How to support behavioural change

Successful implementation planning depends on understanding how to achieve behavioural change. Here Dr. Tom Cohen stresses the importance of addressing behavioural change when thinking about transitioning to sustainable urban mobility systems. He reflects on what it means, and how behaviour change policies can be developed.

The first main message concerning behaviour change is that you should think of it as a way of formulating policy.

The second main message is that it is essential to think of behaviour in the most holistic way possible.

A very useful tool to support thinking about behaviour change is COM-B. The idea is very simple: in order for a person to perform a given behaviour, they must have the capability to do it, the opportunity to do it, and the motivation to do it.

^{Figure: COM-B diagram Source: Michie et al 2011}

A summary of the COM-B tool is available as a Handout PDF in the Download section below.