Resources

by Kira Sullivan-Wiley, in Issues in Brief, Pardee School of Global Studies, September 2020.

“While it is clear to conservation organizations that they need to work with people to change their behavior in order to achieve sustained environmental benefits and conservation, it is less clear that these organizations are embracing and applying social science and insights from behavioral sciences in order to achieve results. A handful of recent examples, however, may indicate that there is a nascent movement in the direction of change within these organizations.

In order to qualify as behavioral science work, a project needs to intentionally apply a behavioral insight, gather scientific data to guide its application to change behavior (ideally in an experimental design), and then measure outcomes in order to determine causality…

Cinner (2018) argues that the integration of behavioral science into conservation work has potential, but that practitioners lack an appropriate operational framework to make it happen [emphasis added]. In essence, to implement behavior change science for conservation, we need to apply a behavior change approach to the practitioners themselves. What are the barriers they face in doing behavior change work? Through what mechanisms can they be nudged to change how they do ‘conservation’?”

by Ann Christiano & Annie Neimand, in Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2017.

“Because abundant research shows that people who are simply given more information are unlikely to change their beliefs or behavior, it’s time for activists and organizations seeking to drive change in the public interest to move beyond just raising awareness. It wastes a lot of time and money for important causes that can’t afford to sacrifice either. Instead, social change activists need to use behavioral science to craft campaigns that use messaging and concrete calls to action that get people to change how they feel, think, or act, and as a result create long-lasting change.”

Diogo Verissimo & Isa Pinho, in Oryx, 2023.

“The loss of biodiversity is influenced by the choices we consciously make, individually and collectively, on a daily basis. Given the importance of this issue and the absence of an expert group focused on influencing human behaviour, the IUCN through its Commissions for Species Survival and Education and Communication created a Behaviour Change Task Force in May 2023.”

by P. Wesley Schultz, in Psychology of Sustainable Development, Chapter 4, 2002.

“Human survival is directly tied to our relationship with the natural environment. Achieving a sustainable lifestyle depends on establishing a balance between the consumption of individuals, and the capacity of the natural environment for renewal. Yet, we often act as if we are separate from nature - as if we can get along without nature. Indeed, built environments serve as barriers between individuals and the natural environments in which they live. Offices, schools, homes, cars, restaurants, shopping malls, and many other built environments segregate people from nature. This chapter examines the implicit connection that individuals make between self and nature, and the impact of built environments on these implicit cognitions. A psychological model for inclusion with nature is presented, containing cognitive (connectedness), affective (caring), and behavioral (commitment) components. Implications for theory, design, and sustainability are discussed.”

by Robert Gifford, in American Psychologist, May-June 2011.

“Many people already are taking action in response to the challenges from climate change, but many others are hindered by one or more of these barriers to action. The structural barriers should be removed by such forces as legislation and urban renewal, but this action is not likely to be sufficient. Psychologists and other social scientists have an important role to play if the many psychological barriers are to be overcome…”

by Doug McKenzie-Mohr, in International Journal of Sustainability, 2008.

“Community-based social marketing is based upon research in the social sciences that demonstrates that behavior change is often most effectively achieved through initiatives delivered at the community level that focus on removing barriers to an activity while simultaneously enhancing the activity’s benefits. Community-based social marketing merges knowledge from the social sciences with knowledge from the field of social marketing…”

by Sarah Spooner, Susan Walker, Simon Dowell, & Andrew Moss, in Biological Conservation, March 2023.

The role of zoos has historically been categorised as fitting within the four pillars of conservation, education, research, and recreation. These ‘pillars’ no longer align with present day conservation zoos which provide a vast spectrum of services for species and society. However, in the absence of a new model, the value of zoos has been underestimated and under-supported. We propose a new model and assessment framework for viewing conservation zoos, with the zoo at the centre of a web of conservation and societal activities. We acknowledge zoos' potential as conservation hubs able to provide advice and skills to communities and policy makers. We also reflect on the criticisms and conservation challenges faced by zoos which may prevent them fulfilling their full potential and how these might impact their future role.

by Sarah Fries, Julie Cook, & Jennifer Kristin Lynes, in Social Marketing Quarterly, 2020.

“Similarly, the other most commonly discussed challenge that programs faced was related to accessing resources. Resources include financial resources, as well as the resources that employees provide to programs, including time and effort, and the physical and intangible resources required to implement the program. In the case of both of these challenges, managerial buy-in and momentum from high-level decision-makers are often required. In order to achieve this buy-in, increased information and training about behaviour change frameworks like CBSM, as well as advocating for the importance of collecting household data, is likely required.”

Rewild Carbon is Durrell's wild, colourful and impactful carbon balancing programme. We reduce carbon in the atmosphere by rewilding threatened ecosystems which are rich in wildlife.

Our projects are designed together with local communities to benefit sustainable livelihoods. Together, we know the wildlife, the threats and the land best.

Our first Rewild Carbon project is in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, where we are restoring forest corridors to create lifelines for wildlife. It is one of the most species-rich habitats on the planet, yet only 6% of it remains, in scattered fragments.

by Ada Sánchez-Mercado, María Daniela Pineda, Lisandro Moran, Arlene Cardozo-Urdaneta, Alejandro Díaz, Félix Moya, in Tools for Designing Behavioral Change Campaigns to Reduce Wildlife Demand (book), 2022.

“The Flying Together Initiative combines concepts and tools from the social sciences and ecology to design, implement, and evaluate behavior change campaigns focused on reducing demand for wildlife. Our case studies include two species of Venezuelan birds, threatened by illegal wildlife trade: the Red Siskin (Spinus cucullatus) and the Yellow shouldered Amazon (Amazona barbadensis).

Through a series of toolkits, organized into three modules, the Flying Together Initiative shares both the technical knowledge to implement a behavior change campaign, as well as the experiences gained during our own campaigns…”

by Ada Sánchez-Mercado, María Daniela Pineda, Lisandro Moran, Arlene Cardozo-Urdaneta, Alejandro Díaz, Félix Moya, in Tools for Designing Behavioral Change Campaigns to Reduce Wildlife Demand (book), 2022.

“Concepts and strategies for integrating baseline information with planning strategies to design campaigns based on the best and most up-to-date scientific information.”

by Uri Gneezy, Stephan Meier, & Pedro Rey-Biel, in Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 2011.

“When explicit incentives seek to change behavior in areas like education, contributions to public goods, and forming habits, a potential conflict arises between the direct extrinsic effect of the incentives and how these incentives can crowd out intrinsic motivations in the short run and the long run. In education, such incentives seem to have moderate success when the incentives are well-specified and well-targeted (“read these books” rather than “read books”), although the jury is still out regarding the long-term success of these incentive programs. In encouraging contributions to public goods, one must be very careful when designing the incentives to prevent adverse changes in social norms, image concerns, or trust. In the emerging literature on the use of incentives for lifestyle changes, large enough incentives clearly work in the short run and even in the middle run, but in the longer run the desired change in habits can again disappear.”