Open Practices Sustainable Community Briefing

OPEN PRACTICESSustainable Communities & Behaviour Change Research Briefing report

PURPOSE OF THIS BRIEFING

In the discussions on sustainable behaviour change, “community” behaviour change is an under explored topic. Much of the research on and policy interventions for behaviour change are focussed on individual rather than collective behaviour.

Given the rate and scale of change required to respond to the collective challenges of climate change and resource constraints, it can be argued that it is inefficient to rely on policy interventions that are focussed on individuals and which are consumerist in nature.

While the application of behavioural insights have become increasing popular (e.g. “nudge” approaches) these are most often applied to individuals. Communities or organisations are not typically susceptible to the cognitive biases that underpin the nudge type interventions. This is in part due to the fact that human behaviour is shaped through, among other factors, interdependent relationships with others, e.g. our communities.

Over a 3.5 month period, the Open Practices project conducted research with community organisations across Ireland. This research explored the scope an potential of applying behavioural insights in the design of policy interventions to support sustainable communities in Ireland.

The research applied design research methods such as ethnography, participant observation and contextual interviewing.

This briefing document provides a summary of the key research outputs and presents a some considerations for non-regulatory interventions.

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

Since at least the 1992 United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development, local sustainability has been a topic of interest to national, regional and local policy makers. In the decades that followed this UN conference a number of frameworks exploring how local and community level sustainability can be enabled were developed.

These frameworks have up to now included actions aiming to enable sustainable consumption, sustainable lifestyles, sustainable behaviour and societal transitions.

More recently frameworks for sustainability at the local level are including futures-oriented approaches such as civic participation and co-production, social innovation and social entrepreneurship as well as digitally enabled solutions such as collaborative economies, open data, collective awareness networks, open democracy and crypto-currencies.

Within the discussions about sustainable communities, we have also seen the emergence of austerity related narratives such as the social, solidarity and collaborative economy and broader topics such as de-growth, post-GDP indicators and commons-based approaches.

In many countries there has been a noticeable shift away from paternalistic local governance towards creating the conditions and social capital that enable communities to lead and take responsibility for their collective wellbeing.

This has led to, and in many cases followed, innovative practices such as urban farming, community energy projects, community bonds, local currencies, co-design of community infrastructures and co-delivery of public and community services. Conversely, some cities and regions have looked to ‘active citizenship’ as an answer to budget cuts that have resulted from austerity.

BACKGROUND & CONTEXT

In simple terms “community” can be defined as a collective of individuals connected through a shared interest, common perspectives and whom association binds spatially, digitally or temporally. Communities can be of any size but with the assumption that there is a degree of cohesion and shared understanding through participation.

Communities will also be bound by intangible “senses” such as of agency, empowerment and ownership. Communities can also be divided or defined by multiple socio-economic factors.

In a broad sense, “sustainable communities” actively and co-operatively work to reduce their impacts on the local and global environment and to foster resilient and prosperous communities that ensure economic and social wellbeing. (see framework on next page)

The areas that many sustainable communities and community initiatives focus on are broadly housing, energy, mobility, food and local economic needs. By actively working towards sustainable development goals, a sustainable community can bring about wider benefits to those living within the community. This can be

an increase in community cohesion and integration, wellbeing, security and safety, health and creativity.

These factors can also have wider societal benefits. For example, increasing wellbeing and physical health can have economic impacts in terms of reduced strains on health and social services.

Other key issues relate to structure, scale, politics and social dynamics of sustainable communities. There is often a dynamic interplay between structure and innovation in terms of how sustainable communities and community initiatives develop. For example, how communities organise, define what matters (community vision), agree and prioritise what needs to be done and how they can be empowered to act are all important considerations.

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY FRAMEWORK

this suggests that the community functions with low levels of

ecological impact, enhanced environment but also access to

green space in order to increase physical and social wellbeing.

this is includes a sense of security, belonging, familiarity, support, neighbourliness, cohesion and integration of different social groups, based on respect for different cultures, traditions and backgrounds.

this suggests that communities should be able to create wealth and long-term prosperity while developing new skills, life long learning, employment and fair access to public services.

