Project “The Corona Crisis as a ‘Gamechanger’ for the Transformation to Sustainability?”, University of Magdeburg.
A few weeks after the start of the Corona pandemic, voices were raised in Germany pointing beyond the current dramatic social and economic consequences to the significance of the crisis for the Great Transformation. A variety of reflections on the Corona-crisis-sustainability nexus have since been expressed, both fears (such as whether the looming recession threatens the implementation of the climate package) and positive expectations (for example, declining CO2 emissions in the transportation sector), as well as hopes that experiences of solidarity and restriction might promote future lifestyle changes. The patterns of interpretation are currently still in constant flux, but it is already clear that the Covid 19 epidemic is breaking down old structures and making political decisions at a rapid pace.
It is therefore important to now accompany social change processes with research and to arrive at early assessments of which windows of opportunity and which challenges arise from the pandemic for the Great Transformation. Here, environmental psychology focuses on the individual embedded in his or her socio-physical environment and considers him or her an important actor in the change processes of the Great Transformation. Within the framework of the project, several thousand citizens will be representatively surveyed on attitudes and motives for sustainability and sustainability action in the context of the Corona crisis. The results will be incorporated into communication and mediation concepts of relevant sustainability transformations.
Current: Publication of first project results
You can access the first results of the project here. For example, as expected, the representative survey confirms a reduction in individual mobility for all modes of transportation due to Corona-related contact restrictions. It also showed that the urgency of the issue of climate protection has not lost its importance. On the contrary, the acceptance of environment-related measures actually increased slightly.
Project topic
The Corona Crisis as a ‘Gamechanger’ for the Transformation to Sustainability?
Project implementation
University of Magdeburg, Institute of Psychology, Magdeburg
Prof. Ellen Matthies
Member of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU)
Phone: 0391 6718471
E-mail: ellen.matthies@ovgu.de
Website: www.ovgu.de
Runtime
22.04.2020 – 31.12.2021
File number
DBU-AZ 36002
Status: 24.08.2020