ORafferty - Individual & collective behaviour change - SEAI / IRC

HELLO

DR. SIMON O’RAFFERTY RESEARCH FELLOW - EPA / UL SIMONORAFFERTY@GMAIL.COM @SORAFFERTY

Design Research & Practice Review

WHAT I WILL COVER

-WHAT WE (THINK WE) KNOW ABOUT BEHAVIOUR CHANGE & SUSTAINABILITY

-POTENTIAL & LIMITATIONS OF APPROACHES

- INDIVIDUAL V.S. COLLECTIVE / COMMUNITY BEHAVIOUR

-THOUGHTS ON WAYS FORWARD IN IRELAND

WHY FOCUS ON BEHAVIOUR?

DESIGN REGULATIONS AND SERVICES BASED ON ACTUAL, NOT ASSUMED, BEHAVIOURS

LIMITED SUCCESS OF EXISTING POLICIES

PIECEMEAL, INDIVIDUALISTIC INTERVENTIONS

EVERY PIECE OF DESIGN “ENCODES A HYPOTHESIS ABOUT HUMAN BEHAVIOUR” adam greenfield

EVEN IF NOT EXPLICITLY RECOGNISED, WE APPROACH

PROBLEMS WITH SOME MODEL OR ASSUMPTION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

WHAT WE KNOW

DECISION MAKING IS RARELY RATIONAL

SUBJECT TO SEVERAL COGNITIVE BIASES (E.G. OVERCONFIDENCE)

STRUGGLE WITH TOO MUCH INFORMATION OR TOO MUCH CHOICE

DECISIONS ARE CONTEXTUAL & SOCIAL

WHAT WE KNOW

DISCOUNT FUTURE BENEFITS

PEOPLE ARE STRONGLY WEDDED TO CURRENT SITUATIONS: ENDOWMENT EFFECT, LOSS AVERSION, STATUS QUO BIAS - STRUCTURES

SHOCK / GUILT (SOCIAL MARKETING) DOESN’T WORK

WHAT WE KNOW

LARGE GAPS BETWEEN MOTIVATIONS, ATTITUDES, VALUES & BEHAVIOUR

- INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE DOESN’T NECESSARILY CHANGE BEHAVIOUR

WHAT WE KNOW

DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR - ONE OFF, HABITS

- CAN’T USE SAME APPROACH FOR ALL

adapted from Chatterton, 2014

adapted from Chatterton, 2014

DIFFUSE, DISTANT AND DELAYED

CHALLENGES

RISKS OF REBOUND EFFECTS, MORAL LICENSING

NO SPILLOVER OR LOW PERSISTENCE

BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

THE USE OF PRODUCTS, SERVICES, POLICIES, INCENTIVES, REGULATIONS, INTERFACES, BUILDINGS, ENVIRONMENTS THAT ENABLE, MOTIVATE, CONSTRAIN OR OTHERWISE INFLUENCE PEOPLE TO DO THINGS IN DIFFERENT WAYS

BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS ≠

BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS ≠

NUDGING

MAKE IT SOCIAL

MAKE IT DEFAULT

FRAMING - GETTING THE MESSAGE RIGHT

14 x

INDIVIDUAL V.S. COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR

V.S. TRANSITION

WHY COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR?

TENDENCY TO FOCUS ON SMALL PROBLEMS OR INDIVIDUAL AS A CONSUMER

ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OCCUR WHEN LOTS OF PEOPLE BEHAVE IN CERTAIN WAYS

FOCUSSING ON INDIVIDUALS IS INEFFICIENT

LEARNING FROM EXISTING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY PROJECTS

SPEAKING TO COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS AROUND IRELAND

COMMUNITY LEVEL BARRIERS

LACK OF INTERNAL CAPACITY (SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, FINANCE)

LACK OF A CRITICAL MASS OF COMMITTED INDIVIDUALS

LOW SOCIAL CAPITAL, CONNECTEDNESS AND INFLUENCE

CONFUSING RANGE OF SOURCES OF INFO/GUIDANCE

PLUS MANY MORE…..

WE HAVE COMMUNITY PLANNING / TRANSITION FRAMEWORKS

WE HAVE LOTS OF TOOLKITS AND STRATEGIES

IMPLEMENTATION IS PATCHY & UNEVENLY DISTRIBUTED

WHY DO SOME PLACES AND COMMUNITIES PROVIDE MUCH BETTER ENVIRONMENT FOR INNOVATION & TRANSITION THAN OTHERS??

“HOW DO HUMAN BEINGS MOST EFFECTIVELY WORK

TOGETHER?”

HOW HUMANS ORGANISE

HIERARCHICAL SOLIDARISTIC INDIVIDUALISTIC

HOW HUMANS ORGANISE

HIERARCHICAL SOLIDARISTIC INDIVIDUALISTIC

EQUALITY, MEMBERSHIP SHARED VALUES, BELONGING

- INCLUSIVE, ALTRUISTIC, PASSIONATE - SECTARIAN, DEFENSIVE, OPPOSITIONAL

AUTHORITY, RULES, EXPERTISE

- STRATEGIC, VISION, - SELF SERVING, BUREAUCRATIC

PURSUIT OF SELF INTEREST, ENTERPRISE, COMPETITION

- CREATIVE, ENTERPRISING, INNOVATIVE

- SELFISH, IRRESPONSIBLE

HOW HUMANS ORGANISE?

HIERARCHICAL

SOLIDARISTIC

INDIVIDUALISTIC

CAUSE BASED STRATEGICALLY FOCUSSED HIERARCHY SOLIDARITY BASED ON COLLABORATION & A SHARED COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE MODEL FOR ORGANISING THAT MAXIMISES SCOPE FOR CREATIVITY AND AUTONOMY

CREATIVE COMMUNITIES WITH A CAUSE

CHARLES LEADBEATER

SUMMARY

DESIGN REGULATIONS AND SERVICES BASED ON ACTUAL, NOT ASSUMED, BEHAVIOURS

DESIGN POLICIES AND SERVICES THAT HELP COMMUNITIES MAKE BETTER DECISIONS AND TAKE ACTION FOR THEMSELVES

➡ REMOVE FRICTIONS, BUILD CAPACITY & AGENCY, PARTICIPATION, EMPOWERMENT

SUMMARY

APPLY AN ITERATIVE PROCESS OF DISCOVERY, LEARNING AND ADAPTATION.

A MULTI-MODEL APPROACH

SPARK THE CAPACITY OF INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES TO SOLVE PROBLEMS, TO BE INNOVATIVE, TO BE CREATIVE

RESEARCH CAPACITY?

thank you