Environmental Psychology Groningen

Frontiers | Climate change anxiety in the scientific community: An exploratory study with Chilean Climate Change-related scholars Background: Eco-anxiety or climate change anxiety can be defined as a chronic fear ofenvironmental doom, that for some people might trigger clinical psycholo...

Happy to share that our exploratory study on climate change anxiety among Chilean climate-related scientists has been accepted for publication!
More details once the article is formatted and online: www.frontiersin.org/journals/psy...

Greener cities, cooler cities. Split picture, on top is a picture of a busy city, hitting very high temperatures. At the bottom is a picture of a park, hitting much lower temperatures thanks to nature.

🌳 What’s the point of trees in cities? 5 degrees of difference.

🌱 Green spaces bring much needed cool areas & are essential for biodiversity, especially in cities.

🌍 We need to restore EU’s degraded land & sea ecosystems!

#natureconservationday

ICJ opinion says states are legally obligated to tackle climate change The International Court of Justice, the UN's highest court, has issued a landmark advisory opinion on states' legal obligations to tackle climate change, which could pave the way for litigation over reparations.

ICJ opinion says states are legally obligated to tackle climate change

Reducing environmental pressure through a more circular consumption of clothes Clothing production and consumption contribute to various environmental problems, such as climate change and environmental pollution. With the expecte…

Read the full paper in Sustainable Production and Consumption here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@rug.nl
@leefomgeving.bsky.social

Buying less new clothing, choosing more durable garments and selecting clothes made from environmentally-friendly and recycled materials were the behaviours with the highest reduction potential.

They found that more #circular clothing consumption in the #Netherlands could reduce approximately 11 to 19% of greenhouse gas emissions, and approximately 3 to 29% of land use related to clothing.

The researchers analysed the behavioural #plasticity (the share of consumers that are not yet engaging in a #behaviour, but would be willing to do so) of 14 types of behaviours and how those behaviours interact:

Clothing production/consumption contributes to environmental problems like #climatechange & pollution

Consumers making #sustainable choices in obtaining, using & disposing of garments can play a critical role in reducing environmental pressures.

Reducing environmental pressure through a more circular consumption of clothes Clothing production and consumption contribute to various environmental problems, such as climate change and environmental pollution. With the expecte…

What is the environmental mitigation potential of #circular clothing consumption in the #Netherlands? Julia Koch, Harry Wilting, Kees Vringer, Linda Steg, and Ellen van der Werff looked into it in their latest paper:

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

Main findings:

The ICJ Rules That Failing to Combat Climate Change Could Violate International Law In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice declared that failure to act on climate change can be an “internationally wrongful act”—meaning countries could face legal consequences for...

In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice declared that failure to act on climate change can be an “internationally wrongful act”—meaning countries could face legal consequences for harming the planet. www.wired.com/story/the-ic...

Advies Klimaatvisie Klimaatvisie Op 15 juli 2025 heeft de Wetenschappelijke Klimaatraad (WKR) het advies ‘Vaart maken met visie’ gepubliceerd. In het advies werkt de WKR uit hoe een toekomstvisie op een klimaatneutrale ...

De WKR (Wetenschappelijke Klimaatraad) constateert dat de #klimaatdoelen uit zicht raken, het huidige #klimaatbeleid te veel gericht is op de korte termijn en dat in de samenleving een luide roep om perspectief en houvast klinkt.

www.wkr.nl/adviezen/kli...

Circular citizenship behaviors: How individuals can promote systemic change toward a circular economy Sustainability challenges, such as transitioning to a circular economy, require people to engage in sustainable behaviors. Yet, current systems often …

Read the full paper in @cp-iscience.bsky.social here: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

@rug.nl @rug-gmw.bsky.social

#environmentalpsychology #climatechange #behaviorchange

Circular citizenship behaviors (CCBs) acknowledge that individuals can have much more power than they may realize, and that they can accelerate the #circulareconomy by urging others to act, which will in turn increase the likelihood of much-needed systemic change - creating a virtuous cycle.

That doesn't mean we have to sit around waiting for systems to change - we can:

🟢 increase demand for #circularity by influencing other individuals
🟢 promote improvements in the supply of circular goods/services by influencing #businesses
🟢 press for circularity by influencing #governments

A #circulareconomy limits resource use as much as possible by reducing usage of new materials & reusing/repairing/recycling/refurbishing existing materials.

Current systems often inhibit #sustainablebehaviour, implying #systemchanges are needed to facilitate pro-environmental action.

The SCCA illustrates how individuals can promote #systemchange thru circular citizenship behaviours meant to influence governments, businesses & other individuals to support a #circulareconomy:

Circular citizenship behaviors: How individuals can promote systemic change toward a circular economy Sustainability challenges, such as transitioning to a circular economy, require people to engage in sustainable behaviors. Yet, current systems often …

In their new paper, our colleague Isabel Pacheco (+Ellen van der Werff+Linda Steg) introduces the Systemic Change through Citizen Action (SCCA) framework: actions individuals can take to promote systemic changes towards more #sustainability & #circularity:

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

🧵:

➡️ Conversations about environmental issues can focus on individual-level change or system-level change.➡️ Individual-level change has to do with people’s pr... Recent Research: Focus of Conversations Influences Willingness to Talk about Environmental Issues

Recent research recap: Focus of Conversations Influences Willingness to Talk about Environmental Issues

Policy interventions should steer discussions towards how individuals can drive systemic change, making engagement likelier.

youtube.com/shorts/fdOsu...

