Preparing future psychologists for the impact of the climate crisis

A new UCL module is equipping Psychology & Language Sciences (PALS) students with the knowledge and skills they will need in their future careers to engage with the threat posed by the climate crisis.

“The climate crisis poses an existential threat to the natural environment and human societies alike,” argues Professor Kate Jeffery, who co-founded and organised the module with Sabine Topf, a PALS PhD student and highly  active member of the PALS Green Team. (Kate and Sabine were joined by Jona Leka, a PALS PhD student who is the graduate teaching assistant on the course, along with John Draper, head of administration at PALS and a long-time champion and innovator in green initiatives at UCL). 

Within the module, now led by Fred Dick and Jeremy Skipper at PALS, students on the Psychology of Climate Change module are taught about the causes and consequences of climate change. These include lectures on the physics of climate change and the emergence of the Anthropocene, as well as sessions using interactive simulations of climate change mitigation.  Students are especially benefitting from an interdisciplinary approach that has been supported by lectures and interaction with academic staff in other UCL departments, in particular Geography. Fred noted that "the sole underlying driver of climate change is human behaviour, which can be very hard to change. It's vital for psychologists and behavioural scientists to understand the basic mechanisms of global heating so they can identify which behavioural interventions will be the most effective in reducing carbon emissions."

The module also explores how people make sense of climate change cognitively and emotionally, including why some people deny facts about climate change, as well common emotional reactions, such as anxiety, grief and hopelessness, or resilience, campaigning and activism. “We ask them to consider factors that enable or impede pro-environmental behaviours, as understanding these changes can improve the success of initiatives to change behaviour,” adds Professor Jeffery.

On Wednesday we welcomed Bill McKibben to discuss the psychology of destroying a planet. For those of you who do not already know him, Bill is an internationally acclaimed environmentalist and climate activist, currently at Middlebury College in Vermont, USA. Among other books, he wrote The End of Nature (1989), considered the first general audience book on global warming. He also regularly writes for magazines such as the New Yorker and Rolling Stone, is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has honorary degrees from 20 colleges and universities. Bill has been awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize and Right Livelihood Award. He also helped found 350.org, the first global grassroots climate campaign. 

Please click below for a recording of Bill's seminar

https://350.org/
http://billmckibben.com/
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/pals/study/undergraduates/psychology-climate-change 
https://lnkd.in/e94A6RKp