The Next STEP Summer School
The Next STEP – Summer School on Theories in Environmental Psychology will take place from the 24th to the 28th of June 2024 in Groningen, The Netherlands.
This summer school, organised by Environmental Psychology Groningen, will bring together aspiring PhD students in the field of environmental psychology and related sciences to help bridge the gap between environmental psychology theory and practical applications.
Participants will be split into five groups, each focusing on a different real-world question to research over the course of the week under the supervision of senior researchers, and will come up with an intervention plan and provide practical solutions for the organisation.
Through a series of workshops, group exercises and guest lectures by prominent experts in the field, our summer school is intended to empower participants with the knowledge and tools they need to address pressing environmental issues in innovative and effective ways.
The summer school is a unique opportunity to apply psychological theory to practical problems, gain expert insights, and network with fellow PhD students and professionals who share their passion for environmental psychology.
Read on to learn more about our research topics, our societal partner sponsors and our academic supervisors!
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Sponsor: RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland; Netherlands Enterprise Agency)
Topic: A behavioral approach to small, visible energy savings measures for micro SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)
About the RVO:
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) helps entrepreneurs and organisations to invest, develop and expand their businesses and projects. The RVO is a government agency which is part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. RVO seeks to improve collaborations through funding and sharing their business knowledge to help companies do business abroad.
About the topic:
RVO’s Behavioral Insights Team (BIT) is working on various tasks, such as making SMEs more sustainable. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy has asked RVO to explore (behavioural) measures to prevent visible energy waste.
These include:
1. Patio/terrace heaters
2. Open shop doors
3. Illuminated advertising and shop window lighting
4. Office/shop lighting that stays on at night
The BIT is looking for theoretically well-founded, simple interventions for small/micro SMEs (shops, restaurants), aimed at changing the social norm among entrepreneurs in the direction of more energy savings.
Sponsor: The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM: Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu)
Topic: Using social science in developing, implementing and evaluating climate policy
About the RIVM:
RIVM, the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, works towards a healthy population living in a sustainable, safe and healthy environment. RIVM pursues those goals based on independent scientific research. Working with commissioning clients, the RIVM identifies the research that is needed and conducts studies accordingly. The RIVM provides advice to the government, to professionals and to members of the public, and share their knowledge more generally to support Dutch society in staying healthy and maintain a healthy living environment.
About the topic:
Where are social science insights most needed and where can they make the largest contribution (e.g. which policy areas, which behaviours)? What prevents them from being implemented into climate policy at the moment? What could we learn from examples where social science insights were successfully used in improving the development, implementation and/or evaluation of climate policy (or other policy areas, e.g. health)?
Sponsor: Province of Groningen
Topic: Cycling in suburban/rural Groningen
About the provincial government of Groningen:
The provincial government of Groningen represents the 602,000 residents living across the 10 municipalities of the northern Dutch province of Groningen. The provincial government is based in the Provinciehuis in the capital city of Groningen. The current governing administration is a coalition among the BBB (Farmer-Citizen Movement), Labour Party, Christian Union and Groninger Belang (Groningen’s Interest).
About the topic:
There is still a substantial group of inhabitants in the province of Groningen who use fossil-fueled vehicles to get from A to B. We have some assumptions why they do not cycle: maybe they cannot afford a bike or a bike repair, maybe they think distances are too long, maybe they love their car too much or they just don’t like the rain and the wind. These are all assumptions, and we need a group of professionals to dig deeper into this matter. What are potential interventions to make cycling a habit for inhabitants of the province of Groningen for whom it’s not a habit yet?
Sponsor: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate (Ministerie van Economische Zaken en Klimaat)
Topic: International comparison of active government policy on climate-friendly lifestyle
About the EZK:
The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate collaborates with partners to create a sustainable and entrepreneurial Netherlands: a climate-neutral society and a strong, open economy. The ministry gives entrepreneurs room to innovate and exploit the economic opportunities of sustainability and digitization. The EZK strives for the best balance between the interests of companies and consumers.
About the topic:
We would like to know how far other countries are regarding behavioural change policies focusing on sustainability. Given this context we have the following specific questions:
– What is the support for lifestyle change/ sustainable living internationally among consumers (e.g. compared to Dutch numbers provided by SCP, Motivaction, Milieucentraal).
– Are there other countries where specific measures are being taken to reduce the demand side of consumers? If so, what kind of measures?
– How successful are other countries in taking measures to reduce demand side? What can we learn from them?
Sponsor: TeSoPs
Topic: Socially (and technologically) feasible transition pathways for local energy system integration
About TeSoPs:
Energy systems contain, combine and connect different energy carriers/grids (e.g., electricity, heat, gas), system components (e.g., technical, economic, social) and different grid levels (e.g., local, national). Yet most approaches to improve and optimise energy systems are strongly restricted in which aspects of energy systems they consider. Neglecting to account for these diverse aspects of energy systems likely results in suboptimal solutions, either from a technical, economic or social perspective. TeSoPs (Technologically and Socially feasible transition Pathways for local energy system integration) proposes and employs an integrative energy system modelling approach that incorporates three dimensions of integration: between energy grids/carriers; between system components; between grid levels.
