On Saturday 27th April, The Alliance for Sustainable Schools (TASS) held Hong Kong’s first-ever Sustainability Behaviour Change Hackathon jointly organized by TASS, Behaven (an international behavioural science consultancy), and students from Chinese International School (CIS) and French International School. The event brought together over 90 secondary students and teachers from 13 schools in Hong Kong for a stimulating day packed with cognitive science learning and critical thinking.
According to a recent scientific paper by Joseph Merz and other academics, [i]a ‘human behavioural crisis’ is at the root of climate breakdown – we often do the most convenient thing, rather than what is best for people and the planet. The paper argues that most climate solutions proposed so far only tackle symptoms rather than the root cause of the crisis. This, they say, leads to increasing levels of the three levers of overshoot: consumption, waste and population. Humanity would currently need 1.7 Earths to maintain consumption of resources at a its current level which is well beyond the planet’s capacity to regenerate. Unless the demand for resources is reduced, our innovations will be meaningless.
Led by behavioural scientist and co-founder of Behaven, Fred Dorsimont, participants of the Hackathon had the opportunity to apply cutting-edge behavioural science-based tools to tackle this issue. What was unique about the hackathon was the approach of using behavioural science principles and an understanding of the drivers and enablers of unsustainable behaviour to try to influence students to make sustainable decisions. Teams worked on a sustainability challenge of their choice relevant to their school in one of four thematic areas – Food, Waste, Energy, and Travel. Some examples of these challenges are: Why do students throw away so much food in the canteen? Why don’t more students take the school bus?
Prior to the event, students received three hours of practical skills training in how to apply science of behaviour change They worked on translating their goals, such as reducing food waste in the canteen, into specific target behaviours that they want to encourage, and conducted observational studies to identify and understand the factors that influence of the behaviour they were seeking to change– whether negative factors (barriers) or positive ones (enablers).
During the morning of the hackathon – participants utilized a toolkit of 12 behaviour change interventions, selected four that were most relevant to their target behaviour, and prototyped their chosen interventions using a ‘Crazy 4’s’ exercise. In the afternoon, they worked in teams to develop a plan for implementing their intervention in their schools, and then presented their solutions to other schools and receive constructive feedback. The students’ work was supported by 20 facilitators, including psychology teachers and industry professionals. Their final presentations were science-based and thoughtfully conceived, with the potential to have meaningful and measurable impact in schools.
Jonathan, a student from CIS who was one of the organisers of the Hackathon said “Mr. Dorsimont and our facilitators provided stellar guidance, and the student participants devised ingenious ideas for driving sustainable change in their schools. It was an eye-opening glimpse into what we could achieve in sustainability with our combined efforts and ideas.”
Fred Dorsimont, co-founder of Behaven, said “The Sustainable Behaviour Change Hackathon is not only about preparing students to become committed citizens of tomorrow. It is also about providing tangible, actionable solutions that can have an impact in their own school communities — now! Seeing these bright young minds actively engaged gives me confidence in our collective sustainable future.”
Anthony Dixon, Chairman of TASS said ”The behavioural science approach of the Hackathon is really something innovative for sustainability in schools and I can’t wait to see what the data tell us about the impact of the students’ planned interventions. It was great to see the collaboration between the students and their teachers and other facilitators who gave up their day to support the student teams’ work, and once again to see so many schools coming together around sustainability action.
A post-event survey found that as a result of the Hackathon, 100% of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they have a greater understanding of behavioural science and how it can be applied to make sustainable changes at their school, and 100% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel more able to envision how their school can be more sustainable.
This innovative event emphasised the often-overlooked importance of behaviour change as a tool to address sustainability challenges, and successfully demonstrated a novel framework for effective student engagement on these challenges. TASS is committed to working with the students and the teachers to implement their interventions in their schools in the coming months and measure the impact they have, and looks forward to pursuing this model with more schools in Hong Kong and in other cities around the region.
A huge thank you to our generous sponsors, Pro-Rent Services and Friends of the Earth Hong Kong for supporting this meaningful cause.
[i] Merz, J. et. Al. Science Progress 2023 Vol 106(3) 1-22
