jenia lazarova, julian asenov october 2015 behavioral approach to environmental and climate change...

Jenia Lazarova, Julian AsenovOctober 2015

Behavioral approach to environmental and climate

change education

With the support of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Nuclear Safety of the

Republic of Germany

National Trust EcoFund

Contents

Part 1

• Challenges and the importance of starting climate change education

early

• International experience in the development of good practices

• Bulgarian national specifics

• Behavioral approach to education for individual contribution to

climate change mitigation

2015 © НДЕФ. Всички права запазени.2

Plan of the session

Part 2

• Key psychological characteristics of children by age group

• Guidance for educational activities

• Parental commitment


Part 1

The importance of starting climate change education early and in a school setting

• Opportunity to create interest and responsibility towards nature early in life, and make these a permanent part of the child’s identity as she matures

• Opportunity for children to form an opinion based on objective information, rather than on the subjective influence of their parents, relatives and friends

• Opportunity to use the school setting to provide guidance from the teachers, and to organize appropriate educational activities

• Lack of established defense mechanisms, such as the rejection of undesirable information

• Lack of established daily habits to override

• Insufficient awareness, engagement, or pedagogical ability of some parents to approach the topic appropriately and systematically enough


Challenges of the topic

The climate change topic intrinsically entails:

• Communication of negative information, threats and

dangerous events

• Use of unknown and difficult-to-pronounce terms

• Making sense of vast geographical scales and long time

horizons

• Understanding complex dependencies

• Overriding already established habits and lifestyles

• Adopting a position against the opinion and behavior of the

majority


Status of the international educational framework on climate change

• Currently, there is no universal framework for education in the field of

climate change and environmental preservation

• The development of good practices is complicated by the nature of

the material, as well as the need to take into account age-related and

national specifics

• In this context, the current project has a great significance both in

Bulgaria, and internationally


International experience and lessons learned

• Danish and Austrian scientists performed studies with students aged 16 and 17 on the effectiveness of climate change education. They concluded that:

• Teaching climate change in the form of a lecture increases student awareness by only 11%, leaving the overall awareness level below 60%

• There was no change in student attitudes and opinions towards climate change and the need for mitigation of the negative human impact on it

• Meanwhile, another project provided children in developing countries without access to schools the opportunity to self-educate by searching for information using only a computer and pre-formulated questions, and accomplished an impressive increase in the children’s level of awareness

• Therefore, climate change education should not be in a passive lecture format alone, but it should engage students trough active participation in activities, and for children over 10 years of age, it should allow independent searches for information on topics and questions provided in advance

2015 © НДЕФ. All rights reserved.8

Source: Harker-Schuch & Bugge-Henriksen (2013); Sugata Mitra (2013)

International experience and conclusions

• Swedish scientists conducted experiments with 12, 16, and 23 year old adolescents and young people, and identified three types of initial reactions towards climate change education:

• Intellectual approach to the problem (search for additional information)

• Positive emotional reassessment and building up trust towards the source

• Detachment (denial of the problem or avoidance in the form of “It does not concern me”) – most typical for younger children participating in the study

• Participants who had Intellectual approach or Positive reassessment demonstrated considerably higher levels of engagement and readiness to undertake actions for environmental preservation

• Therefore, these two types of reactions should be encouraged by the teachers, while the Detachment reaction should be actively overcome by, for example, giving these children a leadership role or organizational responsibility in the educational activities on climate change


Източник: Ojala (2011)

Bulgarian specifics: Individual contributions to climate change mitigation

Turn

ing off th

e ligh

ts

Responsib

le tra

sh disp

osal

Not cutti

ng tree

s for h

eating

Not burn

ing tyre

s or p

lastic i

n yard

Loca

lly produce

d foods a

nd goods

Window in

sulati

on

Food fr

ee of n

itrate

s and pes

ticides

Energ

y-sav

ing ligh

t bulbs

Reuse

of pac

kagin

g

Energ

y-sav

ing home a

ppliance

s

Home insu

lation

Dual-flush

toile

t

Recyc

ling p

aper

Recyc

ling g

lass

Recyc

ling p

lastic

Handing o

ver o

ld batteri

es an

d mobile

...

Composting o

r colle

cting b

iowaste

for a...

