Behaviour change interventions are central to community and regional development, especially where sustainability and systemic change are at stake. While the basic principles are universal, effective strategies need to be shaped for context – linking technical, organisational, and social elements in ways that fit the people and places involved.
Much early work focused on individual-level models such as motivation, attitudes, and habits. These remain useful, but recent experience shows that change also depends on wider social processes and system conditions. Reducing barriers, simplifying pathways, and aligning incentives all help – but so does attending to norms, identities, and the way organisations and communities learn and adapt.
Contemporary practice increasingly blends behavioural science with participatory approaches and systems thinking. Newer perspectives emphasise empowerment and integration – building people’s competences and strengthening social learning rather than relying on nudges alone. This combination helps teams design interventions that fit real-world contexts, work with social dynamics, and adapt as conditions shift.
The resources below are organised around three aspects of practice: understanding what drives behaviour, designing interventions, and connecting behaviour change with systems and collective action. This third area reflects a growing recognition that individual-level approaches, while important, are rarely sufficient in complex, multi-actor settings.
Understanding what drives behaviour – frameworks and models
These resources help with a foundational question: what is shaping current behaviour, and where might intervention be most effective? They introduce established frameworks for diagnosing behaviour change challenges, from individual capability and motivation through to social and material conditions.
The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions
Susan Michie, Maartje van Stralen, and Robert West’s seminal paper introduces the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), centred on the COM-B system (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation = Behaviour). This framework connects intervention functions with policy categories to address behavioural deficits effectively.
Influencing practice change: An introduction to behaviour change models and strategies
This introductory LfS post provides a comprehensive overview of key behaviour change theories, models, and practical strategies. It covers essential frameworks such as the COM-B model, socio-ecological model, Stages of Change, and Theory of Planned Behaviour. The post also introduces the 6 E’s policy design framework and discusses the importance of Theories of Change in planning effective interventions. This resource serves as an excellent starting point for understanding the complexities of behaviour change in sustainability and development contexts.
Designing policy interventions to change environmental behaviours: theory and practice
Terry Parminter’s 2019 review outlines frameworks for understanding human behaviour and strategies for influencing change. The paper outlines dual-processing models—examining the conscious and subconscious interplay of attitudes and behaviours—and explores the broader societal contexts that shape behavioural change efforts.
Influencing behaviours – moving beyond the individual: ISM user guide
The Scottish Government’s ISM (Individual, Social, Material) framework provides a practical tool for designing behaviour change interventions that account for multiple contexts. This 2014 guide outlines how integrating influences across these dimensions leads to more substantive and lasting change.
Designing interventions – practical guides
These resources support the next step: how do we design approaches that fit the context and the people involved? They offer practical guidance for shaping interventions, from structured programme design through to creative, community-oriented strategies.
An effective approach to change – Q, The Health Foundation
This comprehensive briefing outlines key elements of effective change across health and care systems, drawing on evidence and practical experience from Q. It highlights structured approaches, leadership mindsets, co-development with staff and communities, and learning-oriented evaluation. The resource links to complementary frameworks and methods, offering a clear synthesis for those leading or supporting complex change.
Achieving behaviour change: A guide for local government and partners
Written in 2019 by Susan Michie, Robert West, and colleagues, this guide provides a flexible framework for understanding behaviours in context. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), it enables users to design interventions and policies tailored to specific circumstances. It is particularly valuable for local government staff and partners tasked with facilitating sustainable behaviour change.
Behavior change for nature: A behavioral science toolkit for practitioners
This 2019 toolkit by Rare and The Behavioural Insights Team offers actionable insights for designing interventions that resonate with diverse groups, from fishers to policymakers. It emphasises the importance of addressing unconscious as well as conscious behavioural drivers, considering environmental and contextual factors, and prioritising specific behaviours over broader attitudes or intentions. This approach ensures practical, impactful change.
The Palette of Possibilities for environmental action projects
Les Robinson and colleagues’ 2020 report presents a practical and visually engaging guide to designing human change efforts. Highlighting 17 strategies through real-life examples, it demystifies essential steps like preliminary social research and prototyping. This resource illustrates that even modest projects can adopt these intuitive approaches. Additional resources are available on Les Robinson’s Changeology website.
Getting practical: Integrating social norms into social and behaviour change programs
This 2024 guide, developed by UNICEF, focuses on incorporating social norms into behaviour change programs. While addressing social norms can be complex and niche, this resource provides valuable insights for projects aiming to foster sustainable and systemic change in areas such as public health, education, and community engagement. It emphasises strategies for identifying and shifting harmful norms while supporting constructive and equitable ones. Social norms work should always be undertaken in collaboration with the community to ensure meaningful and sustainable outcomes.
Connecting behaviour change with systems and collective action
These resources reflect a growing recognition that individual-level approaches, while important, are rarely sufficient in complex settings. They explore how behavioural science connects with systems thinking, collective action, and wider processes of social and institutional change.
Transformation: An introductory guide to fundamental change
This 2023 report by Ioan Fazey and John Colvin explores key strategies for driving transformational change, especially in tackling complex challenges like climate change, hunger, and inequality. It introduces powerful frameworks such as the iceberg model and the Three Horizons approach, alongside methods for navigating transformation through conflict and resistance. The report concludes with practical examples from food systems and actionable insights for supporting transformative initiatives effectively.
Understanding behaviour and systems: Insights from Busara
Busara’s work provides valuable perspectives for integrating behavioural science with systems thinking. These resources collectively offer a rich foundation for understanding and facilitating behaviour change. Highlights include Busara’s reports on context as a dynamic process and the integration of behavioural science with systems analysis, offering actionable insights for designing rooted and systemic interventions.
Behaviour change is only one dimension of change in complex systems. Related pages on this site explore paradigms and collective identity, values and behaviours, and practice change, showing how these different layers interact in real-world sustainability initiatives.
[* Image: CanStock Photo]