Activism is something you can learn: these psychologists have developed a training for UvA students
From climate worrier to climate activist. In six weeks, psychologists managed to persuade UvA students with climate concerns to take collective climate action: from signing petitions to taking part in demonstrations. “The belief that change comes from the bottom up is what drives the greatest willingness to engage in climate activism.”
Emotional engagement with climate change, the feeling that you can achieve something together, and the belief that change spreads from local grassroots action more widely: these are some of the twelve psychological factors that have been shown in previous studies to motivate people to take collective climate action. Building on this knowledge, Anna Castiglione, an Italian researcher in climate psychology teamed up with UvA PhD candidate Anna Sach – who uses psychology to investigate why people become activists – to develop a climate action course, which they tested with UvA students.
For three hours a week over a six-week period, around thirty UvA students attended lessons and took part in discussions on climate science, climate policy, economic systems and citizen action. The twelve psychological factors were woven throughout the course. After the course, the students scored higher on four of the twelve psychological factors compared with a control group who did not take part in the course. There was also a greater willingness to take action amongst students. These results were recently published in the scientific journal Royal Society Open Science. Five questions for Anna Sach and Anna Castiglione.
A course on climate activism for UvA students sounds like teaching fish to swim.
Anna S: “UvA students are indeed known for their activism. That was partly why we wanted to carry out the research here. We had previously run the training with students in the US – although those results weren’t particularly useful because the research was conducted during the pandemic and everything had to be done online – and in Italy. We wanted to find out how the training worked with students in Amsterdam, a city with a culture of social movements and environmental protest.”
Anna C: “The dream, of course, is to eventually offer the course to politicians and others in positions of power, but they are naturally not so keen to take part. In that respect, students are a more convenient target group for researchers, but that wasn’t the main reason. Students have traditionally played an important role in social change. Think of the Vietnam War, civil rights and women’s rights. University years are a very formative phase in which you reflect on what you want to do for the rest of your life.”
Anna S: “Moreover, we didn’t include students who were already active for the climate in our study, but only those students who were concerned about climate change but didn’t know what they can do.”
And did they know after the course?
Anna S: “Yes. What stood out was that the students who increased most in the Theory of Change measures during the course – the belief that local grassroots climate action can ultimately lead to social change – are the students who afterwards engaged more in climate activism.”
Enthusiasm for climate protests has been waning in recent years. Is this a good time to run a course on climate activism?
Anna S: “The world is heading for 2.8 degrees of global warming. Just because the topic is less popular at the moment, or receives little media attention, doesn’t mean the crisis isn’t still urgent. That’s precisely why it’s important to equip students with the knowledge of how to act strategically as engaged citizens.”
- Why is changing human behaviour so difficult? You’ll find out in the course Climate Psychology . You’ll also learn how psychology can help tackle climate change.
- What exactly is climate change from a scientific perspective? You find out in the course Climate Change.
- If you’re interested in exploring the history of the climate crisis, the course The Climate Emergency: The History of a Crisis is for you. Here you’ll learn who, historically speaking, has actually been concerned about the climate, and who is in a position to do something about it.
- The Honours module How to Deal with Climate Anxiety? explores how you can turn emotions such as climate anxiety and helplessness into concrete actions for a greener world.
- What goes wrong in the way climate change is reported in the media? You’ll explore this in the course Climate Change Communication. How can the media, politicians and climate activists get people to pay attention to the climate crisis?
Anna C: “Incidentally, it’s not just about demonstrating for the climate; it’s about how you can turn concerns about the climate into action in all sorts of ways. We have seen increases in three forms of action. Civil engagement involves taking part in existing initiatives such as petitions, climate marches and donations. Advocacy this involves asking for change within institutions. And climate activism: this involves actively organising climate marches, events and protests to put pressure on institutions and the government. We managed to increase all three of these behaviors among UvA students in the short term through the course.”
But not after three months?
Anna C: “No, but the follow-up took place during the summer holidays, so that may have played a part.”
Anna S: “International students might have been travelling.”
Anna C: “And some students mentioned that they were afraid to continue campaigning because of the criminalisation that has increased over the past two years. Politicians are increasingly resorting to violence during peaceful protests. Other students mentioned a loss of momentum after the course because they were no longer in contact with other students from the group. An important lesson, therefore, is that we must provide a platform to maintain a sense of community.”
And did UvA students respond differently to the training than the Italian students?
Anna C: “Yes, although we did adapt the course content slightly as we went along. What stood out was that in Italy we managed to boost psychological factors more, but the students only showed more civic engagement. There are several explanations for this: one is that the culture in Amsterdam is more activist-oriented. We also provided the students with more good examples of successful, collective actions, such as the civil rights movement and the anti-tobacco industry. The Italian students also often weren’t sure what actions happened around them that they could get involved in. In Amsterdam, we set up an information channel for that. That probably helped.”
