ACCTING: Advancing behavioural change through an inclusive green deal (2021-2025)

ACCTING examines gendered and intersectional inequalities on individual level, group level and societal level in the context of the EU sustainability agenda and Green Deal.

The global climate crisis is not only an ecological crisis but also an economic, social and political crisis, with devastating and deadly impacts on individuals, families, collectives of people, economies, and societies. It is increasingly recognised by the scientific and policy communities that while both the impact of climate change and the capacity to mitigate its negative impacts affects all segments of society, they are not evenly distributed either across or within societies; it is the poorer, marginalised and vulnerable groups who are the most acutely affected. Averting, or even mitigating, this crisis requires transformative change; changes in societal practices; and, in this frame, in the behaviour of individuals, communities, and organisations.

ACCTING mobilises research experimentation and innovation to advance a gender equal, inclusive and socially just European Green Deal. It specifically focuses on inequalities produced and reproduced in the context of Green Deal policy and interventions. It is based on interdisciplinary conceptual and methodological framework, inspired by strategic policy design-thinking, and collects new data on Green Deal policy interventions at individual, community, organisational and societal levels. Starting with an extensive mapping and comparative analysis of bottom-up environmental initiatives in 34 countries, including the collection of 410 narratives followed by 41 experimental studies from eight research lines, results are fed into multi-sectoral so-called Open Studios to co-create innovative solutions. Results are used for further experimentation, including through pilot actions with mass implementation and high impact potential.

The project relies on a 12 European partner consortium and some hundred researchers in 30+ countries during 2021–2025. It is one of two projects funded under the EU Horizon 2020 grant “Behavioural, social and cultural change for the Green Deal, under the call “Building a low-carbon, climate resilient future: Research and innovation in support of the European Green Deal”, with approximately 50 million SEK.

Read more about the project here