Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CIDAPE (Climate, Inequality, and Democratic Action: The Force of Political Emotions)
Período documentado: 2024-01-01 hasta 2025-03-31
In a world filled with division, the CIDAPE (Climate, Inequality and Democratic Action: The Force of Political Emotions) seeks ways to establish a more engaged citizenry to tackle climate change in democratic societies.
Political polarisation and an eroding trust in institutions are increasingly straining democracies, hindering effective collective action in times of environmental crisis. The urgency of the climate crisis, coupled with rising socio-economic inequalities, underscores the need for robust democratic action that integrates citizens' emotions in decision-making processes.
It is now more important than ever to critically assess the role of political emotions in these developments. Especially destructive emotions like anger, fear or distrust can pose enormous challenges to the effective mitigation of the climate crisis, providing a breeding ground for far-right populism and climate change denial. And yet, the same emotions also have the potential to foster action towards sustainability and social cohesion, sometimes in co-existence with more productive emotions such as hope or compassion.
Towards more inclusive and emotionally attuned EU climate governance:
To address these complex dynamics, CIDAPE identifies how emotional narratives influence policy reception, social trust, and democratic engagement. The project aligns with key EU climate strategies, such as the European Green Deal, to enhance participatory governance.
Our project brings together 11 partners from nine European countries, all dedicated to exploring the affective impact of policy and media narratives, social movements and other forms of citizen participation. In understanding the role of emotions in climate politics and how they shape notions of socio-economic inequalities, CIDAPE is redefining citizen engagement to strengthen democratic climate action.
The project applies interdisciplinary methods from the social sciences and the humanities, combining discourse analysis, ethnographic studies, digital media analysis, participatory citizen panels as well as consultations with policymakers.
Emotional skill set for policymakers and civil society to foster social cohesion:
The project develops practical citizen engagement strategies that incorporate participatory deliberation based on mutual respect. CIDAPE’s goal is to ensure a direct pathway to real-world impact by advocating for policy discussions that are inclusive and resonate with the emotional concerns of citizens.
Understanding how emotions influence political communication and policy perception will provide helpful insights for political institutions and civil society stakeholders to overcome the social tensions in times of polarisation. By providing an emotion-sensitive skill set to bridge the gap between government action and citizen needs, the project’s findings will not only influence European policy but also serve as a model for global democratic innovation in the face of climate change.
Political polarisation and an eroding trust in institutions are increasingly straining democracies, hindering effective collective action in times of environmental crisis. The urgency of the climate crisis, coupled with rising socio-economic inequalities, underscores the need for robust democratic action that integrates citizens' emotions in decision-making processes.
It is now more important than ever to critically assess the role of political emotions in these developments. Especially destructive emotions like anger, fear or distrust can pose enormous challenges to the effective mitigation of the climate crisis, providing a breeding ground for far-right populism and climate change denial. And yet, the same emotions also have the potential to foster action towards sustainability and social cohesion, sometimes in co-existence with more productive emotions such as hope or compassion.
Towards more inclusive and emotionally attuned EU climate governance:
To address these complex dynamics, CIDAPE identifies how emotional narratives influence policy reception, social trust, and democratic engagement. The project aligns with key EU climate strategies, such as the European Green Deal, to enhance participatory governance.
Our project brings together 11 partners from nine European countries, all dedicated to exploring the affective impact of policy and media narratives, social movements and other forms of citizen participation. In understanding the role of emotions in climate politics and how they shape notions of socio-economic inequalities, CIDAPE is redefining citizen engagement to strengthen democratic climate action.
The project applies interdisciplinary methods from the social sciences and the humanities, combining discourse analysis, ethnographic studies, digital media analysis, participatory citizen panels as well as consultations with policymakers.
Emotional skill set for policymakers and civil society to foster social cohesion:
The project develops practical citizen engagement strategies that incorporate participatory deliberation based on mutual respect. CIDAPE’s goal is to ensure a direct pathway to real-world impact by advocating for policy discussions that are inclusive and resonate with the emotional concerns of citizens.
Understanding how emotions influence political communication and policy perception will provide helpful insights for political institutions and civil society stakeholders to overcome the social tensions in times of polarisation. By providing an emotion-sensitive skill set to bridge the gap between government action and citizen needs, the project’s findings will not only influence European policy but also serve as a model for global democratic innovation in the face of climate change.
In CIDAPE, work progresses through eight interrelated Work Packages (WPs), which support each other to create synergies and achieve the project's objectives.
Key Scientific Achievements:
• Innovative Interdisciplinary Approach: CIDAPE combined political science, sociology, linguistics, and psychology to create a multi-method framework for studying emotions in climate politics.
• Advanced Computational and Ethnographic Methods: Digital ethnography, sentiment analysis, and qualitative fieldwork were used to capture emotional narratives in climate debates.
• Policy-Relevant Research: The deliverables provide concrete policy recommendations, including emotion-sensitive communication strategies and deliberative democratic innovations.
• Comparative European Analysis: The project spans multiple European contexts, offering cross-national insights into political emotions and climate policies.
• Impact on Climate Governance: CIDAPE’s research supports more inclusive, empathetic, and evidence-based policymaking, ensuring emotional dimensions are recognized as central to democratic processes and climate action.
Key Scientific Achievements:
• Innovative Interdisciplinary Approach: CIDAPE combined political science, sociology, linguistics, and psychology to create a multi-method framework for studying emotions in climate politics.
• Advanced Computational and Ethnographic Methods: Digital ethnography, sentiment analysis, and qualitative fieldwork were used to capture emotional narratives in climate debates.
• Policy-Relevant Research: The deliverables provide concrete policy recommendations, including emotion-sensitive communication strategies and deliberative democratic innovations.
• Comparative European Analysis: The project spans multiple European contexts, offering cross-national insights into political emotions and climate policies.
• Impact on Climate Governance: CIDAPE’s research supports more inclusive, empathetic, and evidence-based policymaking, ensuring emotional dimensions are recognized as central to democratic processes and climate action.
• Developed an emotion-sensitive framework for climate policy analysis, pioneering a new interdisciplinary methodology integrating political science, psychology, and sociology.
• Created a digital ethnographic approach to track emotions in real-time climate discourse across different social media platforms.
• Introduced a codebook and analytical tools to study emotional narratives in policy debates, ensuring replicability and methodological advancement.
• Proposed new empirical insights into how climate emotions shape democratic participation and social cohesion, influencing policy framing and decision-making.
• Identified barriers to emotional engagement in climate governance, recommending institutional adaptations to enhance citizen trust and participation.
• Created a digital ethnographic approach to track emotions in real-time climate discourse across different social media platforms.
• Introduced a codebook and analytical tools to study emotional narratives in policy debates, ensuring replicability and methodological advancement.
• Proposed new empirical insights into how climate emotions shape democratic participation and social cohesion, influencing policy framing and decision-making.
• Identified barriers to emotional engagement in climate governance, recommending institutional adaptations to enhance citizen trust and participation.