Back in 2018, we ran a simulation-based workshop for high-level board members. They'd never had the opportunity to practice dealing with different characters in the boardroom (e.g. evasive CEO's, the intimidating Chairperson, etc.) and found themselves sharing insights in a way they'd never felt empowered to before. It was quite a revelation, and the only hands-on training some had ever done as directors. Out of this positive experience and CEO reviews, we started a bespoke workshop. We've run the workshop in different settings; with surgical teams that were struggling to communicate under intense pressure, youth workers dealing with troubled teens and their stressed carers, healthcare professionals helping patients cope with spinal cord injuries, and even state and federal politicians hit with the fallout from a natural disaster. The feedback has been amazing. Since then, we've renamed the workshops 'Mastering Critical Conversations' (thanks to everyone who participated in our poll late last year). Geoff Paine, co-facilitator, combines improvisation with the knowledge of one of our behavioural scientists to make it work. Everyone takes part, either in the 'Hot Spot' or giving group feedback to the participant who is. It can be challenging, funny and powerful, but the main thing is, it works. Find out more: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

What have we been up to this month? 🤔 ✅   Meghan Shaw talks zoos, selfies and wildlife ✅   Helping bushfire experts and communities understand risk ✅   You're invited to the launch of a report on Aussie reading habits ✅   Upskill with our full course list for 2025 Keep up with BehaviourWorks Australia’s news and updates. Read our latest newsletter here #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

Meghan Shaw didn't just study zoology, she worked in a South African zoo with the big cats and saw how visitors wanted to act for wildlife but didn't know how. This led to research on the outcomes of people posting photos of themselves with wild animals on social media. The result? Distorted perceptions such as wildlife would make good pets, could be touched and weren't endangered. She explains the struggle facing conservationists seeking to show the relevance of changing our behaviours to become more sustainable; conservation efforts take time, but people want results here and now (and shareable on social media). Watch now: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

Interesting case study....

RT @R_Thaler: Nudging 10.0 @CassSunstein

RT @katy_milkman: Lots of us use fresh start dates like Jan 1st (or Mondays, birthdays) to motivate goal pursuit. If Jan 1 gives you a sen…

The @MAV_1879 has a new advisory panel! The panel will bring "unparalleled expertise, leadership, and passion" to the local government sector. We're happy to announce that @LiamSmith_BWA, who has decades of experience and knowledge in behavioural science, is one of the new members of this panel. The panel will help address key areas in the strategic plan, such as health and wellbeing, climate futures, connected places and future gens. Read more: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

Have you watched our latest episode of Pocket Change? 🎬 This month, @StefanK123 talks about 'Unthinkable' or 'Uncomfortable' actions that we can take to shift the needle on climate change. In Stefan's own words "it means there isn't so much 'goodies' and 'badies' there's just folks that have to find a way to better co-exist..." Watch #PocketChange now: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

"If you really want to have an impact with your intervention, you need to think about how to get it out there," said @HsiehWing in this short video. The video provides a snapshot of the 12th chapter of our new book, Inspiring Change: How to influence behaviour for a better world. Some examples of how to make your interventions impactful include scaling, disseminating information, or knowledge translations. Inspiring Change, available for order now: @MonashPub #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

What's 8,000 km long, full of forests and meadows and under 50 km from most Australians? The Great Southern Reef runs from Western Australia to Queensland via Tasmania. Melissa Hatty recently participated in the @ecologyaus (#ESA2024) Conference to talk about our work on this global biodiversity hotspot. The Great Southern Reef Research Partnership (funded by the @IanPotterFdn) is a collaboration of 15+ universities, government agencies, and NGOs working to assess, monitor, and address the threats to the reef. Our role is to examine the human dimension of conservation to facilitate intergenerational sustainability and stewardship. #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

Lauren Brumley's journey to behavioural science started with psychology then marketing and visual arts. After working with advertising agencies and understanding why people do what they do, she brought her insights and communication skills to #sustainability and #CircularEconomy at BehaviourWorks Australia. Lauren explains that behavioural science and branding have much in common. They explore how change happens and both use succinct and clear communication to facilitate change. Lauren is applying these skills in the world of waste, including scaling up sustainable actions. Watch Lauren now: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

