Understanding public attitudes and community responses to shale gas development is a key social science research area, with relevance for communities directly affected by shale gas projects, for developers’ ‘social license to operate’ and for UK policy on energy and climate change.

The ASSIST (Attitudes to Shale gaS In Space and Time) project is led by academics at Exeter, Stirling, Edinburgh, Heriot Watt and Cardiff Universities. It will shed light on how public responses to shale gas unfold over time at national, regional and local levels. By doing so it will address several gaps in knowledge, providing robust evidence to inform public debate, policy and industry actions.

Participating researchers:

Prof. Patrick Devine-Wright, University of Exeter

Prof. Lorraine Whitmarsh, Cardiff University

Dr. Jennifer Dickie, Stirling University,

Dr. Darrick Evensen, Edinburgh University

Dr. Phil Bartie, Heriot-Watt University

The funding for the project comes from a programme of research on Unconventional Hydrocarbons provided by NERC/ESRC. For more info about the programme of research, see FAQs.