Participation

This work package focuses on how citizens participate in climate-related politics and what motivates participation. It asks how frequently people engage, which climate issues they act on, and whether participation takes electoral or non-electoral forms. The theoretical idea guiding this work package is that participation does not arise solely from individual attitudes or preferences, but is shaped by how political actors and organisations mobilise around climate change. Participation is therefore understood as a response to competing mobilisation strategies rather than as a purely individual decision.

The empirical strategy combines existing survey data with original data collection. Cross-national surveys are used to describe long-term trends in climate-related participation and attitudes. In addition, an original population survey includes experimental components that test how different mobilisation messages and actor profiles affect people’s willingness to participate. A panel design makes it possible to study changes over time and to link participation directly to the mobilisation patterns identified in the first work package.