SUSTAINABLECOMMUNITY

a prosperous economy

a healthy environment

socialwellbeing

COMMON ASSUMPTIONS

ASSUMPTION 1: SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES LOOK “DIFFERENT”

ASSUMPTION 2: SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ARE ONLY “INTENTIONAL”

ASSUMPTION 3: SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES ONLY FOCUS ON ENVIRONMENT

COMMON AIMS

Common aims, attributes and components of sustainable community actions include the following:

• Meaningful engagement, participation and co-production by local people, community groups

• Intergenerational and intra-community equity (ensuring that consumption and production in one community does not undermine the ecological, social, and economic basis for another)

• A safe and healthy local environment with well-designed public and green space with appropriate size, scale and density

• Good public transport and other infrastructure that links urban, rural and regional centres

• Good quality local public services

• Good quality, sustainable buildings that can meet different needs of the community with minimum energy and resource consumption

• A well-integrated mix of housing that supports a range of household sizes, ages and income

• A diverse, vibrant and creative local culture and a ‘sense of place’

COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

While there have been many interesting developments around sustainable communities there is also now a clear understanding of the barriers to the changes in individual and collective behaviour required for sustainable communities.

These include the behavioural barriers such as the value/intention-action gap and the awareness-behaviour gap as well as impact issues such as rebound effects and moral licensing.

Rebound effects and moral licensing can either negate positive impacts from sustainable behaviour change or lead to worse individual or societal outcomes.

Other barriers to collective pro-environmental behaviour include agency (I as one person cannot make a difference), social norms (nobody else is doing it) and habit (I did this today and will probably do it again tomorrow).

There are also significant external barriers such as institutions, physical environment, regulatory system as well as socio-economic context.

These factors, among others, are leading to a greater appreciation that alongside behaviour change sustainable communities can require some level of system innovation (e.g. policy, public service redesign, changes in socio-technical systems) alongside social innovation.

This has led to an increased interest in bottom-up approaches that seek to overcome the system and behavioural barriers through practical individual, community and societal engagement in sustainability oriented actions.

BEHAVIOURAL ASSUMPTIONS

Behaviour change interventions have traditionally focussed on personal responsibility, individual motivations, values, beliefs and ways of influencing and shaping them. There are three typical assumptions that have underpinned many sustainable behaviour change interventions.

1. Information will lead to pro-environmental behaviour change

Information is important but information alone is unlikely to result in sustained behavioural change. It is also understood that newly adopted behaviours and participation in new practices decay in the absence of continual reinforcement.

2. Facts about environmental impacts lead to rational choices

Research has shown that responses to fact based messaging varies according to context, culture and emotions and that this form of messaging, especially when it is negative or moralising, can lead to disinterest, disempowerment, scepticism and even fear.

3. Individual behaviour change leads to collective behaviour

This has resulted in behaviour change interventions that resort to moral persuasion or cost incentives. There is some evidence to suggest there is no “spillover” between one pro-environmental behaviour and wider behaviour change.

OPEN PRACTICE RESEARCH

RESEARCH DESIGN

The research applied a mixed methods research strategy to investigate the experiences, socio-cultural structures and the practices that shape sustainable community initiatives.

1. Desk research and literature review on sustainable communities and community initiatives The desk research explored the behavioural dimension of sustainable communities, tools, metrics and frameworks as well as examples of emerging practices. This stage also involved exploring the history of sustainable community policy in Ireland and mapping statutory and non-statutory organisations.

2. Analysing Local Agenda 21 Partnership funded community initiatives in Ireland In order to build on the insights Open Practices analysed and mapped community initiatives from across Ireland funded through Local Agenda 21 Partnership Fund. The emphasis of this fund is on promoting sustainable development by assisting small-scale environmental projects at a local level.

