Dr Caro Verfuerth
Last modified: October 29, 2024
About
About the organisation(s) I've worked for
Organisation name:
Cardiff UniversityAbout my experience and expertise
Personal statement:
I am an environmental social scientist and a lecturer in Marketing & Strategy at Cardiff University Business School. My research explores sustainable lifestyles with a focus on diet change, sustainable food systems, and public engagement. I use mixed methods approaches and participatory and place-based methods to explore ’sticky’ topics (e.g. diet change).
I am a member of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) where I am currently involved in developing a visioning toolkit.
In my previous work in CAST, I was a Knowledge Exchange and Research Associate and led our key messages report and the cross-cultural work exploring visions of low-carbon futures in China and Sweden. Working closely with policy makers, I worked with the Welsh Government as a behaviour science fellow on projects related to community food and tree planting.
Key topic areas of research or interest:
Sustainable diets, community food and food systems change.
Public engagement with climate change.
Collaboration opportunities:
In CAST we are interested in collaborating with policy makers, third sector and private sector organisations to develop the ‘visioning toolkit’. Please get in touch if you are interested.
I am also interested in working at the intersection between policy making, public engagement and food systems change. I am looking for collaborations with community food initiatives, policy makers, and those interested in working in this space.
Publications:
2024: Discourses of climate inaction undermine public support for 1.5° C lifestyles. Global Environmental Change, 87, 102875. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102875
2023: A people-centred approach is needed to meet net zero goals. Journal of the British Academy, 11(S4), 97-124. https://doi.org/10.5871/jba/011s4.097
2023: Building relationships back into the food system: Addressing food insecurity and food well-being. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1218299
2022: The problematic role of materialistic values in the pursuit of sustainable well-being. Link: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/6/3673 Environmental Research and Public Health
2021: Transformations for climate change mitigation: A systematic review of terminology, concepts, and characteristics. Link: https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wcc.738 Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change
2021: Reducing meat consumption at work and at home: facilitators and barriers that influence contextual spillover. Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0267257X.2021.1888773 Journal of marketing management
2019: Understanding contextual spillover: Using identity process theory as a lens for analyzing behavioral responses to a workplace dietary choice intervention. Link: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00345/full Frontiers in Psychology
2019: Is it up to them? Individual leverages for sufficiency. Link: https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/oekom/gaia/2019/00000028/00000004/art00010 GAIA-Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society
Other projects and networks:
2024: Five principles for good public engagement: How to get people involved in the climate conversation. CAST Briefing 29.
Link: https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/CAST-the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-cast-briefing-29-five-principles-for-good-public-engagement-how-to-get-people-involved-in-the-climate-conversation.pdf
2024: Community healthy food interventions: Review of outcome metrics and toolkits.
Link: https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-cast-report-community-healthy-food-interventions-review-of-outcome-metrics-and-toolkits-for-cornwall-council-and-the-well-fed-cornwall-network.pdf
2024: Catalysts of Change: People at the Heart of Climate Transformations. Key messages from five years of social science research on climate change.
Link: https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CAST-the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-key-messages-from-five-years-of-social-science-research-on-climate-change-report.pdf CAST report.
2024: Social visions for a low-carbon future.
Link: https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CAST-the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-social-visions-for-a-low-carbon-future-report.pdf CAST report.
2023: Workshops to discuss the future of tree planting with Welsh farmers.
Link: https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/CAST-the-centre-for-climate-change-and-social-transformations-social-visions-for-a-low-carbon-future-report.pdf Cardiff: Welsh Government.
2023: The Implications of Behavioural Science for Effective Climate Policy: Using behavioural insights to shape low-carbon and climate-resilient behaviour change and policy acceptability across key sectors.
Link: https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/the-implications-of-behavioural-science-for-effective-climate-policy-cast/ London: Climate Change Committee.
2023: Policy fellowship schemes as a vehicle for co-production–insights from Welsh Government Fellowships.
Link: https://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/media/uploads/files/1/policy-fellowship-schemes-as-a-vehicle-for-co-production.pdf
2022: The road to net zero: UK public preferences for low-carbon lifestyles.
Link: https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CM_UOB_49-CAST-Report_v5_FINAL_27.9.22.pdf Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations Briefing paper.
2022: Accessible Veg: A pilot project exploring the barriers and benefits to CSA memberships for food-insecure households.
Link: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/151114/1/Accessible%20Veg%20for%20web.pdf
2021: Citizens’ climate assemblies: Understanding public deliberation for climate policy.
Link: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/145771/ Cardiff University
