Facilitate policy makers to understand and change behaviour of citizens
Although many people in the Netherlands use a bike to get to work, do groceries or bring their children to school, there is still room for improvement by stimulating more people to cycle. Riding a bike is healthy and good for the environment. CROW-Fietsberaad is a knowledge centre that develops, disseminates and exchanges practical knowledge for improved cycling policies. Their aim is to help national and local governments and also NGO’s in stimulating the use of bicycles through actions, interventions and measures. This type of stimulation is often in addition to the construction of improved cycling infrastructure (the ʻhardʼ component of cycling stimulation), and is mainly aimed at changing the behaviour of cyclists (the ‘soft’ component of cycling stimulation). STBY was asked by CROW/Fietsberaad to consolidate a guideline for this ‘soft’ component: a knowledge document with a clear roadmap that facilitates and inspires policy makers to design, plan and measure successful interventions to stimulate cycling.
Consolidating a range of knowledge in a series of concrete steps
We started the project with desk research to broaden and deepen our understanding of theoretical models for behavioural change interventions, so we could offer up-to-date basic knowledge on behavioural change processes. We also gathered methodologies for target group determination and recruitment, as it’s crucial for designing successful interventions to firmly understand the target group. Thinking from the perspective of the target group, with the goal to determine the gap between their current and desired behaviour, you can nudge people to overcome this gap and change their behaviour. This needs a strong combination of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ components. Behaviour is about more than just motivation — you also have to take into account the capabilities of people and the environment they live in. The target group must be able and willing to perform the desired behaviour.
Visual and practical guideline
In close cooperation with the client and the team from Designpolitie we created a visually attractive and practical guideline that supports policymakers in every step of the intervention process. As the basis we used the Behaviour Change Wheel (Atkins and West). This provides a scientific basis for behaviour change processes. It brings together 19 existing models, and provides both insight at a strategic level and practical implementation. We also developed several new practical tools to guide project teams through each of the steps in a behaviour change process. Together with CROW/Fietsberaad, we hope this inspires and facilitates policy makers to design, plan and measure successful interventions that stimulate sustainable use of bicycles in the Netherlands.
Link to the guideline (Dutch)
Link to the guideline (English)