ACCESS directors contribute to new POST briefing on public engagement with the energy transition
Published on 22 April 2026
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has recently published a briefing on Public engagement with the energy transition, with contributions from ACCESS directors Patrick Devine-Wright and Karen Bickerstaff (University of Exeter) and Lorraine Whitmarsh (University of Bath).
This new POSTnote analyses the latest evidence on public engagement with the energy transition.
It describes barriers that could limit large-scale societal engagement, including socioeconomic and political barriers, a lack of locally relevant advice, and misconceptions about technologies, such as heat pumps.
It also identifies a set of principles that could support effective public engagement towards the shift to clean energy.
ACCESS directors Patrick Devine-Wright and Karen Bickerstaff (University of Exeter) and Lorraine Whitmarsh (University of Bath) contributed to the briefing.
Karen says: “Fantastic to see that this POSTnote on ‘public engagement with the energy transition’ is now out. It is a really important synthesis of research for parliamentarians and it was great opportunity to share – with the POST team – findings of the ACCESS Net Zero Taskforce and other research by members of the ACCESS community.”