Case Studies
Global
Changing Social Norms Surrounding Innovation
UNHCR’s Innovation Service is undertaking an experiment studying norms change that will test new approaches to how innovation is talked about in the organisation. These approaches are rooted in grassroots tactics and social science research on norms change, storytelling and influencing.
The Innovation Service is experimenting to see how it can better influence and build a culture for innovation. This approach works with identified influencers and leaders within the organisation to model desired behaviours. The Innovation Service has identified core competencies of innovators and will work with team leads to model specific competencies and disseminate messages to influence norms and behaviours that support new ways of working and innovating. The competency model developed will be used to identify gaps between current behaviour and desired behaviour for a specific group. The project experiments with novel ways of conducting evaluation through measuring shifts in perception with qualitative and anecdotal evidence and attempting to measure behaviour change over an extended period of time.
It is expected to fully launch in 2021 with a view of scaling across UNHCR operations to build new innovation norms into UNHCR’s culture over the coming years.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Future Literacy & BeSci for Policy Planning
UNHCR is piloting anticipatory governance in policy making for the development of a new National Migration Policy. By developing capabilities and mechanisms within government and civil society, the aim is to transition to more forward looking planning and policy making. This includes changing worldviews and norms on planning for the future of the UN, government and work at the operational level. The approach focuses on how human (in) action influences different possible futures and what needs to be done to reach a desired future.
Pakistan
BeSci for Polio Eradication and Immunisation
After running an initial orientation and learning session with UNICEF's polio staff, a BeSci webinar was delivered worldwide. Building on this, UNICEF is now scoping two studies. The first tests which messengers are most effective at encouraging positive engagement on social media in support of polio eradication. The second uses BeSci to support and encourage frontline polio workers' engagement with the community.
Global
UN Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism
In December 2019, UNOCT established the International Hub on Behavioural Insights to Counter Terrorism as a UNOCT Programme Office in Doha, the State of Qatar. The Doha Hub was formally launched in December 2020 and will become fully operational in 2021. The Hub will perform three core functions:
- Conduct and advance research in BeSci to better understand the drivers and factors contributing to radicalisation leading to violent extremism and terrorism;
- Provide capacity-building assistance to Member States, regional organisations and civil society partners to develop and implement programmes, projects and initiatives that integrate behavioural insights to counter terrorism; and
- Promote communication, outreach and partnerships to share knowledge, expertise, experiences and lessons learned on behaviourally informed counter-terrorism interventions. The Hub will leverage the expertise of local, regional and international counter-terrorism actors, and coordinate with the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Coordination Compact entities operating in the field for impactful and ‘all-of-UN’ programme delivery.
Global
Using BeSci to improve learning
WHO’s Academy has been exploring how to integrate behavioural concepts into the design of its operations and piloted the use of BeSci concepts into selected course prototypes. Based on a review of findings, eight BeSci principles were identified, which will be included into the academy’s strategy and work.
Nigeria, Zambia
COVID-19 Behavioural Insights Survey Tool
The WHO Regional Office for Europe developed a Behavioural Insights Survey tool which has been used for regular collection of behavioural data in 25 Member States within the region and beyond since March 2020.
This tool was adapted to the African region and tested and piloted in two countries, Nigeria and Zambia where it allowed to identify key barriers to be addressed with behaviourally informed interventions.
Global
Analysing Behavioural Data on COVID-19
Through the Collective Service, WHO, UNICEF and IFRC are collaborating to review behavioural and social data from various publicly available sources.
The Collective Service aims to deliver, for the first time, the structures and mechanisms required for a coordinated community-centred approach to risk communication and community engagement embedded across public health, humanitarian, and development response efforts.
The data are aggregated and interpreted based on UNICEF’s behavioural drivers model framework. The objective is to ensure that communications and operational approaches of the three organisations are closely aligned with people’s perceptions, capacities and needs.
Uruguay
Using Behavioural Insights to encourage Co-Responsibility in Child Care
In Uruguay, there is a gap in the use of the official part-time leave benefit between mothers and fathers. This is mainly due to a lack of information about laws, perceptions about costs associated with taking leave, and social believes that for the care of babies fathers are less necessary than mothers. This project aims to use behavioural interventions to understand how effective communication can help address these barriers and help to design policies to reduce the gender gap in care leave.
Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Ecuador, Peru, Malawi, Uruguay, Uganda
Antimicrobial Resistance Behaviour Change
The AMR programme is using BeSci to promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials and improve food production. The AMR Behaviour Change Community of Practice, which links behavioural scientists with: governments, civil society and private stakeholders to create RCTs to test crowdsourced insights; Communication campaigns, which are incorporating affect, loss aversion and salience into messaging; and Farmer field schools that leverage experiential learning, social norms, messenger effects and implementation intentions to encourage target behaviours.
