Case Studies
Colombia
Mitigating the impacts of Covid-19 in Colombia
UNDP Colombia designed and implemented an experiment to mitigate the socio-cultural and psychological barriers inhibiting the response to the pandemic and to enhance UNDP's offer to national and local governments. Focusing on economic impacts, the study was carried out between May and July 2020. The effort was based on economic analysis and the findings of the World Values Survey, and was informed by cognitive mobilization theory and the behavioral sciences. A range of insights were drawn as to how personal, social and cultural factors, in combination with environmental factors, lead to different adaptive responses among people.
Armenia
Moving citizens online in Armenia
The experiment is aimed at increasing the uptake of a unified digital portal for requests in Armenia. Citizens contacting the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports through e-mail will receive different types of notifications nudging them to submit the requests through the Government’s unified portal for online requests. The behaviour of the citizens receiving the notifications will be compared to that of a control group that will receive no notifications. The experiment aims to increase the productivity and operational efficiency of the Ministry through minimizing the time and resources required to process citizen requests, as well as through feeding the Government with real-time summary of data for more evidence-based policy and decision-making.
Lebanon
Perceptions of and Behaviours around COVID-19 in Lebanon
The UNDP Lebanon Accelerator Lab carried out research to collect data about how Lebanese residents access information about COVID-19 and their perceptions of and behaviors around COVID-19. Designed to generate both statistical and qualitative findings, the methodology consisted of a desk review, 384 phone surveys, 20 key informant interviews, and an ongoing online survey. The Lab discovered that people’s relationship to the pandemic exceeded just health considerations. Instead, perceptions, practices, and access to information were linked to the political and economic conditions of the country. According to the respondents these factors have a direct impact on their daily life. The research also found major differences in the results across different governorates and age groups, which confirmed that despite Lebanon's small size, a one-size-fits-all approach will not work. Moreover, the information landscape in Lebanon was found to significantly shape people’s perceptions and behaviours.
Ghana
Personifying recycling behaviours in Ghana
UNDP Ghana is using personas, such as Eco-Conscious Kofi, Maybe Mansa, and Just-Passing Ama, to better understand and appeal to people’s recycling behaviours. Using an information-based intervention, they assessed the extent to which attractive, localised nudges appealing to social norms and cognitive dissonance can drive behaviour change in the Ghanaian context. The focus was on shifting people from being a Just-passing Ama to a Maybe Mansa or better still an Eco-conscious Kofi or Eco-conscious Ama. Through semi-structured interviews, data analysis and observation, UNDP tracked volumes of plastic deposited at community-recycling locations, as well as perceptions of existing and potential users of the recycling service. The information intervention took the form of small billboards placed near the community-recycling bins in 2 different communities (East-Legon and Osu) in Accra. The experiment has been successful with an average 18% increase in plastics collected over a 6-week period. From a baseline of approximately 55kg per week, consumers are now depositing an average of 65kg of recyclable plastic every week, to the extent that the bins are often full, and the excess plastic has to be bagged separately. The experiment also tracked recycling rates at similar community-recycling locations across Accra as a control. Comparative analysis confirmed the positive impact of the intervention.
Eswatini
Phatsa Sakho Nawe (Bring your bag) Campaign in Eswatini
Free distribution of high volumes of single-use plastic bags by grocery retailers in Eswatini has exacerbated waste and environmental management challenges. UNDP Eswatini's Accelerator Lab ran a campaign in partnership with an environment parastatal, Eswatini Environment Authority (EEA), that introduced the non-distribution of single-use plastic bags by major retailers. The Lab ran a behavioural experiment in the form of a 13-week multimedia campaign named "Phatsa Sakho Nawe" (Bring your own bag). The campaign disseminated a set of messages to the public about the impacts of plastic bag waste, information about a gradual ban on plastic bag issuance by retailers nationwide, and encouraging consumers to bring their own carrier bag each time they go shopping. This was coupled with phased bans on plastic bag issuance in nationwide branches of five large retailers. Bans were put in place incrementally (i.e. on certain days of the week). Affordable reusable bags (provided by youth and women-led SMEs, thus also supporting their livelihoods) were available to buy as an alternative. The campaign messages were placed on posters, radio shows, TV talkshows, public transport stickers, newspapers adverts, banners and branding material in stores, social media, and through comedians. Data collection was conducted through face to face and online surveys with consumers in shopping centres, monitoring of social media conversations about the campaign, and observations in stores during days when plastic bags were not issued. Interventions had a gradual and varied impact on consumers, and encouraged more retailers (who were not originally part of the experiment) to voluntarily implement plastic-free days. The Lab's experimentation and data analysis in this area is ongoing.
