Applications are open for the Princeton Winter School in Behavioral Science for Climate Action 2027, an intensive five-day, in-person programme bringing together researchers, policymakers, advocates, organizational leaders, and practitioners interested in using behavioral science to accelerate meaningful climate action.

Scheduled for January 19–23, 2027, the winter school will take place at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. The programme is designed around a central challenge confronting climate policy and sustainability professionals worldwide: understanding human behavior is not enough—the critical task is translating behavioral science into interventions that actually work in communities, organizations, institutions, and policy systems.

The Princeton Winter School addresses this “theory-to-impact gap” by combining expert-led teaching with collaborative intervention design. Participants will examine the psychological, social, political, and institutional forces that influence climate-related behavior and then apply those insights to real-world climate challenges drawn from their own professional or community contexts.

A particularly important feature is that the programme is free of charge for accepted participants. Tuition and programme materials are fully subsidized, while limited needs-based support for travel and campus lodging is available to students.

About the Princeton Winter School in Behavioral Science for Climate Action

Climate action is often discussed as a technological, economic, or political challenge. However, achieving meaningful progress also depends heavily on human behavior.

Individuals must decide whether to adopt sustainable practices. Communities must build support for new interventions. Organizations must change routines and incentives. Governments must develop policies that people understand, accept, and follow. Political and institutional environments can either encourage climate action or create barriers to it.

The Princeton Winter School is built around the idea that behavioral science can help explain these processes.

The programme examines why people respond to climate change in different ways and how factors such as cognition, emotions, values, identity, motivation, social influence, institutional signals, organizational structures, and political contexts shape climate-related decisions.

Rather than treating these concepts purely theoretically, the winter school asks participants to apply them to concrete climate challenges.

Across five days, participants move repeatedly between:

• Expert lectures
• Guided discussion
• Behavioral diagnosis
• Collaborative problem solving
• Intervention design
• Implementation planning
• Evaluation planning
• Peer feedback
• Final presentations

The result is an interdisciplinary learning environment connecting academic behavioral science with practical climate policy and action.

Princeton Winter School 2027 Dates and Location

The programme website lists the winter school dates as:

January 19–23, 2027

The event will be conducted in person at:

Louis A. Simpson International Building
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey 08544
United States Princeton Winter Sch

Participants should plan to attend the entire five-day programme because the curriculum is cumulative. Each day’s work contributes to the intervention proposal developed by the participant’s group.

One minor scheduling point should be verified directly with organizers: the practical-information page describes January 19–23 as “Monday to Friday,” while those calendar dates in 2027 fall Tuesday through Saturday. Applicants should therefore rely on the final schedule and logistical instructions issued by the programme before making non-refundable travel arrangements.

What Makes the Princeton Winter School Different?

The programme is structured around two interconnected tracks.

Learn the Behavioral Science

Participants will attend expert-led lectures and discussions examining the scientific processes behind climate-related behavior.

Topics include areas such as:

• Cognition
• Emotion
• Risk perception
• Motivation
• Values
• Moral obligation
• Personal norms
• Social identity
• Political identity
• Social influence
• Concern for future generations
• Institutional signals
• Organizational contexts
• Political cooperation
• Public support for climate measures

Participants will also explore how interventions operating at different levels can be combined rather than relying on a single behavioral mechanism.

Put the Science Into Practice

The second track centers on the Behavioral Challenge Labs.

Applicants submit a real climate-action challenge encountered in their work or community. Five submitted challenges will be selected, and each will be assigned to a small group of approximately four participants bringing together research and practice perspectives.

Each group will work on the same challenge throughout the programme.

With facilitator support, teams will gradually move from diagnosing the problem to designing a practical intervention.

This approach is important because climate problems rarely result from one isolated behavioral barrier. Effective interventions may need to address individual motivation, social norms, institutional incentives, organizational structures, stakeholder interests, political signals, and implementation constraints simultaneously.

What Participants Will Do in the Behavioral Challenge Labs

The Behavioral Challenge Labs provide a structured process for turning a broad climate concern into a practical intervention.

Teams will work to:

1. Define a specific behavioral challenge.
2. Identify the relevant population.
3. Define the setting in which the behavior occurs.
4. Diagnose barriers at the individual level.
5. Examine social norms and relationships.
6. Assess institutional and organizational barriers.
7. Map relevant stakeholders.
8. Identify possible intervention components.
9. Explain how different intervention components reinforce one another.
10. Develop an implementation pathway.
11. Develop an evaluation approach.
12. Examine feasibility and resource requirements.
13. Consider equity implications.
14. Identify potential unintended consequences.
15. Prepare and present a final intervention proposal.

This makes the winter school particularly relevant to applicants who already have a climate-related challenge they want to examine more systematically.

Princeton Winter School 2027 Five-Day Programme

Day 1: Understanding Individual Behavior

The first day focuses on the individual processes influencing climate action.

Participants will examine how:

• Attention
• Cognition
• Emotions
• Risk perception
• Values
• Motivation
• Personal norms

can affect whether individuals engage in climate-friendly behavior.

