Keynote-Vortrag von Prof. Matthew Hornsey, Montag, 29.6.26, 13:30 Uhr bis 14:30 Uhr [22.06.26]
Im Rahmen der EASP-Konferenz „Social Dynamics of Climate Policy and Sustainable Transformation”, welche vom Fachgebiet Nachhaltiges Handeln und Wirtschaften zusammen mit der Nachwuchsgruppe Digitaler Wandel und Gesellschaft ausgerichtet wird, laden wir herzlich zum hochschulöffentlichen Keynote-Vortrag von Prof. Matthew Hornsey (University of Queensland, Australien) ein. Der Vortrag trägt den Titel „The attitude roots of opposition to renewable energy” und findet am Montag, den 29.6., von 13:30 Uhr bis 14:30 Uhr im Balkonsaal statt.
Foto: Gediminas Gražys
Public opposition to renewable energy is often misdiagnosed as a problem of limited education or local self-interest. In this talk, I demonstrate that resistance to wind farms, electric vehicles, and related climate policies is better understood as the surface expression of deeper “attitude roots” — enduring worldviews, identities, and moral commitments that shape how people interpret sustainable transformation. Drawing on cross-national data, I show that agreement with false claims about the harms and failures of renewables is widespread. These beliefs cluster into coherent systems predicted far more strongly by conspiracist worldviews, political ideology, and identity-related motivations than by education, science literacy or geography. Because these roots are moralized and identity-linked, energy debates easily escalate into intergroup conflict and are vulnerable to exploitation by those invested in maintaining the status quo. Drawing on these insights, I describe various strategies to foster more constructive dialogue about renewable energy trade-offs and to reduce the influence of bad-faith disinformation campaigns.
