Encouraging a more circular economy to lessen the impacts of climate change will require behavioural changes from Canadians. In partnership with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), we have launched a program of research to help meet some of Canada’s recycling targets—90% collection rate for plastic beverage containers, and these containers to have 50% recycled plastic content by 2030. This research will use insights and approaches from behavioural science to understand and increase…
Behavioural Insights Projects
Discover projects applying behavioural science to policy from around the world. Add your own projects, whether completed or still ongoing, to contribute knowledge on BI applications across different countries, policy areas, and topics of interest.
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Legend: Projects status
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BETA partnered with the Department of Social Services to determine the effect of behaviourally-informed activity statements on gambling behaviour in a simulated game. We tested two activity statement prototypes and found participants who saw the activity statements bet less than those who did not. Showing participants clear and easy-to-understand information about their gambling activities empowered them to make informed decisions about how much to bet. This project was conducted under Measure 7…
Pacific Island Nations are facing a crisis of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) - chronic diseases which are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural facts. NCDs are the leading cause of mortality in the region, accounting for 75% of deaths. Unhealthy diets in particular have been recognized as a risk factor for high rates of obesity. Residents of the Pacific Island Nations have some of the highest rates of obesity in the world, with 92.9% and 80.7% of…
BI Project
Instilling the habit of more frequent hand washing in office settings: how to encourage proper and…
Washing your hands regularly with soap and water is an effective and easy way of reducing the risk of people falling ill with COVID-19, influenzas or a cold, or contracting other viral illnesses. Stickers and posters were developed focusing on reframing, nudging and habit stacking. Displaying the posters in the office environment led to an increase in handwashing amongst employees. Soap consumption went up.
Why this experiment was conducted: improved hygiene standards in the workplace is the…
To promote college access and affordability, education tax credits help with the cost of college by reducing the amount of tax owed. The most generous Federal higher education tax credit, the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC), is a maximum annual credit of $2,500 per eligible student. Yet, many eligible students (or their families) do not claim the credit. Among eligible students, national estimates indicate that 46 percent of independent students and 56 percent of dependent students take…
In a randomised trial we sent reminder letters to self-employed entrepreneurs about their upcoming VAT filing date. Previously it was not common practice for the Hungarian tax administration to send large scale reminders before the due date.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Teachers in a summer school program for high school students provided brief, individualized, messages for parents with information about their child’s performance and behavior in school on a weekly basis.
IMPACT
Providing parents with individualized messages increased the probability a student earned credit for each class by 6.5 percentage points – a 41% reduction in failure rates.
PROJECT SUMMARY
To increase uptake of flu vaccines and maintain a healthy workforce during the 2016-17 flu season, New York City’s Behavioral Design Team (NYC BDT) partnered with WorkWell NYC to design behaviorally informed emails to encourage New York City employees to visit a worksite flu clinic. One version of the redesigned email used the strategy of “enhanced active choice,” whereby employees were prompted to make a choice that had a clear right answer.
IMPACT
Behavioral emails more…
BI Project
Applying behavioural science to decrease air contamination from woodheating in Ile de France
More than 480 000 people in Ile de France use an inefficient woodheating device releasing high quantities of particulate matters in the environment but do not always link air pollution and woodheating.
This project aimed to inform the inhabitants about this link and encourage them to renew their ancient devices and adopt good practices around woodheating.
281 households were equiped with particulate matter sensors and the DITP compared the evolution of contamination between groups, divided in…
BI Project
Less waste placed next to underground containers: is there a reduction in the amount of waste left…
The Municipality of Dordrecht organised a competition titled The Cleanest Neighbourhood in Dordrecht. The aim was to get residents to place less rubbish next to underground waste containers. As a result of the experiment, the amount of waste left next to bins decreased and a new social norm was established.
Why this experiment was conducted: rubbish left next to waste containers
Bin liners and other bags containing residual and larger waste left next to underground containers rank amongst the…