Photo by Sergey Shmidt on Unsplash
For this year’s summer reads selection, we’re doing something a little different. We’re sharing great content in the form of articles, podcasts, and videos—anything but books. Books are wonderful at any time of year and we are flush with great recommendations from Behavioral Scientist and The Decision Lab for the summer this year.
The choices below, however, are made for reading when you find you have 20 minutes to an hour to yourself and would like to read or listen to something interesting from the world of behavioural science, beginning with what members of our BIG Difference BC community have been up to.
Enjoy!
What we’ve (big difference bc) been up to
Annual Report for the 2023-2024 Academic Year by UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society
Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS) has had another busy academic year! The annual report summarizes our research projects, training, events, and resources over the past 12 months. In particular, we flag some neat work encouraging healthy, sustainable eating in healthcare settings and our new wiki page on anti-racist, Indigenized behavioural science.
Behavioural Science Around the World VIII: Public Health by The World Bank and World Health Organization
Efforts to understand and address the linkages between behaviour and health outcomes have been an area of engagement in public health for decades. This joint report from the World Bank and the World Health Organization examines the complex ways in which behaviour shapes health outcomes, the historical antecedents to the current focus on behavioural science in public health and the models adopted by over 40 behavioural insights units (including BC Behavioural Insights Group!) operating in the health sector in 26 countries around the world.
Applying Behavioural Insights To Labour Market Challenges: Increasing Career Services Participation and Informing Postsecondary Education Choices by The Behavioural Insights Team (Canada) and Future Skills Centre
With this report, the Behavioural Insights Team and Future Skills Centre begin to fill gaps in the evidence around how best to inform, empower, and engage Canadians in making decisions about work.
what we’ve been inspired by
Close The Divide (2023) by Tom Acton & Common Ground Film
“This new film — starring Dr. Jiaying Zhao, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at UBC and this year’s BIG Difference conference keynote speaker — discusses the divide between the intentions of a majority of people who feel the need to address climate change and only a small percentage of those people taking action (the classic intention-action gap!). The film also acknowledges the risks of attempting to scare society into action towards climate change and asks the question ‘How do we unlock action without tipping people into paralysis?’” - Carl Jensen, BC Behavioural Insights Group (BC BIG)
Sleep Is Your Superpower by Matt Walker
“This engaging TEDTalk by neuroscientist Matt Walker will give you a whole lot of great reasons to prioritize getting a good night’s sleep. None of us are at our best when we’re sleep-deprived, and maybe we are less likely to make good choices in that state. Getting enough sleep is one of the pillars of a healthy life.” - Craig Hutton, BC BIG
Hall of Shame by the Deceptive Patterns team (formerly DarkPatterns.org)
“The Hall of shame lists examples where companies have gotten negative press for using behavioural insights (BI) for bad. On top of underscoring the importance of improving BI literacy and awareness, these examples are yet another reminder of why ethics and nudging for good are such important parts of how we practitioners apply BI.” - Craig Hutton, BC BIG
LOGIC: Good Practice Principles for Mainstreaming Behavioural Public Policy by Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OECD)
This report presents 14 “good practice” principles aimed at promoting the integration of behavioural perspectives into policymaking. Unlike traditional policy analysis methods, which often rely on assumptions about human behaviour that may not hold true in practice, a behavioural approach provides policymakers with a more accurate understanding of how individuals interact with each other and institutions.
UN Behavioural Science Week 2024 Recordings by the UN Behavioural Science Group
Behavioural science is part of the UN 2.0, the Secretary-General's vision of a modernized United Nations (UN) system. This year’s Behavioural Science Week features videos on a variety of topics, including the intersection of behavioural science and the four other practices in the “UN 2.0 Quintet of Change” — five innovative practices that the UN has recognized as required to being nimble and delivering on its agenda: foresight, innovation, digital transformation, and data.