Welcome to the Center for Social Solutions to Environmental Problems!
Our mission is to overcome the social and political barriers preventing society from solving environmental problems.
We have researchers working on how to mobilize citizens to engage in environmental solutions, how groups can engage volunteers, how firms solve environmental problems, and how governments can overcome gridlock on environmental issues. Affiliates study how to reduce household water usage, what causes governments to adopt renewable energy policies, how the public thinks about climate change and energy, and how government responds to wildfire. With an engaged group of faculty and graduate students who come together each week to discuss cutting edge research and comment on each other’s work, our group offers unparalleled breadth and depth in the study of environmental politics and policy.
UCSB is a leader in the fields that contribute to implementation of environmental policies. Drawing on the knowledge of political scientists, psychologists, economists, and other social scientists, we work every day to make it possible to solve environmental problems, whether by bringing the will of citizens to bear or by engaging firms and organizations to solve them. We facilitate the training of a new generation of graduate students, create and nurture a network of researchers at UCSB and beyond, incubate new research programs, and disseminate our research.
We invite you to join us by
- Attending our annual Conference
- Coming to our weekly seminar
- Browsing (and maybe even commenting on) our working papers
- Using our data to answer your own questions.
Sarah Anderson
Director, CSSEP
Associate Professor, Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and Political Science