Georgia
Plastic waste management in Georgia
UNDP Georgia set out to nudge citizens towards the separation of plastic waste at source, which is not a common practice in the country, due to lack of awareness as well as attitudinal and infrastructural barriers. UNDP tested whether the public would start recycling if the required infrastructure is provided. Transparent plastic waste bins were placed next to municipal bins. An accompanying communication campaign was developed based on barriers and enablers identified in the baseline study (for instance, messaging around keeping the country clean and beautiful). Two intervention groups and one control group were used. The intervention groups received an intensive communication campaign, while the control group only received the bins. The quantity and quality of waste collected in the three groups was evaluated. The local municipality has since taken over the results of the study and begun applying the principles in their daily routine.
Jordan
Positive Masculinity Campaign in Jordan
UNDP Jordan's Positive Masculinity Campaign aims to identify and highlight behavioural barriers to positive masculinity within Jordanian communities and launch an online experiment to nudge positive behaviours. The idea comes from a positive trend witnessed during Covid-19 with some men beginning to undertake household chores and tasks traditionally not viewed as male responsibilities. As part of the experiment, 20 million tweets were filtered and sentiment analysis was carried out on relevant ones. A detailed behavioural map was then prepared to find ways to sustain positive behaviours, to spark conversations on masculinities, and to motivate men to do more housework and share their experiences on social media.
Kuwait
Public sector ideathon in Kuwait
UNDP Kuwait organised a series of hackathons titled #Q8vsCovid19, seeking solutions to Covid-related issues. The second in the series was a regional ideathon which attracted participants from 17 countries and focused on solutions enhancing public sector effectiveness in times of crisis and based on lessons learned from Covid-19. The ideathon integrated behavioural insights training in the orientation curriculum and encouraged its use in the design of solutions.
Colombia
ReactivAcción in Colombia
ReactivAcción is a collective financing strategy that invites citizens and the private sector to support microentrepreneurs to recover from the Covid-19 crisis, generating employment, and reactivating the regional economy. ReactivAcción seeks to alleviate the barriers experienced by small and medium-sized companies in accessing the financial system, and offers a training programme to strengthen business habits, digital appropriation, and financial education. The Accelerator Lab at UNDP Colombia, through the use of BeSci tools, seeks to motivate people to donate. The main objective is to learn which behavioral tools can best motivate Colombians to donate, with two primary purposes: 1. Take advantage of the most powerful behavioral science tools to mobilize resources 2. Apply it to future financing strategies The Lab's interventions will focus on: - Measuring different types of monetary support from UNDP - Measuring the impact of various BeSci-informed messaging tools - Measuring the appropriation of BeSci in the communications carried out by the entrepreneurs themselves, and whether they impact the enterprise's ability to mobilize resources.
Guinea Bissau
Redesigning public service spaces in Guinea Bissau
An intervention by UNDP in Guinea Bissau addressed how spaces providing public services (in this case the Notary in the Ministry of Justice) affect people's behaviours and feelings. Poorly planned and furnished spaces had led to chaos, conflict, and a sense of insecurity. The space was remodeled using participatory design, prototyping and iteration, considering the needs and ideas of users and employees. The result was a space organized in a more efficient manner, addressing the needs with benches including nudging messages about social distancing and glass protection separating staff and users. The Ministry hired two guards to control the flow and number of people in the space as well as to provide protection to the staff when needed. Additionally, a screen and queue number machine were re-installed properly, and training was provided to the staff on its usage. The effects of the intervention were evaluated using pre-post surveys. The intervention underscored the importance of inclusive and user-friendly design of public services and of testing with a variety of users. A lesson learned was that a lack of representation of persons with disabilities resulted in flaws in the design of the intervention. Challenges were also observed in ensuring that user feedback and public participation in the management of the space were sustained following its redesign.
Libya
Reducing consumption of single-use plastic bags in Libya
UNDP's Accelerator Lab in Libya conducted an experiment to reduce consumption of single-use plastic bags in supermarkets by nudging customers to take up reusable bags. The experiment consisted of distributing free reusable branded bags in two supermarkets and observing consumers' willingness to stop using single-use bags. The experiment was divided into two different interventions: Supermarket 1: Distributed 240 grocery bags each day during busy hours for 2 weeks. Supermarket 2: Gave 2000 bags to the supermarket and instructed them to distribute them to customers for free. Neither intervention resulted in a significant change in consumption of single-use plastic bags. While consumers were willing to accept the free reusable bags and understood the importance of reducing the use of single-use bags, very few actually re-used them at supermarkets, because they were not considered convenient for carrying groceries. Unexpectedly, their usage was instead observed in bakeries, with re-usable bags considered better than plastic bags for carrying bread. The Lab plans to continue its experimentation (including in bakeries) to test the impact of charging small fees on bags.
