Behavioural Science and Climate Change in Ireland

As part of work on the Climate Change Advisory Council Ireland, I worked with council secretariat recently to organise a one-day workshop on the behavioural and psychological dimensions of climate change in Ireland. There were over 100 attendees from across many different organisations in Ireland with a focus on how to connect evidence from these literatures to public policy. The event saw talks from researchers from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Department of Transport, Teagasc and University College Cork (UCC). Topics included public perceptions of climate change, climate literacy and misinformation, behavioural barriers to the adoption of low-carbon transport and energy technologies, and the role of fairness and policy design in securing public acceptability. Presentations also addressed demand flexibility in energy use, sustainable mobility, farmer engagement on mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity awareness, and the practical embedding of behavioural frameworks into policy development and implementation. A recurring theme was how to move from isolated pilots and surveys towards more systematic integration of behavioural evidence across Government and local authority decision-making. A highlight was a comprehensive keynote presentation from Lorraine Whitmarsh which set out the central role of behavioural change in delivering effective climate policy, drawing on evidence from the UK and international research. She emphasised that technological innovation alone will not be sufficient to meet emissions targets, highlighting the need to address demand-side behaviours in areas such as transport, diet and home energy use. The presentation explored systematic reviews of the effectiveness of behavioural interventions, the importance of fairness and policy acceptability, and the value of targeting “moments of change” such as moving home or generational farm transfer as strategic opportunities for intervention. A panel discussion emphasised the emergence of a strong behavioural science ecosystem in Ireland across agencies, departments and academia, and explored how this capacity can be better coordinated and embedded earlier in policy design.The document linked here summarises the event and talks, and details of the panel discussion that proposed various ways in which the many streams of very strong work in this area in Ireland could be brought together and integrated into emerging challenges in policy in this area. A follow up event is being developed for later in the year aimed at specific areas identified.

4th Winter Workshop in Behavioural and Experimental Economics of Food Consumption

Thank you to Sabrina Teyssier and Paolo Crosetto for organising the 4th Winter Workshop in Behavioural and Experimental Economics of Food Consumption. https://lnkd.in/eAZQGB38 It was good to hear a range of talks from colleagues across disciplines and career stages, to see the lovely town of Villard-de-Lans, and learn more about the fantastic research environment surrounding the Grenoble Applied Economics Lab (GAEL). Opening Keynote lecture by Jutta Roosen on social media analytics and the study of food choices. Dedicated sessions on randomised controlled trials, sustainability and change, methods, nudges and labels, natural labels, rating and ranking scales, and my closing talk on institutional aspects of behavioural change in climate settings. There are so many interesting areas evolving across measurement, causal inference, welfare evaluations, and broad ethical and institutional design in these areas and the workshop covered all this in a very stimulating and engaging way.

LSE/Warwick PhD Behavioural Science

Great to continue our series of LSE/Warwick PhD Behavioural Science events this week. Twice-annual event bringing together PhD students and faculty in behavioural science working in Warwick and LSE. Having rich spaces between internal presentations and full international conferences is important for research development. Looking forward to continuing to developing this with PhD researchers and staff over the next few years. Thanks in particular to our PhD manager at LSE Karine Gay for organising this one and all presenters and faculty attendees.

Some discussion points for behavioural science next year

As the term comes to an end, I have had the chance to speak with students across our undergraduate, postgraduate, and executive behavioural science programmes, and those conversations have shaped a set of themes I want to explore more in the voluntary sessions in the new year. 

A recurring theme is the application of behavioural science in corporate settings. Students are thinking not only about how behavioural insights are used in organisations, but about the ethical boundaries and the kinds of innovations that are emerging in areas like product design, organisational culture, and sustainability. 

Closely linked to this is a growing interest in how behavioural interventions operate in community contexts, including NGOs, humanitarian organisations, and other life-saving or high-stakes domains. Many students want to understand how behavioural science interfaces with local knowledge, public health, and community-led action, and what it means to intervene ethically in these environments.

Another area that has come up frequently is the relationship between behavioural science and leadership and career development. Students are asking whether behavioural science is a lifelong professional identity or a foundational skill that supports work across a wide range of sectors. We have been having some interesting discussions including with alumni and external speakers on how people move between roles, how they develop wider domain expertise, and how behavioural skills contribute to leadership over the course of a career.

I have also been hearing more questions about the professionalisation of the field. There is clear interest in the role of professional associations, mentoring, accreditation, and the development of shared ethical standards. This reflects the way the field is maturing, and I plan to bring colleagues from groups such as GAABS into these discussions next term.

Students are obviously thinking about how AI systems influence judgement and decision-making, how they can be used in behavioural research, and how questions of persuasion, misinformation, and autonomy are evolving as AI becomes more integrated into daily life. We have various events in planning on in the new year. 

Finally, a strong theme this term has been the internationalisation of behavioural science. Students from India, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere have raised thoughtful questions about how behavioural science travels across cultural and institutional contexts, and how global perspectives can expand the assumptions embedded in much behavioural research. Several students have already expressed interest in regionally focused work next term, and I hope to support that.

These are some of the the threads that have stayed with me, and they will shape the sessions I run in the new year. 

Behavioural Science and the Wider World Series

Over the last five or six years I have been running the Behavioural Science and the Wider World seminar as a space where colleagues, alumni, policymakers, practitioners, and students can come together to think about how behavioural science is developing and how it is being applied in different settings. During this time the seminar has hosted a very wide range of contributors, including Cass Sunstein, David Halpern, Michael Hallsworth, Lucia Reisch, Laura Giurge, Jet Sanders, Phil Newall, Jas Virhia, Will Sandbrook, and colleagues from Busara, Nudge Lebanon, and several public bodies such as the Dutch Public Health Agency. The topics have ranged from public health, gambling policy, and ethical behavioural science, to AI, labour markets, organisational behaviour, and the practical challenges of running behavioural units around the world. 

I am now putting together and finalising the format for next year’s series, and giving some thought to how the seminar might develop in the years ahead. There are several directions that seem promising. Some sessions may remain in the familiar conversational style, but I am also considering panel discussions that bring together multiple perspectives on a theme, as well as continuing occasional online sessions to allow participation from the much broader community of alumni and collaborators around the world. I am also thinking about ways to create more direct engagement between our MSc students and senior practitioners, and about how the seminar can continue to function as a point of reunion for those who have passed through the programme. As I work on this, I would be very interested in thoughts or suggestions from anyone who has attended, spoken at, or followed the series.

Books from LSE PBS Colleagues

A snapshot from earlier in the year of books published by colleagues in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science. There has been a psychology department since 1964 and it merged with the behavioural science group in 2016 to form the current department. I have been working a bit on what came before the 1964 Department in terms of pre-cursors and I hope to give a couple of lectures on this in 2026.