Risk & Environment
Current Research Topics
Research on risk and the environment within the School is conducted primarily within the interdisciplinary Understanding Risk research group, who occupy dedicated research space in 51A Park Place. We have a number of important research collaborations with external University partners (in particular East Anglia, Sheffield, Nottingham and Leeds) while within Wales we are also full members of the Climate Change Consortium of Wales (C3W) as well as the Cardiff University Institute for Sustainable Places( PLACE) and the ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS). In 2010 our group also became full partners in the UK Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
Research in the group spans a number of broad topics under the headings of: Risk Perception and Communication; the Environment; Science, Technology and Public Policy; and Sustainability. Current topics studied include -
- Public and stakeholder perceptions of climate change and energy futures
- Attitudes to sustainable energy systems and scenarios
- ‘Energy biographies’ and energy use in everyday life
- Public engagement with and governance of climate engineering proposals
- Nanotechnology in society
- Perceptions of radiological risks (e.g. radon, nuclear power)
- Environment and health
- Sustainable transport
Current collaborations in Risk and Environment: `
Dr Rhoda Ballinger (Cardiff University), Professor Richard Eiser (University of Sheffield), Dr Andy Fraser (Welsh Assembly Government), Professor Ian Hall (Cardiff University), Professor Barbara Harthorn (University of California Santa Barbara), Professor Karen Henwood (Cardiff University), Professor Mike Hulme (University of East Anglia), Professor Nick Jenkins (Cardiff University), Dr Chris Jones (Sheffield University), Dr Irene Lorenzoni (University of East Anglia), Dr Tee Rogers-Hayden (University of East Anglia), Professor Peter Pearson (Cardiff University), Professor Terre Satterfield (University of British Columbia), Dr Alexa Spence (Nottingham University), Mr Dan Venables (Welsh Assembly Government), Dr Nem Vaughan (University of East Anglia), Dr Mark Whitehead (Aberystwyth University), Dr Lorraine Whitmarsh (Cardiff University)
Key Publications
Spence, A. and Pidgeon, N.F. (2010) Framing and communicating climate change: the effects of distance and outcome frame manipulations. Global Environmental Change, 20, 656-667. [pdf]
Parkhill, K. A., Pidgeon, N. F., Henwood, K. L., Simmons, P. and Venables, D. (2010) From the familiar to the extraordinary: local residents' perceptions of risk when living with nuclear power in the UK, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 35 (1), 39-58. [pdf]
Butler, C., 2010. Morality and climate change: is leaving your T.V on standby a risky behaviour? Environmental Values, 19(2): 169-192. [pdf]
Whitmarsh, L. & O’Neill, S. (2010). Green identity, green living? The role of pro-environmental self-identity in determining consistency across diverse pro-environmental behaviours. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 305-314. [pdf]
Whitmarsh, L., O’Neill, S. & Lorenzoni, I. (Eds) (2010). Engaging the public with climate change: behaviour change and communication. London: Earthscan. [pdf]
Corner, A. and Pidgeon. N.F. (2010) Geoengineering the climate – the social and ethical implications, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 52(1), 24-37. [pdf]
Poortinga, W., Gebel, K., Bauman, A., & Vernez -Moudon, A. (2010). The neighbourhood environment, physical activity and obesity. Encyclopaedia of Environmental Health
Pidgeon, N.F., Harthorn, B., Bryant, K. and Rogers-Hayden, T. (2009) Deliberating the risks of nanotechnology for energy and health applications in the US and UK. Nature Nanotechnology, Vol 4, Feb 2009, 95-98. [pdf]
Pidgeon, N.F. and Butler, C. (2009) Risk analysis and climate change. Environmental Politics, 18(5), 670-688. [pdf]
Spence, A., Pidgeon, N.F. and Uzzell, D. (2009) Climate change – psychology’s contribution. The Psychologist, 22(2) 108-111.
Pidgeon, N.F., Lorenzoni, I. and Poortinga, W. (2008) Climate change or nuclear power - no thanks! A quantitative study of public perceptions and risk framing in Britain. Global Environmental Change, 18, 69-85. [pdf]
Henwood, K.L., Pidgeon, N.F., Sarre, S., Simmons, P. and Smith, N. (2008) Risk, framing and everyday life: methodological and ethical reflections from three sociocultural projects. Health, Risk and Society, 10, 421-438. [pdf]
Poortinga, W., Cox, P., Pidgeon, N.F., & Lake I. (2008). The perceived health risks of indoor radon gas and overhead powerlines: a comparative multilevel approach. Risk Analysis, 28(1), 235-248. [pdf]
Poortinga, W., Dunstan, F.D., & Fone, D.L. (2008). Neighbourhood deprivation and self-rated health: The role of perceptions of the neighbourhood environment and of housing problems. Health & Place, 14(3), 562-575.[pdf]
Lorenzoni, I., Nicholson-Cole, S., & Whitmarsh, L. (2007). Barriers perceived to engaging with climate change among the UK public and their policy implications. Global Environmental Change, 17(3-4), 445-459. [pdf]
Poortinga, W. and Pidgeon, N.F. (2003) Exploring the dimensionality of trust in risk regulation. Risk Analysis, 23, 961-972.
Online Links and Resources
UKERC
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Climate Change Consortium of Wales
Integrated Assessment of Geoengineering
Related Research Centres in Cardiff:
University Sustainable Places Research Institute (PLACE)
ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society (BRASS)
In the News:
Understanding Risk Group website (currently under review)
Funding
Economic and Social Research Council
HEFCW
Leverhulme Trust
Natural Environment Research Council (UK Energy Research Centre Research Fund)
Welsh Assembly Government
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council