Dr. Debra Davidson - 2021 Cluster Recipient


KIAS Spotlight Researcher

Feeling the Climate: Emotion-Cognition Pathways to Pro-Climate Action

Project Lead: Dr. Debra Davidson

Professor
Faculty of Agricultural, Life, & Environmental Sciences
Department of Resource Economics & Environmental Sociology

Prioritizing interdisciplinarity and intersectionality, in an empirical study of the role of emotions in climate change responses among Canadians to offer meaningful new knowledge to a broad audience and directly inform policy making and praxis.

 

 

Project Description:

The need for just socio-economic transitions to address climate change becomes more urgent each year. Just in recent years, Canadians have endured the disastrous impacts of wildfires, extreme heat, and flooding. Canada faces a particularly formidable transition task, however, with the need to rapidly phase out a key economic sector---fossil fuels---and enable low-emission, economic diversification. Passing and implementing the domestic policies required to accomplish this challenge hinge upon political support and personal engagement. Moving the needle toward pro-climate action requires better understanding of the antecedents to personal and collective climate behaviour. There is growing acknowledgement of the critical role played by emotionality, but gaps in scholarship persist, warranting innovative, unconventional research. We pursue just such a research program, prioritizing interdisciplinarity and intersectionality, in an empirical study of the role of emotions in climate change responses among Canadians, including survey and experimental methods, and qualitative interviews. This project holds significant potential to offer meaningful new knowledge to a broad audience, directly inform policy making and praxis.

University of Alberta Team Members:

  • Dr. Debra Davidson (PI)
  • Dr. Kyle Nash
  • Dr. Lianne Lefsrud
  • Dr. Scott Smallwood

External Team Members:

  • Dr. Maki Decinski