Global
Design Kit
In addition to human-centred design tools, ITC-ILO's Design Toolkit also includes behavioural change strategies, guidance on cognitive and activity modelling, and choice architecture design.
Templates and exercises build upon behavioural science principles and were created by an interdisciplinary group of colleagues. Although the toolkit is aimed toward early-stage products and services in the area of learning and communication, it is adaptable to a diverse set of topics and themes.
Georgia
Encouraging Action of Bystanders to Domestic Violence
In Georgia, a study revealed that 14 percent of ever-partnered women have been abused by their partners. UNDP investigated what keeps bystanders from reporting violence.
The results have shaped a behaviourally-informed campaign that is being rolled out across the country to change the perception that intimate partner violence is a private matter and increase bystanders’ and survivors’ confidence and motivation to take action.
A randomised controlled trial is being conducted to assess the impact on reporting rates.
Maldives
Increasing Female STEM Participation with BeSci
UNDP in the Maldives is leveraging BeSci tools to address social and cultural barriers that limit girls’ career aspirations in STEM, increase their knowledge and build confidence to undertake STEM-related education and jobs. UNDP is working to pilot nudges to understand what behavioural change campaign can spark the intended change.
Ghana
BeSci to Improve Recycling Behaviour
The Ghana Accelerator Lab team is deploying Behavioural Insight techniques to understand how individuals make decisions on recycling.
Using personas, such as Eco-Conscious Ama, the Lab tries to understand recycling behaviours.
Early results indicate that households and businesses prefer their recyclable waste to be collected at their doorsteps, instead of taking it to recycling points. Information-based interventions using localised nudges appealing to social norms and cognitive dissonance resulted in increased plastics collection.
Republic of Moldova
Improving Tuberculosis Care with BeSci
In Moldova, a project seeking to improve patients’ adherence to tuberculosis treatment protocol found that patients whose treatment was observed remotely via video were twice as likely to take their medication (87 percent) compared to patients who were legally required to make daily in-person visits to the clinic (43 percent) – the latter presenting barriers being a costly and time-consuming process. One key success factor was the “social” connection between patients and observers, which is correlated with higher adherence.
Mongolia
Improving Waste Collection with BeSci
This intervention sought to improve waste collection at the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park in Mongolia.
The project activities consisted of 3 phases:
(1) conducting a baseline study of the target area, which included a detailed analysis of the waste generation rate and gave insight into the waste disposal behaviour of visitors;
(2) designing the behavioural interventions with a detailed trial methodology targeting the visitors;
(3) implementing the behavioural interventions and developing policy recommendations informed by behavioural insights.
The project distributed bags and installed waste containers that were printed with messages informed by behavioural science. Waste collection increased by 86 percent.
Global
The Little Book of Green Nudges
UNEP’s first publication focusing on the application of BeSci, is a quick guide to reducing the environmental impact of university campuses through behavioural change.
The publication contains 40 ready-made suggested nudges and summarises the evidence around what nudges work best while seeking to encourage more sustainable practices among students and staff across several behavioural categories (incl. reducing waste, promoting green transport, encouraging recycling and sustainable food choices).
The book provides simple guidance on how to implement and evaluate behavioural interventions, centred around techniques such as resetting default options, changing the framing of choices, and harnessing social influence.
Haiti
BeSci to make births safer
In Haiti, low rates of prenatal and postnatal care, and institutional births, are contributing factors to high maternal and neonatal mortality rates. In an effort to provide actionable ideas to reduce mortality rates, eMBeD sought to identify structural and behavioural barriers preventing women from attending prenatal care visits, and from delivering at a health institution. The next phase of the project will encourage pregnant women to be screened and monitored with behaviourally informed pregnancy risk messages.
Global
Combatting Hearing Loss with BeSci
WHO and ITU developed the global standard for safe listening devices to reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing loss through personal devices. Insights gathered via a survey and focus groups assessed users’ response towards the proposed messaging. Based on this, WHO recommended the inclusion of default features (e.g. volume limit) on audio devices. Leveraging a data sharing agreement with the private sector, WHO will analyse data to improve its understanding of people’s listening behaviours and the feasibility of safe listening recommendations, policies and practice.
Global
Line Up, Live Up
This sport-based life skills training aims to prevent violence and crime among youth. Each session of the curriculum, which combines sports activities with a guided discussion, aims to strengthen specific cognitive, social and emotional skills, increase understanding of risks related to violence and crime, and address harmful normative stereotypes to increase pro-social behaviour. An external assessment of the programme concluded that in the short and medium term youth had strengthened key life skills, improved some attitudes towards crime, violence and drug use. While long-term behavioural change was challenging to measure so far, additional impact assessments are currently ongoing.