Study title

United Kingdom, Brazil, Fiji, Kenya, Mozambique

Individual

The interviews and focus groups were carried out between 2021-2023. The selection of the respondents across the cases was based on the relevance of the positions that they hold in university departments (both staff and students), government organisations, non-government organisations and communities. Interviews were carried out with individuals, and were semi-structured, with a flexible schedule of questions that was particular to each context. Focus group discussions were carried out with small groups (mainly students) with a small list of questions for sparking discussion.The design of the survey was as follows: Part 1 of the survey began with questions on student background and demographics. It collects data on key background and socio-economic characteristics (e.g., gender, age, assets) which may be expected to be important predictors of attitudes, beliefs and actions examined in the parts of the survey that follow. It also collected data on the year of study and course of study, as disciplinary areas are expected to influence students’ responses throughout the survey. For part 2, the survey explored three aspects of the relationship between students and their universities: their perceptions of climate-related initiatives at the university; their experience and learning at the university; and their engagement and action in climate-related activities. To examine the first aspect, the survey questions were inspired by the work of Leal Filho et al. (2019), who aimed to analyse evidence on climate change scepticism at universities. To examine the second aspect, the survey was structured to investigate of students’ experience at the university, considering the learning process on climate change and topics related to sustainable development. “Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science” (Global Change Research Program, 2009) was used to inform question development on the topic of climate change education. Finally, to examine the third aspect the focus was on assessing students’ engagement and action on climate-related opportunities – with specific questions on learning, research and outreach initiatives, developed based on the experience of the research team across these areas. (Further details on the survey design can be found in "Technical Note:The design and implementation of the Climate-U survey ‘Climate Change –Practices, Experiences and Attitudes’").The survey was conducted between 2021–2022 with undergraduate students at each of the 12 participating institutions in Brazil, Fiji, Kenya and Mozambique, coordinated by a lead partner university in each country (University of Passo Fundo in Brazil, University of the South Pacific in Fiji, Kenyatta University in Kenya and Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique). The sample aimed to draw from the major disciplinary areas of arts/humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.