Designing for pro-environmentalbehaviour change

Samuel Smith, BioRegional

Ecobuild 2011

Designing for pro-environmental behaviour change by Samuel Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.bioregional.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.bioregional.com

Today

PART 1 Understanding behaviours

PART 2 Solutions and methods

PART 3 Activity

About BioRegional Development Group

• Environmental Charity• Practical Solutions• BedZED• One Planet

Programme

Solutions for sustainability

One Planet Companies

One Planet Communities

One Planet Regions

BioRegional Production

UK three planet challenge

BioRegional works with partners to demonstrate solutions for…

Products & supply chains: wood, construction materials, food, paper

Communities: new, retrofit, energy, transport, sustainable lifestyles

90% carbon reduction - indications it can be done…

BioRegional projects and companies• BedZED eco-village (72% -100% CO2)

•Local paper loop (93% EF, 78% energy)

•Local charcoal (85% transport CO2)

Real-life case studies

Behaviour change

Behaviour. the response of an individual or group to its environment

Change. to make different

Influencers of behaviour

Structural

Is the infrastructure or technology

available?

e.g. public transport, recycling bins, renewables, low impact materials

Financial

Is it affordable?

e.g. incentives, tax breaks, loans, feed-in tariff, trading,

other costs

Social

Is the behaviour normal and acceptable?

e.g. will my neighbours accept my wind turbine? Will

my family let me be a vegetarian?

Personal

Do I want to do anything?

e.g. hassle, attitude, skills, time, competing behaviours

The value-action gap

Values

Action

“I want to do something about the environment”

Social and personal barriers

A lack of consistency between values and actions can make people feel uncomfortable

This is resolved by either:

1.Behaviour change2.Changing values, attitudes or beliefs3.Denial through justification or rationalisation

Values

Action

This is resolved by either:

1.Behaviour change2.Changing values, attitudes or beliefs3.Denial through justification or rationalisation

“It’s other people’s fault” “It’s out of my hands”

“It won’t affect me”

“It’s too hard”

Values

Action

1. Structural e.g. no public transport

3. Social e.g. no one else is doing it

4. Personal e.g. hassle, time

2. Financial e.g. don’t have money

CatalystsBarriers Solutions

Ideas for One Planet LivingStructuralStructural FinanceFinance SocialSocial PersonalPersonal

Sustainable Transport

5 minute living conceptat Sanoma Mountain Village

5 minutes walk

StructuralStructural

Structural

• 3 years before the bid – 41 Accidents, 16 involving children

• 13 months since completing the scheme, 6 slight, 1 involving a child

• Traffic speed reduced

• Residents’ association still going strong

Transport: Home Zones in West SussexStructuralStructural

One Planet Food in Sutton

FinancialFinancial

WasteSegregated waste bins and easy

access to recycling points:60% recycling rate (local avg~ 30%)

BedZED

TransportCar clubs helping reduce car

ownershipFree electric charge points

SocialSocial

Energy

PersonalPersonal

Energy

PersonalPersonal

Energy

Pay as you save

Energy

PersonalPersonal

But beware…

Efficiency doesn’t always guarantee carbon savings

Efficiency doesn’t always guarantee carbon savings

Saved: £45 / year Saved: 150 kg CO2

Efficiency doesn’t always guarantee carbon savings

Saved: £45 / year Saved: 150 kg CO2

£45 can buy

Cheap flight to turkey~ 1,000 kg CO2

7 yoga classes~ 0 kg CO2

Avoiding rebounds

1. A holistic approach2.…. that aims for spillovers

Spillover is the idea that if you encourage people to undertake one environmentally-friendly behaviour they'll be more likely to try another.

Applying all this theory

Our approach

1Identify

your aims

2Know your audience

3Develop

messages

4Choose your messenger

5Engage

6Monitor & evaluate

7Exemplify

2Know your audience

• Are there any key influencers in the audience?• What incentives will interest them?

Settlers Driven by safety, security, belongingInterested in energy security, safety, saving money

Prospectors Driven by success, self-esteemInterested in popular schemes, top tips etc

Pioneers Driven by ethics, exploration, innovationInterested in emerging technologies, being a role model

3Develop

messages

• Be positive – sell the vision• Avoid jargon• Avoid green wash• Keep it simple• Keep it balanced and honest

3Develop

messages

Positive messages

3Develop

messages

Bad messages

“If everyone in the UK washed their laundry just ten degrees cooler we would need one less 250MW power station!!”

4Choose your messenger

5Engage

80% reduction in splashes observed because it gives men something to aim at, and stops them being distracted

5Engage

80% reduction in splashes observed because it gives men something to aim at, and stops them being distracted

5Engage

A nudge is a small thing that attracts our attention and changes our behaviour.

Minor interventions which operate unnoticed in the background. As opposed to a shove.

5Engage

A nudge is a small thing that attracts our attention and changes our behaviour.

A minor interventions which operate unnoticed in the background. As opposed to a shove.

6Monitor & evaluate

7Exemplify

Questions&

Activity

Useful sources

• One Planet Communities – Pooran Desai

• CAT - Zero Carbon 2030• Green Alliance publications• Futerra publications• COIN network• UK Gov - MINDSPACE• Defra – Engagement model• Kaizen Partnership – Engagement

Thanks for coming

Please fill out a feedback form

Samuel Smithsam.smith@bioregional.com

Designing for pro-environmental behaviour change by Samuel Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.bioregional.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.bioregional.com