3. Survey of Irish sustainable community experts and practitioners A questionnaire was distributed to community organisations, environmental NGOs, community development organisations and political parties in order to explore issues that specifically relate to the Irish context.

4. Case studies of emerging practices The case studies were developed through a combination of participant observation, contextual interviews, social network analysis, desk and archival research. The case studies were primarily interested in the issue of agency and the capacity for communities to take action around issues of shared interest.

Mapping statutory and non-statutory organisations involved in community development in Ireland

Survey of sustainable community experts and practitioners (n=98)

DISCOVER: OCTOBER 2015

DEFINE: MARCH 2016

DEVELOP: JULY 2016

Mapping and analysis of 4000 Local Agenda 21 projects

Futrther field research with community projects

Development of an analytical framework

Synthesis of data collected and refining of insights

Development of design report and briefing document

Development of design propositions

Development of service prototypes

start

Desk research & Literature review - behavioural models, emerging practices

Field research with community projects across Ireland

KEY STAGES - 3.6 MONTHS

DESK RESEARCH QUESTION

Why do some places and communities provide a better environment for sustainable innovation & transition than others?

EXISTING INITIATIVES

Open Practices proposed six themes that represent emerging practices around sustainable communities. From this framework a number of case studies of sustainable community initiatives were identified.

1. Circular economy, energy, food, ecosystem services

2. Health, wellbeing, social inclusion, placemaking, ageing well

3. Participation, co-creation, open governance

4. New was of making, collaborative economy, social entrepreneurship, open production

5. Awareness networks, citizen science, open knowledge, research

EXAMPLE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

MEN SHEDS

LOUGHMORE CO-OPERATIVE

COMMUNITY ENERGY (VARIOUS)

COPENHAGEN BEE PROJECT

PEOPLE'S SUPERMARKET, LONDON

LEESZAAL_ WEST

CASSEROLE CLUB

PIELAB

COMMON BARRIERS

There are a number of well documented barriers to sustainable communities and community initiatives.

Lack of internal capacity (skills, knowledge, finance) to take action, setting up an organisation, business planning, employing staff/volunteers.

Lack of a critical mass of committed individuals with the desire to participate

An imbalance in the skills among those that participate to, for example, develop the organisation, manage volunteers and staff

Low social capital, connectedness and influence (e.g. with other community organisations, with the council)

Lack of specialist knowledge around the practical or technical potential of ideas e.g. waste prevention, reducing CO2 emissions

Lack of understanding of the policy, political, planning and regulatory system

Cultural mismatch between communities and other stakeholders

Lack of trust from between stakeholders and community, in particular the communities’ ability to deliver

WHAT IS HAPPENING IN IRELAND?

2000 - Framework

for Supporting Voluntary Activity

and for Developing the Relationship

between the State and the Community and Voluntary sector

no formal identification with social dimension

of sustainable community, weak

appreciation of behaviour, rhetorical

references to participation

there is a growing appreciation of issues such as participation,

social economy, co-production & a

recognition that behaviour change but no single policy or vision that

addresses sustainable communities from three

pillars perspective

1996 - A Strategy for Rural Development in Ireland A White Paper on Rural Development

"Local empowerment and facilitating community development will enable the communities to participate in, and contribute to, the development of their own areas"

1997 - Sustainable Development: A Strategy for Ireland

“Local authorities should support similar individual and community activities within their functional areas, which can contribute to enhancing consumer awareness and action achieving sustainable development”

"There is a need to create a more participatory democracy where active citizenship is fostered"

"The way this transition is managed will have major implications for the ability of communities and countries to meet the challenges of economic competitiveness, social cohesion and sustainable development”

2007 - Report of the Taskforce on Active Citizenship

"It is based on a genuinely embracing and inclusive vision aimed at a full realisation of democratic values and community capabilities for sustainable well-being “

2007 - National Action Plan for Social Inclusion 2007 – 2016

Building and supporting sustainable communitiesis of crucial importance, particularly those thatare subject to disadvantage.