Paper: epgroningen.nl/personal-act...

What motivates tourists to conserve water on vacation? Examining the role of personal climate-based values Tourist destinations located in areas facing water stress present relevant key water quantity and quality challenges. Within the hotel industry, the a…

New paper alert, co-authored by our colleague @thijsbouman.bsky.social:

Interventions aimed at promoting #water conservation behaviour among #tourists could be improved by tailoring them according to their personal values.

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

Americans and policymakers underestimate endorsement for the most popular climate solution narrative, combining personal and political action - Communications Earth & Environment Americans support a range of climate solutions, including both policy and behavioral changes, but the public and elected policymakers often underestimate the popularity of these solutions, according t...

Hot off the 🌍 press: How will we solve climate change?

Comparing 20 approaches, 85% of Americans say we need BOTH behavior & policy change to address climate change!

But policymakers lag behind the public in endorsing solutions & underestimate how popular solutions are. 🧵
doi.org/10.1038/s432...

Can watching a movie make us into Antarctic ambassadors? - Environment Psychology Groningen Is travelling to the ends of the Earth the only way to inspire people to become Arctic ambassadors? Or could immersive technologies like virtual reality - or even just watching a beautiful nature docu...

Must we see #climatechange damage first hand to care about the #environment? #Antarctic cruise operators often say yes. A @rug.nl research team is investigating whether this is true. #DavidAttenborough's #Ocean shows how films can spark environmental awareness, too: epgroningen.nl/can-watching...

An Agent-Based Model of the Extinction of Experience: How Nature Availability and Connectedness to Nature Co-Evolve Over Time - Environment Psychology Groningen Although exact thresholds vary depending on parameter values, the model robustly demonstrates the potential for tipping point dynamics: small reductions in greenspace can result in disproportionate, n...

and different amounts of exposure to nature can tip us from a negative to a positive relationship with our sense of stewardship: epgroningen.nl/an-agent-bas...

Social Tipping Games: Experimental Paradigms for Studying Consumer Movements - Environment Psychology Groningen We introduce a collection of experimental paradigms that allow researchers to examine when and how consumer movements can provoke a change across a social network over time: social tipping paradigms g...

absolutely! pro-environmental consumer behavior - like eating less meat and buying second hand stuff (or just buying less) can tip in a positive direction: epgroningen.nl/social-tippi...

Fig. 1: Perceptions of ideal, actual and personal carbon footprints by wealth quintiles. a Percentage (%) of participants’ ratings of the ideal carbon footprint for each of the five national wealth quintiles (irrespective of their personal wealth quintile; top 20%: n = 1378 (8), second 20% and middle 20%: n = 1376 (10), fourth 20%: n = 1374 (12), bottom 20%: n = 1375 (11); ratings with missing values in parenthesis). b Percentage of participants’ ratings of the actual carbon footprint of each national wealth quintile (irrespective of their personal wealth quintile; top 20%: n = 1378 (8), second–bottom 20%: n = 1375 (11); ratings with missing values in parentheses). c Percentage of participants within each personal wealth quintile rating their personal carbon footprint (n = 1382; 4 missing). Ratings were assessed on a scale from very bad (red) to very good (dark blue). Values below 5%, including missing values, are not labeled for presentation purposes.

New study from Germany finds:

- People recognise current levels of carbon inequality, knowing that the wealthiest emit disproportionately more

- People "desire a more equitable distribution"

- Most perceive themselves as having a lower carbon footprint than others

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

➡️ Political and industry leaders are widely perceived as the most responsible and capable of taking action, but because of their current inaction, they are ... Recent Research: Climate Action on Twitter (now X) during COP26

Recent research recap: Political/industry leaders are widely perceived as the most responsible for/capable of taking #climateaction, but are seen as harmful agents due to their lack of action which inhibits #climateprogress

www.youtube.com/shorts/hdXFM...

Paper: epgroningen.nl/climate-acti...

"A rapid transition to clean energy can stabilize the #climate, improve our health, provide good-paying jobs, grow the economy and ensure our children’s future. The choice is ours."

Here's a link for non-subscribers: www.nytimes.com/2021/06/29/o...

Toekenning ECCO Persbericht - Kennisplatform Collectieve Kracht Toekenning ECCO Persbericht

🥳 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘂𝘄𝘀! 6,8 miljoen euro voor onderzoek naar collectieve kracht van burgers in maatschappelijke transities 👉 edu.nl/nmeh9

Met deze NWA-subsidie gaat consortium ECCO tools ontwikkelen voor sterkere samenwerking tussen overheden en burgercollectieven 💪

#NWA #burgercollectieven #samenwerking

🌡️ Timely reading in the midst of a dangerous #heatwave here in #Europe 🌡️

a graph of NYC approval of congestion pricing rising from 27% to 50%

It's insane how much more popular NYC's congestion pricing got when it was implemented and people started actually seeing it work

Influential figures can encourage faster adoption of pro-environmental behavior as the right thing to do through:

Phase 1: Moral recognition
Phase 2: Moral amplification
Phase 3: Approaching tipping points
Phase 4: Institutionalization
Phase 5: Norm abandonment

www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...