Behavioral Challenge Lab teams will use these concepts to identify individual-level barriers affecting their selected climate challenge.

By the end of the day, each group should have developed a clearly defined problem and an initial behavioral diagnosis.

Day 2: Understanding Social Influence

The second day shifts attention from individuals to social relationships and identity.

Participants will explore:

• Social identity
• Political identity
• Social norms
• Relationships
• Group influence
• Concern for other people
• Potential messengers
• Allies
• Sources of resistance

The programme will examine circumstances in which social influence can motivate climate action as well as situations in which it may create resistance.

Lab groups will produce a social-level diagnosis and stakeholder map.

Day 3: Understanding Institutional Contexts

Climate behavior does not occur in isolation. Organizational practices, policies, infrastructure, government decisions, and political signals can strongly shape what people are able or willing to do.

The third day therefore examines institutional influences.

Participants will consider how:

• Organizational systems
• Government policy
• Political signals
• Infrastructure
• Institutional rules
• Incentives
• Constraints

affect climate behavior.

Teams will then integrate their individual, social, and institutional diagnoses into an initial intervention concept.

Day 4: Designing for Implementation

The fourth day focuses on turning behavioral insights into a realistic intervention.

Participants will consider how multiple intervention components can work together, where conflicts could arise, and what resources and partnerships implementation would require.

Groups will refine their proposals through facilitated design sessions and peer feedback.

Their plans are expected to address:

• Delivery
• Stakeholder responsibilities
• Resources
• Implementation
• Evaluation
• Feasibility

By the end of Day 4, teams should have a full draft intervention proposal and presentation.

Day 5: Behavioral Science for Climate Action Forum

The final day is structured around the Behavioral Science for Climate Action Forum.

Teams will present their proposals to:

• Other participants
• Lecturers
• Facilitators
• Invited stakeholders

Presentations will cover the climate challenge, behavioral diagnosis, proposed intervention, implementation pathway, evaluation approach, and major constraints.

Participants will receive expert and peer feedback and revise their intervention proposals accordingly.

The programme concludes with a broader discussion about what enables—and what prevents—behavioral science from generating meaningful real-world climate impact.

What Participants Should Learn

By the end of the winter school, participants should be better equipped to define climate problems behaviorally rather than only in broad policy terms.

Expected learning outcomes include the ability to:

• Define climate-action challenges in specific behavioral terms.
• Diagnose individual-level barriers.
• Identify relevant social influences.
• Understand institutional constraints.
• Select behavioral interventions suited to particular barriers.
• Combine different intervention components coherently.
• Develop stakeholder-engagement plans.
• Design implementation strategies.
• Develop evaluation plans.
• Communicate intervention proposals effectively.

Participants should also leave with practical tools for analyzing future climate challenges beyond the specific project developed during the programme.

Who Should Apply?

The organizers welcome applicants from both research and professional backgrounds.

Early-Career Researchers

Graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, advanced master’s students, and other early-career researchers can use the programme to deepen their understanding of behavioral science and its application to climate action.

The programme may be particularly valuable to researchers working in areas such as psychology, behavioral science, public policy, environmental studies, sustainability, political science, economics, organizational behavior, communication, or related fields.

The official website does not, however, restrict applicants to a particular academic discipline.

Policymakers

Government and policy professionals can learn how behavioral evidence can be incorporated into practical climate-policy interventions.

The programme may help policymakers better understand why technically sound policies sometimes struggle to gain public participation or institutional support.

Advocates and Change-Makers

Advocacy professionals can explore how behavioral insights relate to communications, public engagement, mobilization, social norms, and climate-action campaigns.

The application page specifically includes advocates and change-makers among the target groups.

Industry Professionals

Professionals working in private-sector sustainability, ESG, climate strategy, employee engagement, organizational change, and related fields can examine how behavioral science can improve sustainability initiatives and help organizations encourage meaningful climate action.

Organizational Leaders

Managers and organizational leaders interested in influencing workplace behavior, sustainability culture, and institutional practices may also benefit from the programme.

Is the Princeton Winter School Fully Funded?

The most accurate description is that the programme itself is fully subsidized, but not every participant is automatically fully funded for travel and accommodation.

The registration fee is:

$0

The winter school covers:

• Tuition
• Programme participation
• Programme materials

for accepted participants. Princeton Winter Sch

However, participants generally remain responsible for travel and accommodation unless financial support is specifically awarded.

Travel and Accommodation Funding

The programme states that limited travel stipends and campus lodging are available to students who demonstrate financial need.

Financial-support applications are:

• Needs-based
• Submitted at the same time as the main winter-school application

Therefore, applicants seeking funding should request it through the programme application rather than expecting a separate funding round later.

The practical-information page otherwise states that participants are responsible for arranging their own lodging. Preferred-rate accommodation options near campus are identified for attendees.

Applicants should therefore distinguish between:

Programme cost: Fully subsidized.

Travel and accommodation: Normally participant responsibility, although limited needs-based support is available to qualifying students.

