Mobilising community-based climate action through co-designed sports and wellbeing interventions (LORENZONII_U26ENVCAST)
Key Details
- Application deadline
- 16 April 2026 (midnight UK time)
- Location
- UEA
- Funding type
- Directly funded project (Home students only)
- Start date
- 1 October 2026
- Mode of study
- Full-time
- Programme type
- PhD
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Project description
Primary supervisor - Prof Irene Lorenzoni
Aims and objectives
This studentship aims to explore how group/social identities (e.g. sports fans) can be leveraged to encourage low-carbon, climate-resilient behaviours examining how cultural activities such as sport can support climate awareness and action. This project will adopt a place-based approach. Through collaboration with grassroots organisations and/or professional clubs, it will co-design and pilot interventions that embed synergistic adaptation-mitigation behaviours into sports club routines. It will examine how to foster adoption of sustainable practices that align with sport/wellbeing motivations, make climate action visible and socially rewarding, and address the ‘climate silence’ (Wise et al., 2025) identified amongst sports communities.
Training Environment
This studentship is affiliated with the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST). CAST is headquartered at the University of Bath and is an international centre of excellence founded in 2019. It has just commenced a second phase of work (2024-29). UEA is one of the CAST partners. In the 2021 REF, UEA was ranked 20th in the UK for research quality and impact.
Postgraduates at UEA have access to a diverse and varied professional development programme to support development of the skills that underpin high quality research, and to prepare them for their future career. Our training programme provides choice, flexibility, and support to empower postgraduates to design their own annual training plan alongside some mandatory training on core topics. Sessions are delivered by a range of highly qualified staff with expert knowledge; academics and professional services staff from across the UEA, Norwich Research Park and contributors from external organisations. They include e.g. research and specialist skills training, communication skills, personal effectiveness, wellbeing training, impact and engagement, data and analysis and career planning.
You will formally affiliate with CAST and be able to affiliate with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, which is headquartered at UEA. Together these centres and networks will offer you valuable opportunities to undertake collaborative, team-based research, present your findings at conferences and learn how to make impactful contributions to society.
Risk Mitigation
This project is nested within CAST and will be supported by the expertise of the supervisory team and the CAST network, within which other colleagues are also undertaking research on sports and sustainability, climate change and public engagement.
Supervisor Collaboration
This studentship will be based at UEA, and co-supervised by Prof Irene Lorenzoni (UEA), Prof Andy Jordan (UEA) and Dr Sam Hampton (University of Bath). All supervisors have a strong interest in social responses to climate change and sustainability, demonstrated through funded projects and impactful research. Andy and Irene have co-supervised several PhD students to completion in recent years and have been collaborating in CAST since its inception. In addition, Andy has an active interest in sports and sustainability: since 2021 he has served on British Triathlon’s Sustainability Commission which in 2023 published a sector-leading sustainability strategy for the swim, bike and run community in the UK.
Entry requirements
Applicants should have a 2:1 at UG Hons (psychology, sociology, social environmental sciences) and a Masters degree
Funding
This PhD project is fully funded for 3 years. Funding includes tuition fees at home-fee rate, an annual tax-free maintenance stipend, and an annual budget to support research training.
References
Hampton S and Whitmarsh L (2023) Choices for climate action: A review of the multiple roles individuals play. One Earth, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.08.006
Moore,B., Verfuerth, C., Minas, A.M., Tipping, C., Mander, S., Lorenzoni, I., Hoolohan, C., Jordan, A.J., Whitmarsh, L., (2021) Transformations for climate mitigation: a systematic review of terminology, concepts, characteristics. WIREs Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.738
Wise, J., Whitmarsh, L., & Hampton, S. (2025). “I would be laughed out of the stadium”: How to break climate silence in British football. CAST Briefing 38.
Latter, B., Whitmarsh, L., Hampton, S., Sambrook, K., 2024. What’s stopping us? Applying psychology to accelerate climate action in sport. Sport Positive, UN Sports for Climate Action and CAST.