What have we been up to last month? 🤔 ✅   Unthinkable lifestyle changes ✅   How political elites make decisions ✅   Our new Master of Behaviour and Systemic Change ✅   From psychology to marketing to behaviour change Keep up with us. Read our latest newsletter:

Throughout the year the team, at the @behscientist, reviews the newly published books covering the science of human behaviour to create an annual list. Our book, Inspiring Change: How to influence behaviour for a better world, is one of 45 mentioned on the list! It is keeping good company along with other books like @harari_yuval's 'Nexus' and Greg Power's 'Inside the Political Mind'. See the list: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

Our latest episode of Pocket Change is out. @StefanK123 talks about his 'Unthinkable Lifestyle Changes', which can have big and immediate impacts on climate change. Fewer overseas holidays, less red meat, less private cars and more active transport were a few of the topics discussed. All lifestyle changes create winners and losers, so how can we balance the effect of these changes on habits and profits against the impact on the planet? We know we can make huge lifestyle changes when we need to - COVID-19 proved that. So how can we explore different ways of reducing our planetary footprint? Stefan Kaufman has a few suggestions for working towards wins, by groups of people actively experimenting with solutions to the many wicked problems facing humanity right now. Pocket Change is a series of pocket-sized videos that explores our researchers and the work that they do. Watch it now: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience #Sustainability

"Senior politicians, senior bureaucrats, they're drinking from a firehose. They literally can't be across everything", said @conorwynn when we spoke to him about his recently published paper on how political elites make decisions. Conor gave 21 ex-politicians, advisors, and bureaucrats a politically risky decision. He observed that, rather than careful deliberation, political elites rely on mental shortcuts - or #heuristics - to make key decisions, mainly because of the sheer volume of decisions required. Read the published research: Watch the video: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience #PoliticalDecisions

"If we want to change it, we need to find a way for that system to co-evolve into a better configuration," said @StefanK123 in our latest episode of Pocket Change. "What I particularly like about that," he continued, "is that it means there isn't so much 'goodies' and 'badies' there's just folks that have to find a way to better co-exist..." This was said in the context of what Stefan calls 'Unthinkable' or 'Uncomfortable' lifestyle changes, which can have big impacts on climate change. Think less air travel, less red meat, less private cars and more active transport. Our latest episode of Pocket Change is out soon! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to find out about it first: Pocket Change is a series of pocket-sized videos that explores our researchers and the work that they do. #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience@

Decades of examples illustrate the importance of behaviour change for social, health and environmental issues. However, it is complex and challenging. In this article, @SustainVic outlines three top tips to change behaviour for the better: 💡 Avoid finger-wagging. 💡 Be specific and focus on what you want people to do, not not do. 💡 Embrace community momentum. Read more: #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience

What should we call our course? Bespoke training that provides a space to practice real-world difficult scenarios involving people skills. The course provides a space for participants to practice real-world difficult scenarios involving people skills. What constitutes a difficult scenario is tailored to the needs of the organisation. We've all been in them, but what do we call them? We've facilitated health care professionals working with those living with a spinal cord injury, social workers supporting carers of at-risk teens and surgical teams who need to function in urgent care situations. Whatever the difficult situation, this course offers organisations a safe space and expert facilitators to practice, practice, practice so when the real-life event happens the skills and confidence are available in your repertoire. Vote on one of the options below, or add your own to the comment box.

We can be in for a rocky ride in the future based on the findings in this study. The participants who worked with AI were more demanding and this demanding attitude spilled over to another unrelated task. The potentially harmful consequences on interpersonal relationships, include a decline in compassionate and considerate human interactions.

Education is a key enabler for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, this study found gaps in #sustainability #education in higher education institutions. In particular, in: 🧑‍🎓 Improving the clarity of concepts, definitions and theoretical applications 🧑‍🎓 Evolving programs for professional development generated from sustainable development industry practice 🧑‍🎓 Implementing a robust protocol for impact measurement, that includes objective, reproducible, and scalable assessment methods that address gaps and imbalances in geographical representation. Read more about this study: Paul Kellner, @ngoconglem, Gitanjali Bedi, @GarivaldisFilia, Diki Tsering, Veronica Delafosse, Annette Bos. #MakeChangeHappen, contact us about partnering on your project or explore our courses. #BehaviouralScience #BeSci #SBC #BehaviourChange #BehavioralScience