Meals Provided During the Programme

Daily breakfast and lunch are scheduled to be provided at Princeton’s Prospect House.

The organizers state that vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options will be available.

Most dinners are independent.

However, the programme includes:

• A Tuesday Welcome Banquet
• A Friday Closing Forum meal arrangement

Participants with allergies or specific dietary requirements are advised to communicate those needs to the organizers in advance.

Accommodation Around Princeton University

Participants who are not receiving campus lodging support are responsible for booking their own accommodation.

The programme identifies several nearby options for which preferred rates have been arranged, including:

• Nassau Inn
• Graduate Princeton
• Hyatt Place
• Chauncey Hotel

Applicants should not book accommodation until they understand whether they will receive financial support and have confirmed their participation arrangements.

Travel to Princeton

For participants flying into the United States, the programme identifies Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) as the closest major airport.

Philadelphia International Airport and the major New York City airports are also accessible through rail or shuttle connections.

Rail travelers can use the NJ Transit Northeast Corridor service to Princeton Junction and then connect to Princeton by the local “Dinky” shuttle train.

On campus, Princeton’s TigerTransit shuttle system provides transportation.

Accessibility

The Louis A. Simpson International Building is described by the organizers as ADA-compliant, including ramps, elevators, and accessible doorways.

Participants requiring accommodations such as:

• Assistive listening technology
• Alternative-format materials
• Mobility assistance

are asked to contact the organizers in advance.

The programme’s practical-information page lists December 15 as the requested date for communicating specific accessibility arrangements.

Daily Schedule

Sessions are expected to run approximately:

9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time

Optional networking events may take place in the evenings.

A detailed schedule is expected to be provided to registered participants approximately two weeks before the programme begins.

Most sessions will not be streamed or recorded because the programme is designed around active discussion and collaborative problem solving.

The organizers indicate that selected lectures may instead be summarized in a public post-event report.

Continued Collaboration After the Winter School

The programme is intended to generate collaboration beyond the five days in Princeton.

Planned follow-up activities include:

• Team check-ins after the school.
• Continued collaboration among group members.
• An invitation to contribute to a co-authored perspective article addressing how behavioral science can be translated into real-world impact.

This component could be particularly valuable for early-career researchers and professionals seeking longer-term interdisciplinary connections.

Organizers and Faculty Leadership

The programme website identifies:

Anandita Sabherwal — Teaching & Design Co-Lead

Danielle Goldwert — Teaching & Design Co-Lead

Elke Weber — Faculty Advisor

The programme is structured around expert-led teaching and collaboration among researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of climate action and behavioral science.

Application Process

Applicants can access the application through the Princeton Winter School website.

Princeton Winter School application page

The application is hosted through a Princeton-linked Qualtrics form. Princeton Winter Sch

Applicants should be prepared to explain:

• Their academic or professional background.
• Their involvement in climate action.
• Why behavioral science is relevant to their work.
• What they hope to gain from the programme.
• What perspectives they can contribute to the cohort.
• A real climate-action challenge from their work or community that could potentially be used in a Behavioral Challenge Lab.

Candidates requesting travel or accommodation support should also complete the needs-based funding portion of the application.

Application Deadline

The application deadline is:

November 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST.

Prospective participants should avoid waiting until the final hours to apply, particularly those applying internationally or requesting financial assistance.

Programme Dates

The programme is scheduled for:

January 19–23, 2027

Attendance throughout the full five-day programme is expected.

Why the Programme Could Be Valuable

Climate interventions often fail not because the underlying scientific objective is wrong, but because the intervention does not adequately account for the behavior of individuals, groups, organizations, or political institutions.

The Princeton Winter School attempts to address that problem by requiring participants to analyze climate challenges at three interconnected levels:

Individual: What psychological or motivational barriers influence behavior?

Social: How do identities, relationships, norms, messengers, and group dynamics affect action?

Institutional: How do policies, infrastructure, organizations, incentives, and political contexts enable or constrain behavior?

Participants then combine these insights into interventions that include implementation and evaluation planning.

That structure makes the programme especially relevant for applicants who want to move beyond general discussion of climate behavior and develop interventions that could realistically be implemented.

Conclusion

The Princeton Winter School in Behavioral Science for Climate Action 2027 offers graduate students, researchers, policymakers, advocates, industry professionals, and organizational leaders an intensive opportunity to examine how behavioral science can be translated into practical climate solutions.

Taking place at Princeton University from January 19–23, 2027, the five-day programme combines expert instruction with collaborative Behavioral Challenge Labs in which participants develop interventions addressing real climate-action problems.

Accepted participants pay no registration or tuition fee, and programme materials are covered. Limited needs-based travel stipends and campus accommodation are available for qualifying students, while other participants should plan to cover their own travel and lodging expenses.

The programme is particularly suitable for people who already encounter climate-action challenges through research, policy, advocacy, public-sector work, organizational leadership, or private-sector sustainability initiatives and want to understand how individual, social, and institutional behavior can be influenced more effectively.

Applications must be submitted by November 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST. Princeton Winter Sch

Visit the Princeton Winter School website and apply

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