BIG Difference BC 2024:
Applying Behavioural Insights to Urgent Challenges

PROGRAM || ABSTRACTS


Friday, November 1, 2024

9:00am to 4:00pm Pacific Time
Zoom webinaR

Download the PDF Program.


9:00am - 9:30am welcome remarks

 

[ VIDEO || PDF ]

Kirstin Appelt
UBC Decision Insights for Business & Society

Stephanie Papik
Moose Hide Campaign Society

9:30am - 10:30am    Keynote Address

 

Nudging Climate Action & Happiness

 

[ VIDEO || PDF ]

Jiaying Zhao
University of British Columbia

Moderator: Kerri Buschel
WorkSafeBC

Humanity has six years left to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to prevent the worst effects of climate change. However, current narratives, steeped in despair and doom, are failing to motivate collective action. This talk presents a radical paradigm shift: A fusion of happiness science and climate science designed to ignite widespread climate action by tapping into the power of joy. My colleagues, Liz Dunn and Jade Radke, and I have conducted a series of pre-registered lab and field experiments to demonstrate both how to nudge high-impact actions to reduce carbon emissions while also promoting happiness, and how happiness benefits can increase the likelihood to take climate action. I’ll also discuss implications for climate policy and communication.

 

Jiaying Zhao

Jiaying Zhao, a.k.a. JZ, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability at the University of British Columbia. She is also a co-founder of UBC’s Decision Insights for Business & Society (UBC-DIBS) and a UBC Sauder Distinguished Scholar.

JZ uses psychological principles to design behavioural solutions to address environmental and financial sustainability challenges. She is a faculty affiliate of the Stone Centre for Wealth and Inequality at the Vancouver School of Economics and the Center for Effective Global Action at the University of California, Berkeley, and an invited researcher at J-PAL at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

10:30am - 10:45am Break

10:45am - 11:50am      Lightning Talks

 
  1. Wildfire Risk and Resilience in Canada: What Motivates and Impedes Personal- and Property-Level Risk Mitigation? [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Kaitlyn Fallow* (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office, and Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada), Vivian Li (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office), Bryan Bogdanski & Keldi Forbes (Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada), & Sarah Wall & Kieran Findlater (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office)

  2. Increasing Organ Donor Registrations Among BC Public Servants [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Karen Smallwood* (BC Ministry of Emergency Management & Climate Readiness), Talent Pun (Activision Blizzard), Shellee Ritzman (Metro Vancouver), Amy Watt (Lululemon), & Kate White (University of British Columbia)

  3. Tackling the Labour Shortage: Enhancing Uptake of Apprenticeship Incentives Through Behaviourally Informed Communications [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Amelia Usher*, Laura Amaral, Julian House, Stephanie Mertens, & Christine Yip (Ontario Public Service)

Moderator: Javier Domínguez Zamora (BC Behavioural Insights Group)

11:50am - 12:30pm Lunch BREAK

12:30pm - 1:00pm      Micro-Presentations

 

Track 1: Applying BI to Financial Challenges

  1. Flexibility vs. Commitment in Saving for Emergencies: Interventions to Reduce the Intention-Behaviour Gap of Millennials in South Africa [ PDF ]
    Marna Landman* (Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa)

  2. Testing the Sensitivity of Post-Secondary Institution Decisions to Certainty in Financial Aid Provisions [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Annabel Thornton*, Angelique Saweczko, & Dwayne Benjamin (University of Toronto)  

    Moderator: Guanzhong Du (University of British Columbia)

Track 2: Applying BI to Health Challenges [ VIDEO ]

  1. How Behavioural Insights Are Increasing HPV Vaccine Uptake in Bangladesh [ PDF ]
    Julie Szabo* (Capulet Communications), Sarah Francis & Sohail Agha (Behavioural Insights Lab), & Syju John (Capulet Communications)

  2. A Behaviourally-Informed Approach to Food Consumption in Jersey's Primary Schools [ PDF ]
    Owen Powell* (Influence at Work), Martin Knight (Government of Jersey), Jessica May (Government of Jersey), & Clara Federrath (Influence at Work)

    Moderator: Julie Hommik (University of British Columbia)

Track 3: Applying BI to the Climate Crisis [ VIDEO ]

