Home / Summaries / Class notes - Understanding and Assessing Technologies for Sustainability / barriers-social-psychological

Social Assesment

Q: Social impact assessment should address issues at 3 levels:

Three levels of Social Impact: Individual level – impacts that affect individual behavior, well-being, and personal circumstances. Community level – impacts that influence community structures, relationships, and cohesion. Societal level – broader impacts on social systems, cultural norms, and national or global policies.

Q: Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA):

Overview of the Social performance of a Product or organisation – S-LCA is a method to assess products' social and socio-economic aspects and their potential positive and negative impacts along their life cycle, from raw material extraction through production and use to disposal or recycling. What is a social life cycle assessment? A social life cycle assessment is an evaluative process that systematically examines the social effects of a product's life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life, providing insights into the social and human rights conditions impacted in the process.

Q: Role of the stakeholders in the S-LCA:

Stakeholders play a crucial role in S-LCA by providing the context-specific knowledge required to evaluate social impacts. They help identify relevant social criteria , contribute to data collection , and are often directly affected by the product's life cycle, thus having a vested interest in the assessment's outcomes.

Q: In your opinion, which three barriers do you consider the most challenging to overcome, and why? Provide examples and support your argument with evidence from the article.

LID. Key Psychological Barriers : Limited Cognition : Difficulty grasping abstract, future-oriented threats. Ideologies : Personal beliefs or worldviews that hinder climate action. Discredence : Distrust or denial of climate information/messengers.

Q: In what ways do the psychological barriers discussed by Gifford differ from other commonly discussed barriers, such as economic or technological challenges in the context of sustainability?

Distinguishing Psychological vs. Other Barriers Psychological barriers are internal (beliefs, perceptions, biases) Economic barriers concern costs; technological barriers relate to current tech capabilities

Q: In your opinion, which three barriers do you consider the most challenging to overcome, and why? Provide examples and support your argument with evidence from the article.

Key Psychological Barriers : Limited Cognition : Difficulty grasping abstract, future-oriented threats. Ideologies : Personal beliefs or worldviews that hinder climate action. Discredence : Distrust or denial of climate information/messengers. ..

7 important questions on Social Assesment

Social impact assessment should address issues at 3 levels:

Three levels of Social Impact:

Individual level – impacts that affect individual behavior, well-being, and personal circumstances.
Community level – impacts that influence community structures, relationships, and cohesion.
Societal level – broader impacts on social systems, cultural norms, and national or global policies.

Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA):

Overview of the Social performance of a Product or organisation – S-LCA is a method to assess products' social and socio-economic aspects and their potential positive and negative impacts along their life cycle, from raw material extraction through production and use to disposal or recycling.

What is a social life cycle assessment?

A social life cycle assessment is an evaluative process that systematically examines the social effects of a product's life cycle, from raw material extraction to end-of-life, providing insights into the social and human rights conditions impacted in the process.

Role of the stakeholders in the S-LCA:

Stakeholders play a crucial role in S-LCA by providing the context-specific knowledge required to evaluate social impacts. They help identify relevant social criteria, contribute to data collection, and are often directly affected by the product's life cycle, thus having a vested interest in the assessment's outcomes.

In your opinion, which three barriers do you consider the most challenging to overcome, and why? Provide examples and support your argument with evidence from the article.

LID.

Key Psychological Barriers:

Limited Cognition: Difficulty grasping abstract, future-oriented threats.
Ideologies: Personal beliefs or worldviews that hinder climate action.
Discredence: Distrust or denial of climate information/messengers.

In what ways do the psychological barriers discussed by Gifford differ from other commonly discussed barriers, such as economic or technological challenges in the context of sustainability?

Distinguishing Psychological vs. Other Barriers

Psychological barriers are internal (beliefs, perceptions, biases)
Economic barriers concern costs; technological barriers relate to current tech capabilities

In your opinion, which three barriers do you consider the most challenging to overcome, and why? Provide examples and support your argument with evidence from the article.

Key Psychological Barriers:

Limited Cognition: Difficulty grasping abstract, future-oriented threats.
Ideologies: Personal beliefs or worldviews that hinder climate action.
Discredence: Distrust or denial of climate information/messengers.

What kind of strategies does Grifford to tackles these problems?

Gifford suggests various strategies to tackle these barriers, such as:

Educational interventions: Enhancing people's understanding of the science of climate change can address limited cognition.
Social Interventions: Leveraging social norms and encouraging public commitments can motivate action. For instance, if individuals see their peers conserving energy, they're more likely to do the same.
Structural Interventions: This involves changing the external environment or providing incentives. For example, offering tax incentives for green tech adoption can motivate individuals to overcome sunk cost biases.