The BBC commissioned Simetrica-Jacobs to develop an approach to measuring the social impact generated by ‘The Green Planet’ programme on people’s behaviours and intentions related to the environment and sustainability. Developing a simple ‘theory of change’, viewing ‘The Green Planet’ might be expected to lead to increased awareness and understanding of plants, connectedness to the natural environment and an increase in pro-environmental behaviours. To measure impact, we designed a baseline and endline survey and sampled both BBC Green Planet viewers and non-viewers. Statistical analysis of the survey data, using regression models, was undertaken to understand the impact of watching The Green Planet series on four key areas: nature appreciation, intentions, behaviours, and subjective (reported) wellbeing. A social value assessment was carried out to calculate the benefits to individual viewers and to society using the HM Treasury Green Book (2022) methodology for valuing environmental impacts. This research was presented at the BBC’s Climate Creatives 2022 conference.
