ACCESS (Advancing Capacity for Climate and Environmental Social Science) is a 5-year project, funded

by the Economic and Social Research Council, to champion and coordinate social science to tackle key

environmental challenges. One of our core goals is to support the development of environmental

social scientists and build capacity to enable more effective transdisciplinary working.

We hosted our first residential capacity building event - Winter School 2023 - at Cumberland Lodge,

Berkshire, UK, during January 2023. Over 3 days we welcomed 18 PhD and Early Career Researchers

working across a broad spectrum of environmental challenges. Our applicants came from a variety of

disciplinary and professional backgrounds, as well as representing a mix of demographic

characteristics, such as gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and religion.

The theme for the Winter School was “Communicating Climate and Environmental Social Science for

Impact beyond Academia”. Our programme included speakers from academia and the public sector,

and was designed to support plenty of interaction and informal networking.

We used the ACCESS Guiding Principles to inform the planning and execution of the Winter School.

For example, we took steps to support a diversity of applications and attendees, we co-produced our

programme, and we liaised with our venue to reduce the environmental impact of the event.

Feedback from delegates about Winter School 2023 was overwhelmingly positive, with people

valuing the varied programme, efforts to act in line with the ACCESS Guiding Principles, and the

opportunity to interact with “like-minded” peers and speakers in a “welcoming and supportive

environment”. Social capital analysis shows the event gave people the opportunity to better

understand the function of ACCESS and to make new, stronger connections with other people at the

Winter School.