ACCESS - Advancing Capacity for Climate  and Environment Social Science
ACCESS - Advancing Capacity for Climate  and Environment Social Science

In category: Blog


Chris Jones: Report from 9th British Environmental Psychology Society (BrEPS) conference


The School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham hosted this year’s annual British Environmental Psychology Society (BrEPS) conference. It was the 9th edition of the conference in the 11-year history of BrEPS, which is a non-subscription, inclusive network of (mostly) early career researchers with interest in human-environmental interactions. It was also the ‘last’ BrEPS […]


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Jennifer Rudd: For some people, walking isn’t so simple


Walking is easy right? You just put on a pair of shoes, leave the house and walk along the pavements, woods or beaches right outside your door. We all know the importance of walking; it’s good for our blood pressure, circulation, keeping a healthy weight, muscle tone, heart, lungs etc. etc and it can give […]


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Working at the intersection of academia and policy – Dr Harry Marshall & Dr George Warren


As an ACCESS Knowledge Exchange Fellow, I contributed to the design, execution, and analysis of a survey and interviews on interdisciplinary working and the benefits of environmental social science, as well as supporting key project outputs like the annotated bibliography, literature review, and the Environmental Social Science kNowledge Exchange Map of Opportunities (ESS NEMO). Being […]


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Helen Roberts: Walking (and running) on Cranbrook’s floodplains


I live in a new town in Devon called Cranbrook. There was much derision about the location of the development, with many people concerned about it being built on a floodplain. However, that is not the case. Green spaces and country parks have been kept free of development, allowing the floodplains to do their job […]


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Mandi Bissett: Local climate action and Doughnut Economics – a secret recipe for generating hope


Southampton has a long history of grassroots environmental action, from tackling air pollution to the climate crisis. This comes in part from needing to address the huge impact of its port and airport, but is mainly down to the individuals and grassroots organisations who have worked hard to raise the profile of community voices and […]


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Jaya Gajparia: Listening, learning and acting on feedback to improve racial and ethnic representation at the ACCESS Annual Assembly


“I am not an EDI person!” I exclaimed in a call with a potential invitee who I believe will not only enrich conversations at the ACCESS Assembly 2025 but is someone I would love to meet and get to know. She laughs, and soon responds, “I know what you mean”. Hello, I am Jaya. I […]


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Susann Power: The beach – a liminal space between hope and despair


The beach holds a special place in my heart. Gazing over the sea, listening to the sound of the breaking waves and feeling the sand between my toes inspires awe, instils calm, releases tension and provides a transitional space for wellbeing, recreation and many other of our human needs and desires. The beach is a […]


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Jaya Gajparia: Do I know I’m scared? I was in Fryent Park days before the sisters were murdered


Fryent Country Park in northwest London has over 100 hectares of rolling fields and small woods, divided in two by a busy road. This is the park where in June 2020, two women were murdered. The park is nestled in the London Borough of Brent, a borough celebrated for being one of the most culturally […]


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What does walking mean to you? A new blog series by ACCESS Leadership College Fellows


What does walking mean to you? Is it an opportunity to relax or something you have to do? Does it give you space to mull over challenging work problems or do you focus purely on enjoying the nature around you? Walking means many things to many people and in our second ACCESS College retreat a […]


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Dr Steve Guilbert: Science-Policy from a Different Perspective: Reflections on a Defra Fellowship


Perhaps evolving out of an early research focus on the culture of estuarine landscapes, I have always had an interest in liminal places and in-between spaces. In my current role as an ACCESS KEIF (Knowledge Exchange and Impact Fellow), I spend much of my time trying to make sense of the critical space in-between [social] […]


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