Environmental Psychology

Course subjects range from giving a broad overview of environmental psychology towards examining practical and theoretical problems in great depth. All courses are designed to be very engaging and interactive, which challenges you to think along and not only to listen.In the future, I would like to work as an advisor on environmental issues, for an NGO, company, or the government. I am looking forward to using my knowledge of psychology to advise decision makers on how to effectively raise awareness about environmental problems and solutions, and on how to better implement interventions towards sustainability. My dream would be to work for an organization that raises awareness about the multiple environmental problems related to livestock and tries to promote ways to change people’s eating habits (at least a little bit).

In ‘Designing interventions’, for example, our project group developed an environmental intervention based on academic research, and in the ‘Working in interdisciplinary teams’ course unit we learned to approach environmental issues from the perspective of various disciplines.Before starting this Master’s, I completed a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology here in Groningen. The Master’s in Environmental Psychology enables me to put my knowledge of psychology into practice and apply it to important, urgent matters such as climate change and sustainable energy transition.We only have one exam, and apart from that we have to complete lots of papers and projects. I like how this enables us to delve more deeply into the subject matter. It also sometimes means you have to spend a long time on an assignment. It’s really challenging. We do a lot of work in small groups, and that’s also something I like, because lecturers can devote a lot of attention to us and there is a lot of room for interaction. This means that we have rather informal contact with the lecturers.I’m at the Faculty nearly every day and I really like it here – not only for the atmosphere but it also has a very nice garden and a great park nearby.

I picked Environmental Psychology because I've always been interested in sustainability, but I never found it paired with psychology until I came to the Netherlands.There are various topics within environmental psychology. I'm most interested in pro-environmental behaviour: how you act towards the environment and what you can do to make your impact on it less harmful. This is a relatively new area in the field of psychology, and there are only a few places where you can study it in Europe. I believe that reducing our impact on the ecological environment is a huge priority now, and psychology can help to tackle many environmental problems that are caused by human behaviour.

One of the course units in the programme is particularly interesting – we study a problem from everyday life. Someone from a large student association in Groningen came to tell us about a problem in his organization, namely that people are not cleaning up after themselves. We have one month to come up with an intervention which will make people clean up after themselves, without someone having to ask them every time. It's really enjoyable, and we get very good feedback from our lecturers.

I like Groningen a lot. It's beautiful and it's nice that everyone cycles. It is easy to meet people: there are a lot of student organizations and events.

I can recommend everyone to gain work experience during their studies. There are no job advertisements that say: ‘We are looking for a Social Psychologist.’ That is why it is important to develop yourself during your studies.Politics and Social Psychology proved to be a good combination for me. My knowledge about human behaviour often comes in useful. What makes people behave in a certain way? Why do people trust one politician but not the other? Those are important aspects of successful political campaigns.My master thesis was about the evaluation of a wind farm in Stadskanaal, a city near Groningen. I visited people there to ask their opinion about the wind farm and sustainable energy. The most important conclusion of my research was not very surprising, but still very valuable. To create public support for new (sustainable) plans it is important to listen to people and to take their worries seriously. In Stadskanaal that did not happen enough.I expect that the transition to a sustainable society will really take off in the next couple of years. There are many opportunities for Environmental Psychologists. Behavioural change does not come naturally, and it is often difficult. We need to change people’s behaviour step by step. That will be the big challenge for politics in the upcoming years. A challenge where politics can really use the help of psychologists.

A course I took in Environmental Psychology ended up triggering my interest for the energy sector.The program helped me develop my English and my writing skills, and it benefitted my social development and my ability to present myself. Most importantly, my study taught me to analyze and think on a certain level. That is how I landed my current job.I had a great time studying in Groningen, although it took me a bit too long. You don’t have to have everything figured out when you begin studying, but it’s important to find a goal over time. So ask yourself what you want, what you don’t want, and what you want to achieve – and then get there!

I feel really confident in conducting my own research as I had a lot of practice and preparation throughout my master’s, especially by writing my master’s thesis in Environmental Psychology. My thesis was about evaluating a water and energy conservation programme for primary school children called “Water Savers” . Coordinating this project and working with schools and practitioners will be of great help to me for future larger projects that I will design and coordinate.
I will see what the future holds. Maybe later on in life, I would like to start my own research and consultancy company in the field of sustainability. For now, I am really looking forward to working on my PhD topic for the next four years.

Examples include what motivates people to act in an environmentally friendly way, or what motivates public acceptability of energy projects.What makes this track interesting is the balance between theory and practice. Environmental Psychology has a strong theoretical approach to how we understand people’s behaviour and how to motivate environmentally friendly behaviour. Theory can be directly applied to solve practical problems. It also addresses very important social issues, for example public acceptability of gas production which causes earthquakes in the north of the Netherlands or the adoption of electric vehicles.Environmental psychology is a rapidly growing field with its own theory and research methods. Its theoretical and practical relevance is enormous, given the acute environmental challenges we are currently facing.Students learn to understand the human aspects of transitioning to a more sustainable world. We are facing a huge challenge in climate change. There is of course political willingness and technology to help tackle it, but there is also a very strong human aspect. What do people actually want? What kind of solutions do they expect? What kind of solutions are they ready to adopt? Students gain the knowledge and skillset needed to advise politicians, industry and all other actors involved in the transition to sustainability.

This was also why this Master’s was set up.It includes course units such as ‘Designing interventions’ and ‘Personal, social and cultural change’, which focus on how human behaviour can be changed, as well as ‘Environmental Psychology’, in which students learn about theories in the field of environmental psychology. The course unit that I teach focuses on cross-disciplinary collaboration and teaches students to integrate their knowledge of environmental psychology with insights from other disciplines so as to be better able to tackle environmental issues.I also supervise Master’s theses that are on the interface of environmental and social psychology. My research interest lies in the role that groups and group processes play in how people think about the environment and whether or not they display environmentally friendly behaviour.The Master’s programme has a team of excellent lecturers, who are involved in practically relevant research projects and often work together with actors in the field, such as government bodies or businesses. This helps ensure that the programme offers strong links between theory and practice. You will not only receive thorough theoretical training but also learn to apply your knowledge to practical situations, which makes you widely employable. The track offers a lot of interactive teaching and contact with lecturers, all of whom are also involved in educational innovation.And last but not least: Groningen is a great student city, and our Faculty has a beautiful garden. If you are interested in a social perspective on the environment, then Groningen is the place to be!