Environment and Rural Affairs
In the past few years the environment, and in particular climate change and sustainability, have emerged centre stage. Climate change is one of the most serious threats facing the world, with fresh headlines appearing on an almost daily basis about the impact and implications of climate change, and continuing debate about how to respond to this challenge.
This has been reflected in Scotland, with the environment emerging as a dominant policy theme in recent years. In 2009 the Scottish Government passed the Climate Change (Scotland) Act committing Scotland to reducing emissions by 42% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. These targets are among the most ambitious in the world and meeting them will require a greening of the public’s attitudes and, more critically, its behaviour. This is recognised in the Climate Change Delivery Plan which notes that “public attitudes need to be improved” and that “in order to foster real improvements, efforts must be focussed on understanding and enabling behaviour change”.
Are Scots persuaded by the scientific evidence of climate change? Do they accept the need to take action to reduce their carbon footprint? Does their behaviour reflect their attitudes to climate change? How can individuals be encouraged to adapt their lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprints? How far does the public support policy interventions to cut carbon reductions? What are their views on future energy options for Scotland? How do they balance the intrinsic value of Scotland’s countryside and landscape with its social and economic value?
We hold one of the largest bodies of research on climate change in the UK, and released this in the report Tipping Point or Turning Point: Social Marketing and Climate Change, which focuses on the perspectives of the public – the way they think and behave in relation to climate change, as well as their values and aspirations.
We work across a broad range of environmental topic areas. These include climate change, waste and packaging, sustainable living, protection of and access to the natural environment and also across wider environmental policy and politics, using a variety of different methodologies. In 2008, we undertook the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours Survey (SEABS’08) for the Scottish Government. This offered an important insight into how people in Scotland think and behave on green issues, and the data has been used in briefings, speeches, policy documents and the Scottish Government Environment team’s current behaviour change research programme.
Below is a selection of our experience in environmental and rural affairs research. For more information, please contact Chris Martin.
Current Projects
Scottish House Condition Survey 2007-2011
The Scottish House Condition Survey is the largest single housing research project in Scotland, and the only national survey to link the physical condition of Scotland's homes to the experiences of householders. It works by linking the household information gathered during a face-to-face social interview with details from a physical survey of the property conducted by a building surveyor.
The key objectives of the survey are:
- To monitor the physical quality of Scotland's housing stock at a national level over time.
- To contribute to the understanding of the factors which influence the physical condition of the housing stock.
- To provide a benchmark against which outputs from local house condition (and fuel poverty etc) surveys can be measured.
- To explore relationships between investment and stock condition both at an individual and at a national level.
- To provide an information resource which can be drawn on for policy development in all areas of housing, such as fuel poverty, which relate to individual households dwellings and the relationship between them.
Fieldwork commenced in January 2007, and over 3,000 interviews and surveys are conducted each year. The latest key findings, together with further information, can be found at the Scottish Government website link below.
Client contact: Ian Máté, Scottish Executive, tel: 0131 244 4607 w: www.shcs.gov.uk
Ipsos MORI contact: Chris Martin, tel: 0131 220 5699.