Climate change is increasingly affecting our environment, making it essential to adopt decisions that take long-term consequences into account. In practice people often prioritize short-term benefits, which can limit the implementation of sustainable measures needed to maintain healthy forests and resilient buildings in the future.

In the project Socio-psychological aspects of LOng-Term High-impact decisions of private forest and home owners (SLOTH), researchers explore how private forest owners and private home owners make long-term decisions related to climate change emissions reduction and adaptation, as well as the social, psychological and contextual factors influence these decisions. The project seeks to better understand how today’s choices shape future economic, environmental and climate-related value.

Private forest and home owners are increasingly affected with the impacts of droughts, storms and other extreme events. This raises the question of whether different decisions could help mitigate these impacts or support better adaptation, for example through the selection of more sustainable materials and practices. The SLOTH research team investigates how personal attitudes, social norms and broader contextual circumstances shape such high-impact decisions.

One of the project’s key objectives is to identify the barriers that discourage long-term thinking, as well as the factors that encourage it. The team employs a range of methods, including interviews, surveys and environmental science tools such as life cycle assessment, to explore potential synergies, necessary trade-offs and the drivers behind high-impact decision-making.

The SLOTH project (J7-60122) began in May 2025 and will run until April 2028. It is coordinated by InnoRenew CoE, UP IAM and led by Dr. Ana Slavec. The research team also includes Dr. Michael Burnard, Dr. Balazs David, Dr. Laszlo Hajdu, Dr. Sonja Jantar, Dr. Miklos Kresz, Dr. Lea Primožič and Una Vuletić. The other project partner is the Institute for Environmental Systems Sciences at the University of Graz. The project is funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency.

Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of how private owners make long-term decisions with significant environmental impacts and the development of practical guidance to support them in this process. The research also contributes to advancing knowledge in climate and environmental psychology and sociology.

Authors: Dr. Ana Slavec, Dr. Lea Primožič, Lara Prah