1990s

2000s 2010s

2012 - Our Sustainable

Future: Framework for Sustainable

Development

“Sustainable communities are places where people want to live and work, are environmentally sustainable and contribute to a high quality of life for residents.”

“Public authorities need to actively engage with citizens and stakeholders in the development and implementation of policy if we are to effect behaviour change and the transition to a more sustainable society and economy.”

2014 - Working Group Report on Citizen Engagement with Local

Government

"Strengthened relationships between such community groups and local authorities would be mutually beneficial, and would benefit from an increased skills base in the area of participative, deliberative, community-based planning for sustainable development”

2014 - Better Outcomes Brighter Futures: National Policy Framework for Children and Young People

“The aims for all children and young people are that they have a sense of their own identity, free from discrimination, have positive

networks of friends, family and community, are

civically engaged, socially and

environmentally conscious”

2016 - Our Communities: A Framework Policy for Local and Community Development

“Our vision is to create vibrant, sustainable, self-determining communities that have the social, cultural and economic well-being of all citizens at their core .... and where both participative and localdemocracy provides citizens with the opportunity, means, confidence, and skills toinfluence, shape and participate in decision-making”

2015 - Energy White Paper

"A low carbon future will involve radically changing our behaviour as citizens, industry and Government" & "the energy transition will

require improved community engagement in policy making and planning"

The timeline highlights key points in the development of Irish policies and strategies relevant to sustainable communities. It particularly focusses on the evolving narratives around behaviour change, participation, engagement and co-production.

FOCUS introduction of the term “sustainable

communities” with a strong focus on inclusion

and wellbeing. Not linked with

environment.

FOCUS recognition of shift towards community

ownership of infrastucture, co-production of services and policies. “transition”

more widely used

FOCUS information based

interventions to change behaviour and top-down

perspectives on community

development

FOCUS recognition of

socio-technical dimension of behaviour

(limitations of information interventions),

particpation and wider civic engagment.

IRISH POLICIES RELATED TO SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES WERE EXPLORED

EDUCATION & SKILLS

DEPARTMENTS

HEALTH

CHILDREN &YOUTH AFFAIRS

HOUSING, PLANNING,

COMMUNITY AND LOCAL

GOVERNMENT

SOCIAL PROTECTION

JOBS, ENTERPRISE &INNOVATION

Stepping stones/Pathways -

CEP, CSP, Gateway, JobBridge, Rural Social

Scheme, VWO, WPO, Skills to Work, Springboard, Skillnets, MOMENTUM

BTWEA, Intreo

SICAP

other employment

related services

LocalEnterprise

Office

Public Participation

Networks

ORGANISATION WITH STATUTORY RESPONSIBILITIES WERE MAPPED

4400 LA 21 FUNDED PROJECTS SINCE 2008 EXAMINED - BUT EVIDENCE IS LACKING

Key issue: Strong focus on training, education and awareness. Less of a focus on audits and action planning

Total No. Projects by Theme & funding allocation

LOCAL AGENDA 21 (2008-2015)

Distribution of total number of funded projects

Project delivery by key community groups (not NGOs, consultants)


Top 20 Individual recipients by Value of Awards (2008-2015)

Top 20 Individual recipients by No. of Awards (2008-2015)


Key issue: Leinster received greatest proportion of total funding but Connacht had highest per capita spend


SURVEY OF IRISH ORGANISATIONS

SURVEY OF COMMUNITY ORGS., NGOS & POLITICAL PARTIES (N=38)

Practical barriers

Key issue: The respondees were from diverse sectors and many considered themselves to be actively involved in sustainable communities

PROFILE OF RESPONDEES (N=38)

Practical barriers

Key issue: Instead of resources (skills/finance) the key barriers identified by respondees relate to perceived ability to act and levels of collaboration in community

BARRIERS IRISH INITIATIVES FACE (N=38)