Armenia
Reducing plastic bag consumption in Armenia
An experiment by UNDP Armenia — aimed at testing different incentives to reduce consumption of plastic bags — showed a significant drop in plastic consumption in all treatment groups compared to the control group. The biggest decrease in plastic consumption occurred between the control group and a treatment group receiving financial incentives, amounting to approximately a 35% decrease in average plastic consumption in the 5-month period of the experiment.
Lao
Single-Use Plastic: Learnings from a Refill Station Experiment in Lao PDR
The Lao PDR Accelerator Lab team recognized the importance of collaboration with the private sector, and decided to run a small behavioral experiment by setting up Unilever refill stations to encourage more sustainable consumption of personal and household care products (such as shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, body lotion, dishwashing liquid, laundry detergent, and fabric conditioner) that are commonly sold in the form of single-use plastic sachets. Refill stations were set up in the city center and at the National University of Laos. The experiment found that consumers typically preferred purchasing in the small sachet format because they believed it to be more affordable ("buying less, more often"). This preference was reflected by large commercial brands like Unilever in their sales approach. The refill station experiment nevertheless demonstrated that when consumers were made aware of the cost savings linked with refilling, they were more likely to support this more sustainable form of consumption. Cost savings were a much more significant pull factor than the reduction of plastic pollution.
Maldives
Sparking girls' interest in STEM-related education and jobs in the Maldives
UNDP in the Maldives is leveraging behavioural insights tools to increase young girls' participation in STEM-related fields. The solution prototype aims to address social and cultural barriers that limit girls' career aspirations in STEM to increase their knowledge and build confidence to undertake STEM-related education and jobs. Nudges are being designed and piloted to understand what kind of behaviour change campaign can spark the intended change. With this knowledge, the project is working with young girls and parents to counter these barriers and encourage the girls to have the confidence, awareness, and tools to enter STEM. The resulting change will see girls who are currently studying STEM subjects at O-Levels in the Maldives continue pursuing STEM subjects at A-Levels or pre-university. The key result of the prototype is to generate behavioural insights and deeper information sets on psychometrics which provided a strong evidence-base. UNDP Maldives is now working on further rounds of iteration and later scaling-up of tested strategies which would allow for more comprehensive measurement of results. UNDP and BIT have now designed and will test an intervention to engage students, parents and teachers to increase the girls’ circle of exposure and self-efficacy, confidence and understanding of STEM career pathways. For women and girls to continue pursuing STEM, they need to feel like they belong and that there are others like them in the field. Therefore, the chosen intervention will involve introducing a role model speaker. Specifically, a young Maldivian woman who currently works in a STEM career or studies a STEM subject at university (e.g., engineering, marine science, aviation) to give an inspirational talk to students and engage with them in a Q&A session. To maximize impact, the pilot will also engage parents to encourage conversations surrounding STEM and reduce harmful assumptions. Parents and teachers will receive supporting prompts and guidance to discuss points made during the talk with the young girls. Based on the insights drawn from the initial scoping phase, the proposed intervention has the potential to be incorporated into the education sector at a larger scale. Maldives Ministry of Education recently launched a national apprenticeship program conducted as part of ongoing discussions at the policy level for gender equality and women’s participation in the public sphere.
Moldova
Supporting jobseekers in Moldova
An intervention in Moldova resulted in a statistically significant increase of 5.52 percentage points (7.7 per cent) in the likelihood of a jobseeker finding employment within 5 months. The pilot, which encouraged jobseekers to play a more proactive role in their job search, involved 11,000 participants.
Solomon Islands
Tackling school waste in the Solomon Islands
In the Solomon Islands, UNDP sought to reduce the generation of plastic waste in schools by experimenting with economic incentives for students who either brought back re-washable food containers to the vendors after lunch, or brought their own food containers from home.
Turkey
Taking on single-use coffee cups in Turkey
In Turkey, a two-week-long behavioural experiment in a coffee shop in Ankara achieved a 19 percentage point reduction in the use of disposable coffee cups. The UNDP Accelerator Lab is looking to scale up the experiment to other coffee shops through partnerships with a social entrepreneur and UNDP Turkey’s Life Below Water Advocate (a world record free holding diver).
Global
Communicating Complexity in the Humanitarian Sector
UNHCR’s Innovation Service is testing a new communications framework to understand and shift behaviours within the organisation and to better align with innovation competencies. This framework is helping UNHCR move beyond thinking about innovation from the Innovation Service’s point of view and to dig into some of the beliefs and behaviours the organisation desires to change. UNHCR focused on using social, behavioural, and cognitive science to gain insight to:
- Ensure work aligns with the science behind how people form beliefs and adopt new behaviours;
- Build support for innovation within the organisation;
- More quickly transmit promising practices and “bright spots” to those who will benefit the most from them; and
- Embed skills and qualities associated with innovation throughout UNHCR and the humanitarian sector.
