LPPL psychologists are associated with a European research program led by Angers Loire Métropole which aims to support changes in the behavior of residents of collective housing.
The Ambition project (Action for Multifamily Buildings Innovation and TransitIon tOward Neutrality) aims to develop new tools and methodologies to encourage changes in residents’ behavior and support the ecological transition. It targets collective buildings, and aims to bring them towards carbon neutrality.
Funded by the European Commission, under the call for projects NetZeroCitiesthis 2-year program, launched in September 2024, is supported by Angers Loire Métropole. It involves different services from the urban area, but also actors from civil society and the private sector (WeAct), responsible for leading the low carbon challenge (thematic workshops around the environment, food, waste, etc.), and researchers.
Bringing together academics from Angers and Nantes, the Pays de la Loire psychology laboratory (LPPL) is responsible for one of the components. It aims to “identify the brakes and levers of behavioral changes”, explains Jérémy Besnard, lecturer in neuropsychology, who is leading the action with his Nantes colleague Audrey Pelt, lecturer in social and environmental psychology. More precisely, LPPL researchers will focus on characterizing the variables associated with changes in individual and collective practices.
Quantitative and qualitative studies
To do this, with the help of a specially recruited post-doctoral researcher, Anita Bec-Gérion, a first phase will consist of carrying out a psychosocial diagnosis of the behaviors of around a hundred residents of six co-ownerships, using different methods, over a period of six months. “This will make it possible to evaluate the brakes and socio-cognitive levers of ecological transition behaviors, which we can correlate with the results of the carbon assessments of these people which will be carried out by our partners,” says Audrey Pelt.
The second action “will target driving groups, that is to say a restricted set of co-owners, specifies Jérémy Besnard. The objective of this qualitative analysis by means of focus group will be to understand their representation of the ecological transition and to study how these decision-makers react to the implementation of an ecological transition action plan.
The results of this study, which also involves professors Philippe Allain (Angers) and Ghozlane Fleury-Bahi (Nantes) will be known in 2026.
