Post by Kirstin Appelt
Research Director, UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society
and UBC Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics
Academic Director, UBC Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights
It’s almost time for another school year! Although I’ve been on the other side of the classroom (at the lectern rather than in the seats) for a long time, I still get excited at the start of each new school year and the sense of possibility, the prospect of new acquaintances, and the chance at fresh starts. This year, I hope we can all share that feeling because there is so much to look forward to in the BIG Difference community over the next nine months! In my role as Research Director for UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS), I’m eager to share some of what we have planned for the year ahead.
UBC’s Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights
For the last three years, September has had added significance for us at UBC-DIBS as we meet a new cohort of working professionals embarking on their journey to become Behavioural Insights (BI) practitioners! We work closely with these learners over the course of nine months through a series of courses and an over-arching capstone BI project.
This year, we’ll be welcoming our biggest class yet! We’ll also be continuing to offer our popular three-week introductory course, Fundamentals of Behavioural Insights (course dates this year are Nov. 21-Dec. 11, 2022, and Apr. 17-May 7, 2023).
Across offerings, we’ve enjoyed the opportunity to meet and support an engaged group of BI enthusiasts. Because these are part-time, online programs, we’ve been able to welcome learners representing a diversity of backgrounds, career paths, and locations. Here’s a snapshot of the sectors represented so far:
Learn more about these programs at https://sauder.ubc.ca/CBS-BI.
UBC-DIBS Behavioural Insights Seminar Series
UBC-DIBS is continuing our online Behavioural Insights Seminar series this year with a fantastic line-up of researchers and practitioners sharing how they use the behavioural and decision sciences to “nudge for good”. We’ll hear about a wide range of topics, including:
How the COVID-19 pandemic changed people’s willingness to take risks (Sept. 9)
How confidence in numeric ability affects decision making (Oct. 14)
How BI can help build more equitable societies (Dec. 9)
How BI researchers are partnering with community organizations to scale BI solutions (Jan. 13)
How BI is being used to tackle sustainability challenges (Feb. 10)
How BI can help low-income and marginalized people access public services (Mar. 10)
How BI is being used in the global south (Apr. 14)
How BI intersects with Indigenous and planetary health (May 12)
Join us 10-11am PT on select Fridays by registering at https://bit.ly/DIBS-seminar.
BIG Difference BC 2022
From a single, in-person conference for a small group of local folks, BIG Difference BC has grown into a staple event in the annual BI calendar that is open to all. For our 5th conference, we’ll be exploring using BI to create lasting change. Co-hosts UBC-DIBS, the BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG), and WorkSafeBC are hard at work on an outstanding day of behavioural science, including:
Keynote address on behavioural science and anti-racism by Dr. Crystal Hall, University of Washington
Special session on behavioural insights in organizations featuring panelists from the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) Canada, the Ontario Behavioural Insights Unit, WorkSafeBC, and Behaviourally Informed Organizations at the University of Toronto
Lightning talks and digital posters sharing case studies, research results, best practices, and lessons learned
Register now for this free, online conference on Friday, November 4: https://bit.ly/BIGdiffBC2022registration
Calling DIBS Podcast
We’re planning another great season of our Calling DIBS podcast, where we interview a wide variety of BI enthusiasts and experts to give you an inside view into how BI is used across sectors. As in previous years, we’ll cover a mix of topics, including the multitude of different pathways to BI, the intersection of BI and fields like user experience, tips for conducting BI projects, challenges for BI, and applications of BI to pressing challenges like sustainability and Reconciliation. New episodes are posted regularly September to May.
Calling DIBS is available on most podcast-streaming platforms (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music) as well as our public BI wiki, which also has resources like job postings, BI case studies, and project resources.
—
It’s going to be a great year for BI in BC and beyond! I hope our paths cross as we all continue our BI journeys.