Understanding the link between climate change campaigning and policy outcomes

Activism around climate change has been a key feature of contentious politics in the United Kingdom.
This has taken different shapes, from conventional lobbying and pressure groups to innovative and
disruptive street protests. While there has been significant research on the participation in such forms of
activism, there is much less research on its policy outcomes. The aim of this project is to explore the
relationship between activist framings of climate change and policy outcomes, whether intended or not.
In other words: how does protest influence what politicians and governments do?
Answering this question will involve talking to people who take part in the protests and campaigns,
talking to those who are observing and reporting on protests, and looking at the tactics and methods
used to affect climate policy and official discourse. The project will therefore use a range of qualitative
methods from policy analysis, to one-to-one and focus group interviews and participatory action
research. By analysing these inputs creatively the intention is to use creative approaches to answer two
questions:
- How do social movement campaigns work to influence the development of climate policy in the UK,
such as climate friendly transport, energy and housing policies?
- What role do different movement tactics or methods play in making policy interventions?