Policy barriers

Key issue: The key policy issues are the lack of a national policy or vision for sustainable communities & no framework for evaluation

BARRIERS IRISH INITIATIVES FACE (N=38)

RESPONDEES IDENTIFIED 99 OTHER SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

Key issue: Strong focus on environmental projects among initiatives identified by respondees

THEMES INITIATIVES ADDRESS (N=38)

IN DEPTH CASE STUDIES

Each case study was developed through contextual interviews, site visits, participant observation and secondary data analysis. They were analysed under the following headings:

- Project vision and rationale - Direction and evolution - Power structure and politics - Financial sustainability and scale - Governance and governing - Behavioural dimension

CASE STUDY LOCATIONS & CRITERIA

GROW DOME - URBAN FARMING & SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

BALLYMUM PLAY PARK - CO-DESIGN OF URBAN GREEN SPACE

O’GONNELLOE EXCHANGE / SMALL TOWN STUDIO

DCC BETA - PROTOTYPING URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION NETWORKS - COLLABORATIVE PLATFORMS

CONCLUSIONS - GENERAL

There are a number of well documented barriers to sustainable communities and community initiatives.

Transitioning to more sustainable communities and facilitating the development of sustainable community initiatives will require shifts in social practices and behaviours, changes across norms and values which shape them as well as innovation in how policy is designed and public services that support communities are delivered.

This transition, and the related social practices and behaviours, will occur when there are changes in the institutional arrangements, social infrastructure and systems of governance that shape and reinforce social practices.

To identify what possible actions or interventions might support the development of sustainable communities, there is a need to better understand the dynamic relationships between the production and reproduction of behaviours and social practices and the community contexts in which they exist.

What this brief research project has highlighted is that the current policy landscape relevant to sustainable communities in Ireland is dominated by a number of perspectives such as the ‘rational choice model’ of behaviour and the ‘techno-economic’ model that emphasises individual decision making and technological solutions.

While these are essential components of any policy framework for sustainable communities, these policy perspectives do not sufficiently take into account the social or behavioural dimension of communities. This may in part explain why previous interventions aimed at assisting individuals, households and businesses to identify the steps they can take to reduce their energy, water and resource consumption have not had the desired scale of impact

CONCLUSIONS - SUCCESS FACTORS

From the desk and field research on sustainable community initiatives, there appeared to be some common success factors.

1. Common cause (e.g. tackling rural decline)

2. Collaboration & shared commitment (getting things done)

3. Strategically focussed hierarchy (decision making, governance, finance)

4. Organising in a way that allows for autonomy & creativity

5. Quick wins which build confidence, motivation and positive feeling within community

KEY BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS

From the desk and field research on sustainable community initiatives, there appeared to be some behavioural insights that will be more relevant for future intervention and service design. These include:

Intrinsic motivations

Sustainable community initiatives are reliant on the motivations of individuals to collectively organise. These motivations to take collective action can be viewed from a number of different perspectives.

For example, intrinsic motivation relates to how the act of doing something is inherently satisfying whereas extrinsic motivation relates to the receipt of awards (or avoiding penalties).

Creating connections

The literature presents a number of theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence that show how social connections can influence behaviour in a myriad of ways. This ranges from the power of social norms to the fostering of social capital.

Removing frictions

A principal that is widely applied in the context of design, in particular service design and user experience design is removing “frictions” or “hassle factors” that make desired actions or behaviours among service users difficult. Frictions describe a range of interactions that an individual (or community) may have that inhibits them from achieving their goals within a particular service context.

KEY BEHAVIOURAL INSIGHTS

From the desk and field research on sustainable community initiatives, there appeared to be some behavioural insights that will be more relevant for future intervention and service design. These include:

Self-efficacy

Self-efficacy is the belief a person has about their own ability to undertake a particular action that will result in the desired outcome. A high self-efficacy can also explain why some individuals or communities persevere in spite of numerous challenges. Self-efficacy is important in that it relates to how cognitive processes such as mindsets and values actually translate into behaviour.