Handing o

ver o

ld applia

nces

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Readiness for personal actions


Bulgarian specifics: Main priorities

• Recycling is a key action

• People who recycle tend to contribute in other ways as well

Predictive power of each individual action for the undertaking of all others


Bulgarian specifics: Main motivations on national level• Individuals with the lowest

readiness to contribute, are most sensitive to the health motivator

• Individuals who contribute actively are most sensitive to local authorities’ engagement, and positive outcomes

• Undecided individuals are most sensitive to authorities’ engagement, and health motivators


Much

higher readiness

than others

Same re

adiness as o

thers

Much

lower r

eadiness than others

Undecided

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Relationship between level of readi-ness for personal contribution and basic

motivators

Engagement of local authorities Engagement of other peopleHealth threat Quality of lifePositive results

Bulgarian specifics: Parental motivation

• Parents of children in different age groups are influenced by different motivating factors

• Parents of the youngest and oldest children would be most prone to take actions if their health and that of their close ones were at risk

• Parents of children in the middle age group, are most strongly motivated by the engagement of the local authorities

4 to 8 8 tо 14 14 tо 190%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Engagement of local authoritiesHealth


Personal motivations of parents by child’s age group

Bulgarian specifics: Parental expectations towards teachers• Parents of children in

different age groups increasingly believe that environmental education is teachers‘ responsibility

• This is probably due to a combination of factors as children grow up:• Parents become less

involved in their education• Parents have other, higher-

priority topics on which to educate their children

• Parents’ knowledge is exhausted, and children gradually become more informed than them 4 to 8 8 to 14 14 to 19

50%

55%

60%

65%

70%

75%

80%


Proportion of parents who believe that environmental education is teachers’

responsibility by child’s age group

Bulgarian specifics: Importance of studying the topic at school

• Parents of children in all age groups are convinced that it is essential to study climate change at school

• In all age groups and for all three topics, around 80% of parents hold this position

4 to 8 8 to 14 14 to 200%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Proportion of parents who believe it essential to be studied at school…

The consecuences of climate change

The correct actions actions for climate change mitigation

The necessary steps for climate change adaptation


Behavioral approach: Guiding principles

• Behavioural economics is a relatively new discipline, which studies how people make decisions and choices in everyday life

• The guiding principle of behavioural economics is Cognitive ease –the human tendency to save mental strain and time, while relying on numerous inaccurate and irrational methods

• These methods include:

• Heuristics and estimates

• Stereotypes and prejudices

• Sensory biases

• First impressions

• The use of heuristics, estimates and biases starts in childhood, and often increases in adults


Common biases by age group

• IKEA effect – humans tend to evaluate highly what they personally created, or contributed to creating

17

age4 – 8

age8 – 14

age14 – 19

χ ѴѴ Ѵ• Availability heuristic - mental shortcut for

estimating probabilities that relies on the ease, with which specific examples come to mind

Ѵ ѴѴ

2015 © Нюроикономикс лабс. Всички права запазени.

• Status Quo bias - tendency to remain at the current state, because of fear of the unknown

χ χ Ѵ

• Familiarity heuristic– people like more what they are familiar with

ѴѴ χѴ

• Speak-easy effect - people perceive words that are easier to pronounce as more trustworthy and more valuable

Ѵ ѴѴ

• Social conformity bias – tendency to adopt the opinions and behaviors of the majority

χ ѴѴ ѴѴ

• Hyperbolic discounting - tendency to desire immediate rewards, and even prefer them over larger future rewards ѴѴ ѴѴѴ

Behavioral approach: Recycling

• According to the data, recycling is a priority personal action for the mitigation of human impact on climate

• Individuals who recycle, tend to contribute more often through other actions as well

• Behavioral barriers are: • Adherence to the mainstream opinion and

behavior

• Bias towards the Status Quo

• Striving towards comfort and minimization of efforts


• Example recommendations for overcoming these barriers:• Creating groups and micro-environments, where the majority recycles – for

example through school programs

• Creating positive stimuli for changing the Status Quo – for example through a reduction of the waste collection tax

Behavioral approach: Food and health

• Between 60 and 70% of parents consider as high danger the excessive use of fertilizers, resulting in high nitrate levels in the food

• At a national level, this is the factor that is most often considered high danger and is the strongest motivator towards personal actions

