Environmental social science is the scientific study
of three interrelated dynamic components:
Since our first ACCESS Annual Assembly in 2022, we have been evaluating our events.
Early in the planning for the Assembly, we decided we wanted to welcome in-person and online visitors. It was important for us to:
From planning to evaluation, the report focuses on venue hire, accommodation, event programme, audio & visual technology, networking opportunities and how to incorporate our Guiding Principles.
Discover what lessons we learned from administering Rounds 1 and 2 of the Flex Fund. We hope these insights will be useful to other organisations administering flexible funds.
Read ACCESS’s 2024-2025 Progress Report for the highlights we have enjoyed and the challenges we have faced in the project’s third year, and to discover the opportunities and plans we have for the future.
Summary Report
Full report
We are excited to share a new report which identifies key steps and recommendations to support the delivery of the Net Zero 2030 policy target. The report Making a Net Zero Society: Follow the social science highlights the need to take a fresh approach to understand, plan and deliver the social and cultural change that will be needed to reach net zero targets.
In the report by the ESRC-funded ACCESS network, 10 leading academics offer their analysis of the recent UK Net Zero Research and Innovation Framework, Delivery Plan and Net Zero Society: Scenarios and Pathways Report. They go on to present selected case studies of past and ongoing societal change and transition, that offer lessons for net zero policy.
In the Summer of 2024, in the weeks leading up to the UK General Election, leading academics from the ESRC-funded ACCESS network surveyed nearly 3,000 UK adults to understand more about their perspectives on climate change, net zero targets and climate action, as well as views about how policy should be made, and support for different types of policy.
The Citizens’ Survey Report presents findings for the UK as a whole and compares public opinion across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
These read-only systems maps show groups, organisations and individuals that could be engaged for research, development and innovation. They are designed for Environmental Social Scientists and people working in similar fields.
They can be used for a range of purposes:
The ACCESS Data Exchange is a signposting application that provides a search tool for a collection of UK environmental social science-related datasets which have been produced by a range of different organisations.
This includes datasets from official government statistics to climate-focused opinion surveys.
The aim of this tool is to aid environmental social scientists in accessing and using datasets to support research and decision-making in solving climate and environmental problems.
The data exchange was created by the Data Working Group, data providers and users in government, universities and other public organisations.
We are developing a media monitoring tool which tracks a wide range of social media and traditional news media.
The team are currently
If you have any thoughts or suggestions for the media monitor please contact us
This is a bespoke request service for Environmental and Climate Research and Analysis.
We can
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 is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). ESRC are part of UK Research and Innovation a non departmental public body of the government that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
Below are some of their investment projects past and present which include useful data, insightful reports and papers and lots more.
Data based ESRC programmes
Other UKRI projects that focus on Climate and the Environment: