Behavioural Insights Projects

The 'Doe meer met taal' (Get more out of language) campaign was launched to reach out to individuals with limited literacy skills whose mother tongue is Dutch. At its conclusion, people in the target group said they felt more motivated to improve their language skills. They are also more inclined to take proactive steps, for example by engaging in language-related activities at home. 66,000 people visited the campaign website. Why this experiment was conducted: everyone should be equipped with…

Institution: Netherlands Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

The Program of Applied Research on Climate Action in Canada (PARCA Canada) combines behavioural science (BeSci) insights and methods with robust policy analysis to promote climate action. One of the main areas of focus involves the launch of a longitudinal survey that will, over time, collect data on research questions of interest to the promotion of climate action in Canada (e.g. transportation, home energy use, waste management, engagement with nature, preparedness for extreme weather,…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

The Program of Applied Research on Climate Action in Canada (PARCA Canada) combines behavioural science (BeSci) insights and methods with robust policy analysis to promote climate action. One of the main areas of focus involves the launch of a longitudinal survey that will, over time, collect data on research questions of interest to the promotion of climate action in Canada (e.g. transportation, home energy use, waste management, engagement with nature, preparedness for extreme weather,…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

ideas24 partnered with the Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) to better understand the behavioral barriers preventing corn and soybean farmers from adopting cover crops and enrolling in PFI's cover-crop cost-share program. Using what we learned from administrative data, farmer interviews and direct feedback during user-testing, we then jointly designed behaviorally informed communication interventions, which included mailers as well as a farmer referral campaign. To evaluate the potential impact of…

Institution: Ideas42

Team: Ideas42

The NYC Behavioral Design Team provided an additional reminder to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) clients that they would lose their benefits if they did not complete the SNAP recertification process. Highlighting the consequences and including attention-grabbing icons made this NYC BDT supplemental SNAP recertification notice more salient and actionable for clients.

Institution: NYC Mayorship

Team: The NYC Behavioral Design Team - ideas42

This behavioural experiment with farmers assessed the effect of two policy features of the new green architecture of the EU common agricultural policy on the adoption of environmentally friendly practices: (1) increasing mandatory adoption and (2) shifting budget to voluntary schemes, by decreasing direct payments.

Institution: European Commission

Team: JRC Competence Centre on Behavioural Insights

Determining residents' current preferences for covid-19 vaccination and developing strategies based on the use of behavioural interventions.

Institution: Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic

Team: Behavioral and Experimental Economics Team (BEET)

To support federal response efforts, Impact Canada is leading the implementation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Behavioural Insights (BI) Tool on COVID-19 in the Canadian context. This work is being led in collaboration with the Public Opinion Research Team within the Privy Council Office’s (PCO) Communications and Consultation Secretariat, which supports the Prime Minister’s Office in coordinating government communications in accordance with key priorities. Insights garnered will…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)

Challenge The City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania offers a discount to low-income senior citizens living in the municipality on their water bills. Senior water and sewer customers can apply to receive 25 percent off their payments for water in an effort to reduce the financial burden on those elderly citizens with lesser means. However, despite the fact that this would benefit the citizens in question, the City of Philadelphia noticed that many low-income seniors eligible for the discount were…

Institution: City of Philadephia

Team: Philadelphia Behavioral Science Initiative

In partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Office of Behavioural Science (BeSciO), the Privy Council Office’s Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU) has launched a multi-wave public opinion research survey to better understand public health challenges in Canada. The 'Health, Attitudes, and Behavioural Insights Trends' (HABIT) survey, combines research methods from the field of behavioural science (BeSci) with robust policy analysis to help inform government policies, programs, and…

Institution: Privy Council Office

Team: Impact and Innovation Unit (IIU)