It’s time to start a new conversation on climate. It’s no longer a special interest of the environmental groups – it’s becoming a personally relevant public interest for all of us. The long-predicted realities of climate change are upon us now. We need to address the causes and consequences of unprecedented increases in droughts, floods, wildfires, extreme weather and related...
In this discussion document, produced to provoke feedback ahead of a final report later this year, we argue that climate change is best understood as a challenge with seven dimensions: In Science we need a new social contract between scientists and society; moving away from a hands off view of just giving the facts towards deeper engagement with communication and policy. With Behaviour we need to...
Engaging meaningfully with a diverse range of individuals and organisations is one of the biggest challenges surrounding climate change adaptation. To help address this issue, COIN has teamed up with Adaptation Scotland, a programme funded by the Scottish Government to help the country address and prepare for the impacts of climate change, to produce a practical ‘how-to’ guide on values-based...
A clear, concise and easily-digestible summary of the relevant research on values and frames and its implications, emphasizing the importance of civil organizations working together to foster more ‘intrinsic’ values in society…. In both action and thought, people are affected by a wide range of influences. Past experience, cultural and social norms, and the money at our disposal are some...
This report is intended to catalyse debate on current approaches to tackling a wide range of challenges – including global poverty, climate change and biodiversity loss. Whatever the success of civil society organisations in beginning to address such challenges, these often seem to be intractable or worsening. Throughout this report such challenges are referred to, collectively, as ‘bigger-than-self’ problems [Section...
The comfortable perception that global environmental challenges can be met through marginal lifestyle changes no longer bears scrutiny. The cumulative impact of large numbers of individuals making marginal improvements in their environmental impact will be a marginal collective improvement in environmental impact. Yet we live at a time when we need urgent and ambitious changes. If those in government, business...
As our understanding of the scale of environmental challenges deepens, so we are also forced to contemplate the inadequacy of the current responses to these challenges. By and large, these responses retreat from engaging the values that underpin our decisions as citizens, voters and consumers: mainstream approaches to tackling environmental threats do not question the dominance of today’s individualistic and...
