The art of supporting behaviour change
Why behaviour change?
Applying behavioural sciences is a pathway accelerating the process of scaling impact
Scaling initiative contributing to a life-supporting society often requires large numbers of people to adopt new behaviours and stop existing ones. Human behaviours are influenced by numerous factors, such as the environment in which behaviour takes place, the social and historical context, the personal biography, the brain’s biology and state of mind. Including knowledge from behavioural sciences and on behaviour change, in activities contributing to the common good, can increase the impact of initiatives and accelerate the adoption of new behaviours and practices.
Designing to support behaviour change
The project
With the project “Designing to support behaviour change” we aim at supporting change agents to learn in a pragmatic way about behavioral sciences and provide access to a framework and methods that can be applied while developing programs, services and products contributing to the common good.
The project was implemented by Majka Baur with the support of the scaling4good team in 2017-2018 and was kindly financed by the MAJORES STIFTUNG VADUZ.
Behaviour Change Book
During the project we edited the book “A Changemaker’s Guide to Designing for Behaviour Change“. The guide provides an introduction to the field of behavioural sciences, step-by-step guidance to apply insights while designing services and products in a lean way, as well as tips and worksheets.
The guide focuses on the key factors required to successfully support the change of behaviours of individuals and large groups based on their desire to change, it does not focus on political incentives or financial instruments.
You are welcome to download the Ebook, apply insights and share your experiences.
Behaviour Change Trainings
We offer workshops for teams and individuals on Designing for Behaviour Change. During our workshops, you learn how to apply the contents of the Guide to a real case or your initiative and gain feedback from an experienced team. Get in touch with Majka Baur if you are interested in participating or co-organise a workshop.
Behaviour Change Interviews
During the project we interviewed several behaviour change practitioners and experts who shared some of the key ingredients contributing to the success of their initiatives with us.
Who’s behind Designing for Behaviour Change?
Majka Baur wrote the “Guide to Designing for Behaviour Change” and is managing the behaviour change project. Majka has an extensive experience in developing innovative methods to support behaviour change for sustainability in organisations, facilitating workshops and learning experience. She works independently as a facilitator hosting inner-outer transformations, as a coach and expert on scaling impact. Majka is Swiss, lives in Berlin, has a background in environmental sciences, and co-founded the social business WeAct.
The scaling4good team supports the behaviour change project through its extensive experience in behavioural science, development of innovative learning experiences and project management. For instance, Diego Hangartner dedicated 30 years to scientific and practical research of the mind and consciousness and Anais Sägesser have in-depth knowledge about entrepreneurship, education and social transformation.
Hello! My name is Majka. I’m looking forward to get in touch. majka.baur@scaling4good.com
Our behaviour change blog posts
What Have I Learned About Designing for Behaviour Change and Why Did I Stop?
When I started the Behaviour Change Project back in 2017 with great enthusiasm, I wanted to support entrepreneurs, project managers, employees, volunteers or students to access and apply key knowledge from behavioural science to design their solutions. Like many...
Driving System Change Requires Transformation Know-How
Over 7.6 million people went on strike asking for climate action in September 2019. Movements like Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion are openly showing how the present efforts of governments are not sufficient. People care about our common future and ask for...
Changing people’s behaviour: Where to start?
How great would it be to have a magic wand that makes people change how they behave? I would have used it to switch people to biking from driving cars; to buying consciously rather than based on sexist advertisements, or to voting based on long-term wins...
Why does awareness cause behaviour change? – Diego Hangartner’s interview
Diego Hangartner has almost 40 years of experience in researching the mind and lead for years the Mind and Life Institute. In the post How does the mind work? he summarized three key elements: our minds classify experiences as positive, neutral or negative...
How does the mind work? – Diego Hangartner’s interview
In his youth, Diego Hangartner was a member of the Swiss rowing team and participated in World championships. While everybody was physically similarly ‘fit’ and trained, he became increasingly aware that the main difference was the mental fitness. Outcomes...
To change the mainstream tap into their values – Sonja Graham’s interview
In the blog post How to develop lasting behaviour change interventions in organisations? I talked with Sonja Graham, Managing Partner of Global Action Plan UK about a successful sustainable behaviour change program they ran in a hospital. Since 2017 GAP UK...
3 stages of waking people up to their power for change – Colin Beavan’s interview
During his life, Colin tried many paths to find a way of living that makes him feel truly happy: working in a well-payed job, later serving NGOs and finally following his passion for writing. Though the recipes of our society did not seem to work. He was...
How to develop lasting behaviour change interventions in organisations? – Interview with Sonja Graham
Right away, when talking with Sonja Graham, I heard her passion for understanding how people behave and how their behaviour can be influenced for the good of society and the environment. For the last 7 years, Sonja has been one of the driving forces...