How does individual behaviour roll into the social dynamics of collective decision-making? Can the emergent AI and socio-technical design thinking help?
We are an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Cambridge, leveraging environmental data science, computational social science, and human-in-the-loop AI design to enable collective climate action by advancing pluralism.
Theoretical frameworks related to social tipping points, distributive justice, and human behaviour guide our research. We use arrays of empirical, data-driven, and systems thinking methods to test and apply these theories for improving collective decision-making that generate direct policy implications.
The group is led by Dr Ramit Debnath, Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Social Design at the University of Cambridge. We co-lead two research labs.
Focus on the development and application of computational social science methods, building on theoretical and empirical developments in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Network theory, ML/AI, grounded theory, and behavioural science for the 3Rs (reduce misinformation, remove skepticism and recover trust).
Focus on the data-driven design of climate action and negative emission strategies across multiple sectors, including buildings and energy. We are exploring ways to put people at the centre of the net-zero transition, including assessing public perceptions and attitudes towards climate intervention technologies like solar radiation management, carbon capture and storage, etc.
Focus on the use of data science and systems approaches to design just transition pathways aligned with distributive energy and climate justice objectives.
Focus on exploring the design boundaries of human and machine intelligence systems using a FAccT (Fairness, Accountability and Transparency) lens that can be aligned to support climate mitigation and adaptation decision-making.
University of Cambridge's bold response to the climate crisis.
We are an interdisciplinary and mission-driven research group. If you have data skills and are passionate about systems thinking, we would love to co-create and co-design a resilient future with you.
