I’m going to this workshop as part of the Australian Psychological Association’s Conference in Hobart at the end of September 2008. It sounds good.

Environmental attitudes and actions in context

Uzzell, D.
Saturday 27 September, 8.30am – 4.30pm

This workshop will provide a review of research methodologies and findings on environmental behaviour change, including social marketing techniques, identity theory and social norms. There will be interactive sessions to collect data from workshop participants on their perceptions of environmental issues, followed by analyses of this material using co-orientation analysis, discourse analysis, and Boal’s conflict resolution techniques to understand socially situated environmental attitudes and practices. The workshop will especially interest psychology researchers; psychologists working in policy settings (e.g. national, federal and local government); psychologists working on behaviour change programmes; and doctoral students especially from environmental, social and political psychology.

The Greenlight report is a review of the attitudes and behaviour of Victorian’s towards the environment and sustainability, with a particular focus on household and transport behaviours. Running for the first time in 2008, and planned to run annually, it has the potential to mirror the NSW ‘Who Cares Study’ over time. Unlike that report, it does not (yet?) cover indications of the level of knowledge and understanding, nor as wide a range of behaviours and civic participation. It has largely been produced by Sustainability Victoria with the support of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

This is a 2007 supplementary study on public water and climate change perceptions, building on the longrunning (1992) and comprehensive ‘Who Cares About the Environment’ study by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change.