About the topic:
How can psychological research contribute to energy transition theoretically and practically? What are the potential research avenues to bridge the disciplines of environmental psychology and engineering in understanding the energy grid functioning and optimization? How can we overcome the current limitations in energy transition research? How can we communicate our insights to representatives of technical disciplines, policy makers and industry partners?
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Supervisors:
Circulating supervisors:
Thijs Bouman (University of Groningen, UG) – Associate professor Bouman’s academic work focuses on the personal and group factors that drive individuals’ responses to global crises, in particular climate change. One research line that Thijs is currently working on focuses on personal and (perceived) group values: what values do individuals strongly endorse, what values do individuals perceive others to endorse, and how do such values influence individuals’ attitudes and behaviours?
Goda Perlaviciute (UG) – Associate professor Perlaviciute’s key research interests are public evaluations and acceptability of energy sources, systems and policies, and which factors influence these evaluations and acceptability judgements. She is also the co-founder of the Public Participation Center and was a nominee for the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2024.
Linda Steg (UG) – Professor Steg is the founder of the Environmental Psychology research group at the University of Groningen. Her main research interests are understanding environmental behaviour and which individual and situational factors affect intrinsic motivation to act pro-environmentally. She is also one of the lead authors of the 2018 IPCC special report about 1.5 degrees of global warming and recipient of the prestigious Stevin Prize in 2020.
Guest speakers:
Jan Willem Bolderdijk (University of Amsterdam) – Now a professor of sustainability and marketing at the University of Amsterdam, Jan Willem Bolderdijk is also an EP alumnus and received his PhD from our department. His research focuses on the question of why good intentions don’t always translate into environmentally-sustainable actions.
Keywan Riahi (International Institute for Applied System Analysis; IIASA) – Director of the Energy, Climate and Environment Program at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis and Visiting Professor of Energy Systems Analysis at the Graz University of Technology.
Group supervisors:
Amanda Carrico (University of Colorado Boulder) – Associate professor Carrico is an interdisciplinary environmental social scientist with an interest in the behavioral dimensions of environmental conservation and adaptation to environmental change. Her current projects are exploring how environmental stress shape migration and processes of adaptation to water scarcity in agricultural communities.
Anne Eichholtzer (UG) – Anne is working with the SPEAK UP project, which aims to improve collaborations and communication between governments and citizens, in particular through citizen panels. The research focuses on promoting constructive dialogue among participants with diverse viewpoints (e.g., backgrounds, opinions) and investigates how these panels can enable the integration of different positions and avoid polarization.
Fleur Goedkoop (UG) – Fleur is a post-doctoral researcher working on the Horizon 2020 project “EC2: Energy Citizenship and Energy Communities for a Clean-Energy Transition”, focusing on the psychological and social aspects of citizen involvement in the energy transition.
Žan Mlakar (UG) – Žan is a post doc in our department, and recently submitted his PhD thesis on the intersection of decision-making and social psychology. His current research is focused on social tipping points, and how transitions can cause societal norms to rapildy change.
Lisa Novoradovskaya (UG) – A postdoctoral researcher in the Environmental Psychology Department, Lisa’s main area of research is an interdisciplinary approach to sustainable energy transition and individual energy behaviours. She received her PhD at Curtin University in Australia, which was dedicated to reducing plastic pollution through behaviour change.
Elliot Sharpe (UG) – Assistant professor Sharpe’s expertise is how pro-environmental actions relate to each other and the role of intrinsic pro-environmental motivation on engagement in pro-environmental action.
John Thøgersen (Aarhus University)- John Thøgersen is professor of economic psychology at Aarhus University, Denmark, Department of Management, where he coordinates the Marketing and Sustainability Research Group. His research focuses on consumer willingness to reduce their climate footprint, responses to eco- and climate labelling, the establishment of sustainable lifestyles, and drivers and impediments for energy renovation and for buying organic food.
Gabriel Muiños Trujillo (UG) – Assistant professor Trujillo’s research expertise includes environmental and social psychology, environmental beliefs, frugality, climate change adaptation and teaching innovation.
Isabella Uhl-Hädicke (Paris Lodron University Salzburg) – Uhl-Hädicke’s research as an environmental psychologist focuses on climate change communication and people’s reaction towards climate change information. Her work also looks into people’s acceptance of climate policies and mechanisms that foster climate-friendly behavior in an intercultural context.
Ellen van der Werff (UG) – Associate professor Van Der Werff researches factors influencing consistent pro-environmental behaviour and strategies to change environmental actions, with a special focus on environmental self-identity and incentives to promote behavioural change.
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The summer school will be held at the House of Connections, an interdisciplinary hub at the University of Groningen, located on the Grote Markt in the heart of the city.
Interested in joining a future summer school event (either as a participant or a sponsor)? You can contact us at nextstep@rug.nl and we will keep you posted about news, registration and any other relevant developments.
Thank you for your interest in this event, and we look forward to working together with you to positively impact the field of environmental psychology.