-coercive 'pull' measures
➡️ Regulatory measures

Less support for:
➡️ Restrictive 'push' measures
➡️ Financial measures

We are recruiting a postdoctoral researcher to work with Cardiff University / Prifysgol Caerdydd and WWT on a Knowledge Transfer Partnership!

🦉Join us as we inspire the next generation of nature lovers.🌳

krb-sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Sear...

The cover page of CAST Briefing 38: "Strengthening climate policy through social science: Co-developing behavioural indicators for climate action with the Welsh Government", which includes a photograph of Cardiff City Hall under a bright blue sky and 3 key messages in bullet points. The CAST logo is featured at the bottom.

New CAST briefing: "Strengthening climate policy through social science: Co-developing behavioural indicators for climate action with the Welsh Government"📣

How do we strengthen #ClimatePolicy through social science? 👇

Read the briefing: cast.ac.uk/wp-content/u...

Key messages thread 🧵

“Moments of Change” and Low‐Carbon Behaviors: A Multidisciplinary, Systematic Review Moving house is one of the most well-studied “moments of change” that can have significant impacts on low-carbon behaviors, such as reducing car use.

A new paper on #MomentsOfChange and #LowCarbonBehaviours has been published, looking at how major life events shape the way we act on climate change, co-led by CAST Director Prof Lorraine Whitmarsh MBE (@lwhitmarsh.bsky.social) & Dr Kaloyan Mitev (@kaloyanmitev.bsky.social). 📣

Key insights thread 🧵

We need to re-set the debate on farming Speech in the Senedd on 16th July 2025 Let me start with the obvious: Farming is hard. I am proud to come from a family of farmers, and I un...

Not many politicians in the UK tell the truth about farming or are brave enough to criticise the cakeism of the main farming unions.

But Lee Waters MS does in this refreshingly honest speech. Almost every word of it applies to England as much as Wales.

amanwy.blogspot.com/2025/07/we-n...

🌍 Introducing the IAPS Qualitative Research Network — connecting researchers to grow qualitative work in people–environment studies

Want to join or collaborate? Read more (IAPS Bulletin 52, p.57): iaps-association.org/wp-content/u... or contact
@ellieradcliffe.bsky.social

The Journal of Environmental Psychology is looking for members of its Early Career Advisory Board (ECAB)

If you are interested in applying to join the Board, full details can be found here:

www.sciencedirect.com/journal/jour...

Applications will be accepted until the 15th of August 2025.

De broers Vollenbroek blijven strijden tegen het stikstofbeleid: ‘Zonder juridische stok kom je gewoon niet aan tafel’ Nest: Johan Vollenbroek werd bekend en berucht toen hij de rechtszaak won die de Nederlandse regering dwong haar stikstofbeleid te herzien. Zijn broer Frans is minder zichtbaar, maar strijdt op de…

Johan Vollenbroek werd bekend toen hij de rechtszaak won die de Nederlandse regering dwong haar stikstofbeleid te herzien. Zijn broer Frans is minder zichtbaar, maar strijdt op de achtergrond mee voor het milieu. „Het lijkt of de regering alleen vatbaar is voor rechtszaken.”
buff.ly/usURB6G

I love living in a country where "just go sit in a 1000 year old church!" is actually a perfectly reasonable bit of advice.

📢 Save the data 📢: the 29th @iaps2026.bsky.social Association for People-Environment Studies (IAPS) Conference, which will take place from Monday 29 June to Friday 3 July 2026 at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK (1/)

Experiences of car free living: Findings of a trial across four cities in England Major changes to how people travel are needed to address climate change, given that transport substantially contributes to global greenhouse gas emiss…

⭐New paper!⭐ Experiences of car free living: Findings of a trial across four cities in England

Really pleased to have led this alongside Lilli Waples, @stucap.bsky.social‬, @wouterpoortinga.bsky.social, Colin Davis & @clairehoolohan.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🧵 1/

Front page of manifesto proposals booklet titled "Which Wales do we want to see?"

✨The news is here! ✨
Today, the Senedd Cross Party Group on Littering, Fly-tipping and Waste Reduction launched its manifesto proposals! 🚀
We hope all Welsh political parties will adopt these recommendations to help tackle the epidemic of litter and fly-tipping in Wales. 📝
🔗 bit.ly/4kXCIb1

Yesterday me & @wouterpoortinga.bsky.social held Academics as Agents of Change, a @cast-centre.bsky.social event at Cardiff Uni exploring climate action in universities, specifically by academics.

🧵 Great thread from @thierryaaron.bsky.social below with photos, key points and links from the event.

Spinger Nature Discovers MDPI – The Strain on Scientific Publishing Home page for the paper ‘The Strain on Scientific Publishing’ by Mark A Hanson, Dan Brockington, Paolo Crosetto and Pablo Gomez Barreiro

New from The Strain Team:
🎊 Springer Nature Discovers MDPI 🎊

Springer Nature has spawned a copycat journal series called "Discover" mimicking #MDPI journal titles and citation behaviours. We even made a browser game to prove it (see 🔗).

Gross! 😀 1/n

#ResearchIntegrity #SciPub #AcademicSky

Great speaking as the keynote speaker in Cardiff University for @cast-centre.bsky.social Academics as Agents of Change event led by @wouterpoortinga.bsky.social @brionylatter.bsky.social.

1 in 5 project The 1 in 5 project is trying to support one in five students to conduct their final project on a climate change relevant topic.

Wrapping up the day is Prof. Simon Rushton on "Project 1 in 5" an effort to get 20% of student projects to have a sustainability focus. That would be 100k projects a year in the UK alone!

Universities could be huge catalysts for change...

www.1in5project.info

Prof. Georgina Gough from UWE.

The university staff have mapped over 100 of their programmes against the sustainable development goals and UWE has now chosen to make this compulsory.

"Every discipline has a lot they can offer"

As educators, we can be change agents.

Prof. Sara MacBride Stewart reflects on how her research applying equality mainstreaming to climate action plans has led to impact.

As researchers we can be change-agents.

Universities, Sustainability, and Neoliberalism: Contradictions of the Climate Emergency Declarations | Article | Politics and Governance Kirstie O’Neill, Charlotte Sinden

Kirstie O’Neill of Cardiff University presented her work with Charlotte Sinden critiquing neoliberal approaches to climate action practised at many universities

www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandg...

We're now hearing from @steveclimate.bsky.social on leading by example.

What signals are accademics sending by their actions?

If climate scientists fly to conferences what signal does that send?

Wanting to be part of change but feeling overworked and disempowered: Researchers’ perceptions of climate action in UK universities Interest in the relationship between the activities of universities and action on climate change is growing, but until recently there has been little focus on the critical role of researchers, particu...

Next up we have @brionylatter.bsky.social latter presenting results from a nation wide survay of UK accademics views about #climate action...

journals.plos.org/climate/arti...

Kick us off with the keynote is @samuelfinnerty.bsky.social of @lancasteruni.bsky.social.

Key questions we need to consider are:

-What & Where are loci of change

-What is within your power

-What is within our power?