Changing Behaviour for Sustainable Development Course

Lesson 1 • Defining Sustainable Development Today

Covers the three pillars—environmental, social, economic—and their interdependencies. Grounds all subsequent behavior-change work in a shared sustainability framework.

Lesson 2 • Human Behavior as a Sustainability Driver

Examines how individual and collective behaviors generate environmental and social impacts. Establishes the causal link between behavior and sustainability outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Key Sustainability Challenges and Targets

Maps major global sustainability challenges to measurable targets. Provides the goal landscape that behavior-change interventions must address.

Lesson 1 • Cognitive Biases and Heuristics

Identifies cognitive shortcuts that lead to unsustainable decisions. Equips learners to anticipate and counteract bias in intervention design.

Lesson 2 • Emotion, Identity, and Behavior

Explores how emotional responses and self-identity influence sustainable choices. Connects identity-based motivation to long-term behavior maintenance.

Lesson 3 • Motivations, Attitudes, and Values

Explores intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, attitudes, and values as behavioral antecedents. Links psychological drivers to sustainability-relevant choices.

Lesson 4 • Social Norms and Peer Influence

Analyzes how descriptive and injunctive norms shape behavior within groups. Demonstrates norm-based mechanisms used in sustainability campaigns.

Lesson 1 • Classic Behavior Change Frameworks

Reviews foundational models including stages-of-change and theory of planned behavior. Establishes the theoretical vocabulary used throughout the course.

Lesson 2 • Behavioral Economics Approaches

Applies nudge theory, choice architecture, and incentive design to sustainability. Bridges economic and psychological perspectives on behavior change.

Lesson 3 • Social-Ecological and Practice Theories

Introduces social practice theory and socio-technical transition models. Shifts focus from individual psychology to collective routines and infrastructure.

Lesson 4 • Selecting and Combining Frameworks

Guides learners in matching theories to specific sustainability problems and contexts. Develops critical judgment for multi-theory intervention design.

Lesson 1 • Quantitative Behavioral Assessment

Introduces surveys, behavioral tracking, and data analysis for measuring behavior. Complements qualitative methods with measurable baseline data.

Lesson 2 • Contextual and Systems Analysis

Applies systems mapping and contextual analysis to understand structural drivers of behavior. Connects micro-level behavior to macro-level system conditions.

Lesson 3 • Qualitative Research Methods

Covers interviews, focus groups, and ethnographic observation for behavioral diagnosis. Builds skills to gather rich contextual data from target audiences.

Lesson 4 • Barrier and Enabler Analysis

Identifies structural, psychological, and social barriers and enablers to target behaviors. Produces a barrier-enabler map that guides strategy selection.

Lesson 1 • Community and Participatory Design

Integrates community participation into intervention co-design processes. Builds ownership and cultural fit to increase adoption and sustainability of change.

Lesson 2 • Intervention Strategy Selection

Matches diagnosed barriers and enablers to appropriate intervention strategies. Ensures strategic alignment between problem diagnosis and solution design.

Lesson 3 • Applying Nudges and Choice Architecture

Translates nudge theory into practical design decisions for physical and digital environments. Demonstrates how default changes and prompts shift behavior at scale.

Lesson 4 • Intervention Logic and Planning

Develops a theory-of-change logic model and implementation plan for the intervention. Connects design decisions to measurable outcomes and timelines.

Lesson 1 • Managing Implementation Challenges

Identifies common implementation failures and adaptive management strategies. Builds practitioner resilience and problem-solving capacity during rollout.

Lesson 2 • Piloting and Iterative Testing

Introduces pilot design, rapid prototyping, and iterative refinement before full rollout. Reduces implementation risk by testing assumptions at small scale.

Lesson 3 • Behavior Change Communication Campaigns

Plans and executes multi-channel communication campaigns supporting behavior change. Integrates messaging, timing, and audience reach for maximum impact.

Lesson 4 • Stakeholder Engagement and Partnerships

Develops strategies for engaging government, private sector, and civil society partners. Builds the coalitions needed to implement and sustain behavior change programs.

Lesson 1 • Learning Systems and Adaptive Management

Establishes organizational learning routines that translate evaluation findings into program improvements. Embeds continuous improvement into program management cycles.

Lesson 2 • Data Analysis and Interpretation

Applies quantitative and qualitative analysis methods to evaluation data. Develops skills to interpret findings and draw actionable conclusions.

Lesson 3 • Evaluation Frameworks for Behavior Change

Introduces outcome, process, and impact evaluation frameworks suited to behavior change. Aligns evaluation design with the intervention's theory of change.

Lesson 4 • Measuring Behavioral Outcomes

Covers validated tools and indicators for measuring changes in behavior and attitudes. Ensures measurement validity and reliability across diverse contexts.

Lesson 1 • Policy and Regulatory Enablers

Examines how policy instruments and regulatory frameworks enable or constrain behavior change. Equips learners to engage with policy processes to support sustainability transitions.

Lesson 2 • Capstone: Integrated Change Strategy

Synthesizes all course competencies into a comprehensive, multi-level behavior change strategy for a real sustainability challenge. Demonstrates mastery through applied strategic planning.

Lesson 3 • Organizational Culture and Internal Change

Addresses behavior change within organizations as a prerequisite for external sustainability impact. Develops skills to shift organizational culture toward sustainability.

Lesson 4 • Systems-Level Behavior Change Strategy

Applies systems thinking to design multi-level strategies targeting behavior across individuals, organizations, and policy environments. Moves beyond single-intervention thinking.

Lesson 5 • Ethical Dimensions of Behavior Change

Examines ethical responsibilities in designing and implementing behavior change interventions. Ensures practitioners uphold autonomy, equity, and transparency in their work.