Reciprocation

A key issue that is related to social capital is the principle of reciprocity and it can in part help explain how peer support and group activities contribute to community development. Reciprocity is typically defined as a social norm that involves in-kind exchanges between people, in particular within some form of a community.

Commitments Evidence suggests that the way individuals are perceived by others is key to their sense of self. These insights in addition to other empirical research suggest that the powerful social mechanism of social norms and reciprocation can be explored and applied at minimal cost to encourage people to stick to personal commitments more closely.

KEY POLICY/SERVICE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Based on the findings from this phase of the research, a number of policy design considerations will be important

There is a need to develop deeper insight into the needs, wants and aspirations of communities across Ireland. Existing evidence gained through attitudinal and behavioural surveys needs to be augmented with ethnographic research, asset mapping and social network analysis

This will help build on the understanding of community needs by mapping social assets, resources and networks. By better understanding the grain of communities, interventions can be designed around outcomes that are meaningful to people and communities.

In addition to this ethnographic approach, action research can work towards developing peer-to-peer generated insights into communities.

This can involve generating an understanding of the assets, resources and needs within a community by deploying community-led researchers., supporting the next generation of sustainable community leaders and to developing new skills and competencies among local authorities and other intermediary organisations on how to best support sustainable communities

Consideration 1.

Recognise new community practices, beyond barriers and constraints for systemic change and transition



One of the arguments against individual focussed interventions is that structural conditions exist that reinforce or constrain the effectiveness of individual efforts e.g. existing transport infrastructure, low access to sustainable options.

This demands that sustainable community interventions take account of the systemic context such as the institutions, policies and regulations which govern and shape behaviour. One mechanism for this is developing new approaches to engagement, participation and collaboration.

There are many different forms and scales of engagement and Ireland is beginning to experiment with new models and approaches e.g. Public Participation Networks. Previously interactions between the public sector and the public in Ireland were mostly transactional.

The shift towards co-produced local government is a small step towards shifting the balance in favour of relational public services. This shift has potential to help scale sustainable communities as it can develop innovative public-private-social partnerships (e.g. O’Gonnelloe Exchange) that can leverage investment and create impact at scale.

Consideration 2.

Create new collaborative infrastructures



A person’s sense of agency and empowerment is a key psychological factor motivating behaviour. This sense of agency is driven by variables that are related to the individual (e.g. Socio-economic status, education) but importantly there are also external variables such as the social, institutional and regulatory context.

Additionally, social learning in communities is a key determinant of behaviour and motivation and a constituent of social capital.

Building on this, there is an argument for developing active or collaborative citizenship wherein individuals and communities have opportunities to

collaborate and be involved in a more informed discourse on what a sustainable community could be.

This can be through, for example, supporting and developing innovative spaces for social exchange.

When designing or evaluating behaviour change programmes there will be a need to question what assumptions are made about behaviour and behavioural change; how are these reflected in the approaches and method used, e.g. co-design, information, workshops, scenario planning, goal setting and to what extent are routines, social practices and context explored or identified.

Consideration 3.

Recognise diversity of community assets and needs - Invest in social capital



There is a requirement to develop quantifiable and comparable outcome indicators with richer ethnographic insights that articulate a wider ‘narrative’ of value to communities.

There is an opportunity to create new linkages between academia, policy and practice in a way that communities can co-produce evidence.

Digital technologies offer a significant opportunity in terms of deploying low cost tools that have be trialled and tested in other locations.

The following are some broad suggestions on the possible approaches to evaluation:

Co-produced indicators: The community and other stakeholders should identify desirable outcomes

Impact that matters to people: Evaluation should capture a broad range of outcomes that emphasise the outcomes most valued by people within the community

Longer-term impacts: The focus should be on developing longer term impact based evaluation

New measures of value: This can incorporate a broader range of tools and measures for wellbeing , quality of life and social capital.

Consideration 4.

Measuring what matters