  1. Meta-Analysis on the Efficacy of Behavioral, Information, and Economic Strategies in Increasing Energy-Efficiency Adoption Among Households [ PDF ]
    Tarun Khanna* (University of British Columbia), Diana Danilenko (MCC), Lukas Tomberg (RWI), Sven  Hansteen (RWI), Mark  Andor (RWI), Paul Lohmann (Cambridge), & Jan Minx (MCC)

  2. Explaining Public Support for Net-Zero Climate Policy Instruments: Perceptions of Effectiveness and Fairness under Competing Frames [ PDF ]
    Aaron Hoyle* & Katya Rhodes* (University of Victoria)

    Moderator: Shakti Sethi (University of British Columbia)

Track 4: Applying BI to Government Challenges [ VIDEO ]

  1. Testing Behaviorally Informed Messages to Strengthen Canadians' Resistance to Climate-Related Misinformation [ PDF ]
    Kulpreet Cheema*, Kathryn Harper, Kaitlyn Fallow, Sarah Wall, & Kieran Findlater (Impact and Innovation Unit, Privy Council Office)

  2. Moving Beyond the Pandemic: Applying Behavioural Insights to the Use of Personal Protective Measures Against Respiratory Infectious Diseases [ PDF ] 
    Paniz Tavakoli* (Privy Council Office), Tyler Good (Public Health Agency of Canada), Klajdi Puka (Privy Council Office), Sean Hinatsu & Toju Ogunremi (Public Health Agency of Canada), Christine Kormos & Kieran Findlater (Privy Council Office), & Mark Morrissey (Public Health Agency of Canada)

    Moderator: Jarin James (BC Behavioural Insights Group)

Track 5: UBC’s Behavioural Insights Courses [ VIDEO || PDF ]

  1. In this track, there will be a short webinar plus time for Q&A.
    Lindsay Miles-Pickup* (BC Public Service & Graduate of UBC’s Advanced Professional Certificate in Behavioural Insights)

1:00pm - 2:30pm     Special Session

 

Responding to the Climate Crisis 

[ VIDEO ]

The climate crisis is not one single challenge, but rather a family of interconnected challenges that touch almost every aspect of life on our planet. In this session, we’ll look at three different challenges:

  1. Planetary Healthcare: Andrea MacNeill (Vancouver General Hospital) will talk about the environmental impacts of healthcare and the relationship between human health and the health of our planet. [ PDF ]

  2. Conservation: Don Carruthers Den Hoed (University of British Columbia & PARKS+ Collective) will talk about how decisions and behaviours inside and outside our parks impact area-based conservation. [ PDF ]

  3. Disaster Preparedness & Response: Naureen Naqvi (UNICEF) will talk about preparing for and responding to disasters, which are increasing in size and frequency as our planet warms. [ PDF ]

After our panelists introduce their challenges, Carl Jensen (BC BIG) will moderate a discussion about the role behavioural insights can play in tackling all three challenges. They will also discuss the power of creating partnerships and combining methodologies. Finally, our panelists will share lessons learned and next steps.

2:45pm - 3:50pm     Lightning Talks

 
  1. Behavioural Strategies to Combat AI-Enabled Retail Investor Scams
    [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Riona Carriaga* (Behavioural Insights Team), Matthew Kan*, Patrick Di Fonzo & Meera Paleja (Ontario Securities Commission), & Sasha Tregebov & Amna Raza (Behavioural Insights Team)

  2. Using Behavior Change Communications to Tackle the Fentanyl Crisis
    [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Penny Norman* (Rescue Agency)

  3. The Impact of Behaviorally Informed Communications on Uptake of a Cover Crop Cost-Share Program [ VIDEO || PDF ]
    Cecilia Shang*, Jessica Li*, & Dana Guichon (ideas42), and Sarah Carlson, Lydia English, & Morgan Jennings (PFI) 

Moderator: Isabel Chew (BC Behavioural Insights Group)

3:50pm - 4:00pm Closing Remarks

 

[ VIDEO || PDF ]

Stephanie Papik
Moose Hide Campaign Society

Mikayla Ford
BC Behavioural Insights Group


*indicates presenter.
All listed times are Pacific Time (UTC−07:00).