NIFK14029U Motivation and Pro-Environmental Behaviour - Managing Change

This course focuses on ways to motivate pro-environmental behaviour change.

Solving global challenges of climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, provision of clean water, food, etc. all goes back to individual and social behaviour related to the environment. The key questions addressed in this course are: How can citizens – consumers, producers, communities - be motivated to change towards environmentally friendly behaviour – whether it is to change energy consumption patterns, reduce use of pesticides on own land, take the bike or train instead of the car, increase recycling, pick up litter in the park or buy organic products? What are different strategies to achieve behavioural change, and what effect do they have?

The course builds on theories about motivation and behaviour, theories of change, real life cases and practical tools to initiate and sustain behavioural change among individuals, groups and organisations:

The motivation and behaviour theories presented span from studies of specific, individual behaviour (e.g. theory of planned behaviour), to macro level studies of how behaviour is shaped by societal factors like infrastructure, technology, economy, public discourse and media debate. Some theories anticipate that human behaviour is guided by economic, rational choice, while other extend rationality to also include, e.g. considerations of own and others' norms and expectations. Hereby relations and communities come to play a major role. Other theories, in contrast, focus more on habit, emotions, direct experience and how this is formative for behavioural change.

Change theories similarly take different approaches to behavioural change and hereby present different solution strategies: Learning theories emphasise the importance of transforming underlying assumptions through reflection, but also the importance of role models for so-called legitimate, peripheral learning. Innovation diffusion theory shows how behaviour spreads through networks, and organisational change models operate with parallel political, technical-rational, cultural and exploratory change strategies. Some approaches focus on stages of change as a way to gradually change habits, whereas other take a systemic approach, arguing that lasting change can only succeed if the whole system is involved in the change. A focus of the course will be on how change can be achieved through working with communities versus individuals.

Empirical evidence of interventions will be applied throughout the course: information and media campaigns, community engagement, role models, schemes and taxes, etc.
Based on real-life cases from private and public organisations, municipalities, national park management, a.o. , students will learn to apply these theories to practice and formulate intervention strategies to achieve desired changes. Students are also expected to consider the implications of behavioural theories to policy practice. How do the different ways by which we look upon human behaviour enable or limit how we think of behavioural change related to the environment?!