• These data demonstrate that information on the topic can be used to nudge adults towards active contributions for environmental preservation

• Main barrier to overcome:

• For children, food and health are not a priority/ responsibility

• Example recommendations: • Active engagement of adults in the topic

• Older children seek identification with specific brands of foods and drinks; communication that particular brands, preferred by them, are supporting eco-initiatives, would provoke their interest in the climate change topic


Behavioral approach: Energy efficiency

• Awareness on the topic of energy efficiency is relatively high among the Bulgarians, but only 39% live in insulated homes

• Other 34% express their wish to contribute in this way

• Nearly half of the Bulgarians contribute to mitigation through the use of energy-saving light bulbs and appliances, and through window insulation

• Behavioral barriers:

• Financial considerations

• Hyperbolic discounting - shortsightedness and desire for immediate results

• Example recommendations for overcoming the barriers:

• Communication with focus on the immediate benefits would help outweigh the financial considerations

• Programs with subsidies and deferred payment, communicated in an accessible way


Behavioral approach: Transport and personal vehicles• Data show the existence of a segment that tends to contribute through all

other actions, except for the use of public transport, bicycling or walking

• This is also the personal action with the highest proportion of respondents stating that they do not wish to contribute through this action


• Strive for convenience and minimization of efforts

• Familiarity bias

• Status Quo bias

• Social conformity


• Communication which elevates the status of individuals differing from the crowd

• Creating strong stimuli for investing in cleaner cars for personal use

• Organization of group school transport for children living in neighboring areas


Behavioral approach: Responsible handing of appliances, batteries, and mobile phones

• Responsible handing over of old appliances, batteries, and mobile phones is the action with the smallest contribution rate at the national level


• Low awareness

• Diffusion of responsibility

• Strive for convenience and minimization of efforts


• Organization of local campaigns raising awareness of the rationale and benefits of this action

• Organization of campaigns for collecting old batteries and mobile phones in school, with student participation in the organization

• Increasing convenience and displaying the collection bins in a visible location (next to the cashiers) as a reminder


23

Summary of Part 1

• It is important to start environmental education early and in a school setting

• The nature of the material and the need for considering age-related and national specifics complicate the development of a universal framework and good practices

• International experience points to combining lecturing with activities requiring active participation, as well as giving older children tasks to search for information independently

• In Bulgaria recycling is a priority personal contribution for climate change mitigation because people who recycle tend to contribute in other ways as well

• The majority of Bulgarian parents see the topic as very important to be studied at school, and increasingly tend to transfer to teachers the responsibility of educating their children about it

• The behavioral approach can be applied to overcome the attitudes and barriers, which prevent people from taking active measures for environmental preservation

2015 © Всички права запазени.

Part 2:Activities

Key psychological characteristics by age group: Age 4 – 8

• Curiosity and spirit for exploration

• Frequent questions • Like to take objects apart

• Inability for empathy and dealing with negative emotions

• Frequent changes in mood

• Lack of complex defense mechanisms

• Short attention span• Lack of abstract

thinking

• Inability to deal with conflict situations

• Inability to understand moral norms

• Most often, good at following clearly and systematically established rules

• Like to create using their hands

• Like physical activities• Brag and look for approval• Compare themselves to the others

Age 4 – 8

Active

ly ga

ther

information about

their own abiliti

es

Actively gather

information about the

world

Initial emotional and

mental developmentInitial so

cial

development

self

world

interestschallenges


25

Main challenges and recommendations: Age 4 – 8

Short attention span;Lack of abstract thinking

Inability to understand moral norms

• Creating and teaching clear rules related to human responsibilities towards nature

• Guiding the curiosity and exploratory interest of children towards nature, plants, and animals

• Active explanation and answering of questions about nature, plants and animals

• Alternating various activities at short intervals in order for the topic to be experienced through all senses

• Inclusion of creative and physical activities• Use of simplified visual materials and pictures to illustrate

more complex activities, dependencies and concepts

challenges recommendations

262015 © Нюроикономикс лабс. Всички права

запазени.


