ACCESS - Advancing Capacity for Climate  and Environment Social Science
ACCESS - Advancing Capacity for Climate  and Environment Social Science
Offshore wind farm

Impact


Task Forces


ACCESS Task Forces bring together world-leading social science expertise to focus on crucial and challenging policy areas.

Nature Recovery Task Force

The Task Force is led by Michael Winter and runs between now and October 2026.

The team of 15 academic and government social scientists are looking at how the social sciences can be more effectively deployed to reconfigure land use and land management in the UK to deliver nature recovery.

Meet the team members and find out about the progress of the task force by clicking the button below.

Net Zero Task Force

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.

Task Force meeting in Bristol. A group of people sat round a table

Rapid Response Requests


This is a bespoke request service for Environmental and Climate Research and Analysis.

We can

  • Offer advice and feedback on policy questions, proposals or ideas.
  • Help scope and frame research requirements.
  • Provide a bridging point between professionals and social scientists working across the environment and climate domain.

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.

A two people handshake

Scoping funding areas for ESRC


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).

Pencil and mobile phone on a spiral bound notebook