ACCESS Task Forces bring together world-leading social science expertise to focus on crucial and challenging policy areas.
The Task Force is led by Michael Winter and runs between now and October 2026. They are looking at how can social sciences be more effectively deployed to reconfigure land use and land management in order to deliver nature recovery for more sustainable futures.
The group will start by selecting a number of case studies of relevant policy developments. These will then be reviewed to establish the extent to which they were informed by social science and whether gaps and unrealized opportunities for more social science inputs can be identified.
Professor Michael Winter OBE, University of Exeter (Chair)
Professor Matt Lobley, University of Exeter
Dr Carol Morris, University of Nottingham
Caryl Williams, Welsh Government
Professor Gary Cass, University of Surrey
Dr Clive Mitchell, Nature Scot
Dr Beth Brockett, Forest Research
Taryn McHenry, DAERA (NI)
Dr Nick Kirsop-Taylor, University of Exeter
Professor Birgitta Gatersleben, University of Surrey
Isabelle Cardinal, Natural England
Dr Rebecca Lovell, University of Exeter
If you would like more information about the Nature Recovery Task Force please get in touch
The Task Force was led by Karen Bickerstaff. She assembled a team of ten social scientists, leading experts in environmental and climate change from geography, psychology, anthropology, sociology, politics and medicine. Together they reviewed a range of social science perspectives, analysed examples of government net zero plans and built understanding from case studies of societal change. The task force ran between April 2023 and March 2024.
This is a bespoke request service for Environmental and Climate Research and Analysis.
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We have worked with a range of groups including Defra, BEIS/DESNZ, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and Forest Research.
ACCESS contributes to scoping future transformative social science and interdisciplinary research within the area of climate and environment. Using diverse stakeholder perspectives, we aim to ensure strategic research outcomes that will make a difference.
One of the ways ACCESS is enabling social scientists to play an influential, leading role in addressing environmental challenges is through our work with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