Inability for empathy and dealing with negative emotions

• Due to their inability for empathy, children might unconsciously harm plants and animals; it is necessary to explain to them through parallels with humans, that they are alive, and can sense and suffer

• Children’s inability to deal with negative emotions might lead to a sense of helplessness regarding their efforts for environmental preservation; it is important to focus their attention on the positives and accomplishments: to communicate widely the results of their efforts, to invite parents to exhibitions and demonstrations, to give them approval and explanation why their efforts have been worthwhile



запазени.

Guidance for physical activities: Age 4 – 8

Physical activities:• Trips to the local park, zoo, or museum of natural history • Hiking in the mountains• Camping in nature• Participating in eco initiatives together with adults – e.g. tree planting

+ Must be combined with clear rules for proper behavior in the forest• Trash to be held until a waste bin is found for its disposal • Not to cut the bark of the trees, nor break their branches or pick flowers • Regular 5-minute reminders of basic rules for climate change mitigation in everyday

activities

+ Must be combined with exploratory activities :• Collecting herbarium leaves• Photographing plants and animals • Describing changes in nature during the seasons • Observing and attempting to explain the behavior of small animals like birds and

squirrels; comparing animal and human behavior• Explanations and answers to (relevant) questions • Relating and demonstrating interesting facts – e.g. how pinecones contain seeds

which can grow into new trees if they fall in a good place2015 © НДЕФ. Всички права запазени.28

Guidance for creative activities: Age 4 – 8

Art activities:• Nature-dedicated area in the classroom created by the children, with guidance from

the teacher• Nature calendar created by the children, with guidance from the teacher• Planting a tree, flowers, or herbs in a pot, that children can care after and observe

how they are influenced by light, the seasons, and watering patterns• Drawing nature, plants and animals• Creating illustrations and schematics for explaining dependencies and cycles • Drawing people engaged in environmental preservation activities • Creating a personal pledge to nature

+ Must be combined with an exploratory emphasis:• Photosynthesis might be illustrated by sticking nontransparent scotch tape to the leaf

of a living plant – the spot would soon lose its green color • Plant drawing may be combined with detailed observations of the structure of the

plants - e.g. how the vein patterns of a beautiful autumn leaf resemble a tree • Drawing animals may be combined with explanations about their habitat and their

adaptation to it



• Strong interest in social norms, as well as the opinions and behaviors of others

• Forming of social identity

• Beginnings ofanticipation of

consequences • Inability for risk assessment

- a sense of invincibility, exaggerated fears

• Moral norms begin to form

• Sense of independence begins to form – unwillingness to follow the rules of adults

Age 8 – 14

Development o

f

intellectu

al identity

Actively gather

information about people

and society

Immature

emotional and mental

developmentIm

mature socia

l

development

self

world

interestschallenges


30

• Like physical and mental challenges

• Start to form and express a personal opinion

• Invest in improving their abilities and aim to control their surroundings

• Organizing knowledge in categories and abstract features

• Increased attention span (BUT: impact of digital consumption)

• Strong susceptibility to peer pressure and role-model influence

• Complicated and frequently changing social relationships

• Development of empathy and consideration for others

• Taking on family responsibilities


Unwillingness to follow the rules of adults, and susceptibility to social influence

Inability for risk assessment, exaggerated fears

• Providing objective factual information; avoiding description of catastrophic consequences in the future

• Directing children’s interest in mental challenges towards solving puzzles and logical problems relevant to the topic of nature

• Offering teacher guidance when evaluation and anticipation of risks and consequences is necessary


31 2015 © Нюроикономикс лабс. Всички права запазени.

• Giving every child the opportunity to process and organize the information by herself

• Giving every child the opportunity to learn to develop and articulate her own opinion based on facts

• Combining creative and physical activities • Creating inspiring role models by inviting experts to lead

selected activities • Emphasizing figures from history and literature who

actively protected Bulgarian nature

Guidance for activities: Age 8 – 14

Physical activities:• Hiking / camping in the mountains or in nature • Joined participation in eco-initiative with adults – e.g. planting trees

Creative activities (must involve solving intellectual puzzles or expressing own opinion):• Writing and illustrating own pledge to protect nature• Drawing environmental preservation or animal rescue activities• Writing short argumentative essays on the topic• Classification tasks for various species of plants, trees or animals • Creation of illustrations explaining nature’s dependencies and cycles • Creation of collages from natural materials - such as leaves, seeds, cones, flowers and

twigs collected in the park • Organizing theme days – focused on forests, animals, recycling etc.

