Strategic policy advice: group-based processes as a tool to support policymaking

This deliverable is about the group discussions (STAVE trials) that have been carried out in the partner countries of project PACHELBEL on various substantive policy issues in the field of sustainability. It focuses on the methods that have been used to interact with lay citizens in the STAVE groups, and on the feedback that has been provided to policy makers on findings from the groups. Building upon these elaborations, conclusions will be drawn as to STAVE as a policy tool. Furthermore, this deliverable provides key features of STAVE groups on a country-by-country basis

Evidences of lay people’s reasoning related to climate change: per country and cross country results

This deliverable is about lay citizens’ reasoning about sustainability, in particular environmental protection and climate change, in various consumption domains, and the relation of this reasoning to the day-to-day lives of the participants. It presents country and cross-country findings from all 18 STAVE trials conducted between May 2011 and February 2012 in all six PACHELBEL partner countries. Analyses demonstrate that participants in the STAVE trials predominantly display a clear awareness that citizen consumption as demonstrated in their everyday practices of energy use, mobility, waste etc. are strongly connected with issues of environmental sustainablility. The STAVE trials also demonstrated that to live sustainably is a daily challenge, and people are often not able to organize their everyday routines in an environmental-friendly manner. Frequently there is a gap between participants’ aspirations and their practical behaviours. Significantly, the group conversations enabled participants to become aware that the self-assessed soundness of their everyday lives in terms of sustainability was at variance from the actual impact of e.g. their energy use or or mobility practices

Guidance on Stimulus Materials

PACHELBEL WP4 “Stimulus Materials” uses findings from WP3 (Policy Assumptions) and from additional sources to prepare stimulus materials for the group-based process “STAVE” implemented in WP5. The output was material to inform and stimulate the group-based process. The material was of two types: a set of questionnaires common to all partners (EVOC/CAPA/SIMI questionnaires), and material that is issue-specific and individually produced for each country. EVOC/CAPA/SIMI short questionnaires serve as a comparative tool between countries, giving insight on the social construction of “sustainable consumption” across the PACHELBEL population. Partners asked participants to fill out the set individually at the first meeting of the STAVE group, results were then analyzed and data were fed back for discussion by group participants at their second meeting. A “re-test” was then conducted at the third of three group meetings. The present report details the representations revealed through this methodology – but moreover the impact of applying such a technique in STAVE groups in France, Germany, Romania, Spain, Sweden and the UK (where the methodology was slightly altered). The issue-and-country-specific material consists of an informative simulated newspaper article on the particular issue addressed in a given STAVE process, and/or other materials (for example, humorous drawings). The report details how this material was developed, and the experience of applying these stimulus materials in each country. On this basis, guidance for future STAVE processes is offered. Foremost among observations is that PACHELBEL stimulus materials serve a purpose that is distinct from that of “group exercises” as developed in WP5. The materials contributing to the formation of a group identity, a reflexive group norm, and a shared information basis. As such, stimulus materials prepare the group for a cooperative investigative process

Evidence about the policy assumptions about lay behaviour

This deliverable provides an analysis of the early fieldwork reports that have been produced as part of WP3. Its focus is on identifying the assumptions that are evident in the approaches of the policy partners to human behaviour around sustainability. The themes of this early work will form one focus of subsequent interactions with the policy partners and will be used as the basis for developing a schedule for further investigations to be deployed with policy makers in each countr

Policy addressing climate change & learning about consumer behaviour and everyday life : PACHELBEL

The main objective of PACHELBEL is the development, trialling and operationalisation of a tool called STAVE, which will be designed to support the work of policy-making for sustainability in real-world settings. The tool will support processes of knowledge brokerage, promoting the appropriate application of existing research findings, and the generation of new knowledge which is focused on specific policy objectives.L'objectiu principal del projecte PACHELBEL és desenvolupar, provar i operacionalitzar un instrument anomenat STAVE (Systematic Tool for Behavioural Assumption Validation and Exploration), que haurà de servir per a donar suport als dissenyadors de polítiques públiques ambientals i per la sostenibilitat. Aquesta eina servirà per gestionar millor els processos de transmissió de coneixement entre el públic i les institucions polítiques, així com per a integrar millor els resultats de les recerques socials en l'elaboració de polítiques públiques i per a generar nou coneixement al respecte