Dr Nick Nash is a research fellow in the Psychology Department at the University of Bath. His research focuses on social and environmental psychology, as well as qualitative social science methods.

In October, he started a ClimateXChange post-graduate research project exploring approaches and barriers to evidence-based policymaking around climate and diet in Scotland. In this role, he works directly with Scottish Government policymakers, attending climate and diet advisory group meetings.

In a recent podcast interview, we chatted about his work on the project and some of the challenges around policymaking in this area.

What is your research background?

I currently work at the University of Bath Department of Psychology. I also did my PhD here looking at the ways people framed arguments around a greenfield site development in Swindon.  I became a freelance researcher after that and did quite a lot of impact-related work with the Welsh Assembly.

I then moved on to postdoctoral projects at Cardiff University, looking at behaviours in an environmental context. I explored whether or not engaging in one environmentally friendly behaviour causes you to engage in others. I also researched environmentally friendly behavioural changes based on two quite different life events – becoming a first-time parent and retiring. I researched things like how energy use and transportation modes changed.

Your ClimateXChange postdoctoral research project is called ‘Analysing a complex evidence base for policy, diet, and climate in Scotland’. What was it that attracted you to this role?

The work I’d already done relating to food was of interest to me from a psychological perspective. What we eat and how we eat it is really fascinating and also a really important area to look at.

Looking at it in the particular cultural and geographical context of Scotland allowed me to also explore other things I’m interested in, to do with place, identity and place attachment. This project addresses the complex, interconnected issues of diet and climate policy in Scotland, and it does so by looking at evidence-based insights in ways that support more informed policy making.

The role enables me to engage with policy and make my work more impactful. With my background in academic research, I’ve not often had so much to do with what happens to the information or knowledge that we generate.

There are gaps in our understanding in terms of understanding how dietary shifts impact emissions, health, the economy, and so on. There’s also limited data on the nutritional consequences of reducing meat and dairy, especially for different population groups. Nutrient intakes are often a concern, and also things like agriculture and food policy.

I like getting a better understanding of how policy operates in terms of supporting Scotland’s climate targets. Because diet and food system systems are major contributors to emissions, the policy integration is quite important. The project also aims to create a better integration of those different siloed areas and align food policy with climate goals.

The ultimate aim is really a more just transition for the consumers, different public groups, food producers, businesses and farmers. So that was also something that I was very keen on about the project – the idea of a transition that’s fair.

What’s it like for you as a researcher working directly with Scottish government policy makers?

It’s been a really interesting experience. I sit on the behaviours team meetings every fortnight, and everyone’s been really helpful in trying to get me up to speed with the way that policy works.

Unlike academia, which can often be quite slow in terms of producing knowledge and decisions, within a policy context you find that things can often move very quickly. Also there’s quite an extensive range of issues going on at any one time. Things come up all of a sudden, and also there are various stakeholder interests that you have to be really attentive to.

One of the things I see is how much people working in policy and government really care: how hard they work in order to achieve Scotland’s ambitions, and to do all they can to improve the country and people’s lives.

What are you hoping to achieve by the end of the project?

The output will mainly be a report to the Scottish Government. Within that will be something called a PESTLE (political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental) analysis of Scotland’s diet and climate policy. The report will map in breadth, rather than depth, the factors that contribute to and relate to diet and climate in Scotland.

Another objective will be mapping the evidence gaps, using desk-based literature reviews, workshops that we’ve been running, and also some stakeholder one-to-one meetings. The gaps could be in terms of health implications or the impact of climate friendly diets on Scotland’s economy.

ClimateXChange podcast

This is an amended extract from episode 9 of our podcast: Evidence for climate policy in Scotland – CXC podcast

Related links

Dietary guidance for healthy and climate-friendly diets

Understanding the climate impact of food consumed in Scotland