+ Reminders of clearly formulated rules for proper behavior in nature • Trash to be held until a waste bin is found for its disposal • Not to cut the bark of the trees, nor break their branches or pick flowers

+ Opportunities for children to look for information and dependencies by themselves32 2015 © НДЕФ. Всички права запазени.


• Interest in appropriate social behavior and unwritten rules

• Interest in others’ emotions and opinions

• Desire to be taken seriously, respectfully, and as equal to adults

• Extreme negligence of health

• Accelerated emotional self-awareness

• Ability for independent moral evaluation

• Intensive social experimentation

• Distrust of institutions and tendency for insubordination

Age 14 – 19

Form

ation of

temperament and

confidence

Actively collect

information about

others’ emotions and

opinionsIntensive emotional,

hormonal, and mental

changes Intensive so

cial

development

self

world

interestschallenges


33

• Tendency for depression and sudden mood swings

• Development of verbal expression and emotional control

• Accelerated development of abstract thinking• Hypersensitivity and active building of

defense-mechanisms

• Desire to be different from their parents• Loyalty to friends and peers

• Setting and pursuing own long-term goals

• Strive for self-assessment• Extreme fixating on and

experimentation with own physical characteristics


Mistrust of institutions and tendency for insubordination; Strive for independence

• Utilizing the teenage strive for independence and respect by giving them the opportunity to take on a role of responsibility in the activities – organizational and/or one of an active participant

• Utilizing students’ interest in the opinions of others through activities involving interviewing, debates, writing articles, etc.

• Emphasizing the intellectual challenge through activities in which students independently research consequences, systems, dependencies

• This challenge offers an opportunity to create a more responsible attitude in children towards the climate and the environment, compared to that of their adults

• Organizing activities led by the children, but with the participation of the parents

• Creating positive role models in daily life – finding local and international celebrities from fashion, films, sports, who are involved with the green cause


34

Desire to be different from their parents



Hypersensitivity and active building of psychological defense mechanisms

• Due to their emotional insecurity during puberty, children in this age group tend to be hypersensitive and overreact to criticism; it is important to present them with objective information and avoid language that could be perceived directly or indirectly as a personal attack

• Hypersensitivity to peers and adults may be circumvented through the organization of activities in which the teenager can have a mentoring role over groups of younger students – this would encourage them to accept more responsibilities regarding nature as well

• When organizing group projects and activities, it is necessary to communicate in advance the social rules participants must follow – for example, everybody contributes equally, do not interrupt each other, respect each other's work and time, responsibilities are distributed and articulated clearly, and clear deadlines are established



запазени.

Guidance for activities: Age 14 – 19Activities in the form of green initiatives:• Participation in eco-initiatives or organizing one as a school project – e.g. cleaning

local gardens and parks, planting trees, etc.• Interviews and surveys of peers or adults about their attitudes on the topic, and what

might motivate them to contribute actively• Interviews with experts and preparation of materials for a school newspaper or

leaflets and posters• Research and development of intellectual or creative school project aiming to engage

others in active contributions to environmental preservation • Organizing a school recycling program, as a school project • Local eco-audits and research on concrete topics – e.g. clean waters, waste disposal

or recycling in own neighborhood (later on, such projects may lead to civil or municipal initiatives)

+ Offering children the opportunity to independently process and organize the information on the topic

+ Offering children the opportunity to develop an independent opinion and learn to express arguments for it, which can later become a permanent part of their identity

+ Giving children the opportunity to become role models and encourage responsible behavior towards the environment – among younger children, peers, friends, and parents


Why engaging the parents is important

• In the two younger age groups, parents are the first and most influential role model for the children

• Teachers can educate parents on the proper approach to children at a given age

• Coordinating the information children receive at school and at home can reduce the possibility of conflicting information and confusing the child

• Coordinating the rules and personal actions which the child should undertake in her daily life allows repetition, perseverance and parental control out of school hours

• If properly planned, activities may have an indirect positive influence on the awareness and attitudes of parents on the topic of climate change and environmental preservation


Part 2 - B:Workshop

план

Part 3:Summary and Close-up

Thank you!

Contact: [email protected]

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jenia lazarova, julian asenov october 2015 behavioral approach to environmental and climate change...

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