If you work in global development, you’ve probably heard people throw around terms like Applied Behavioural Science, Social and Behaviour Change (SBC), and Behavioural Insights (BI). They all sound similar because they are: each draws on how people make decisions and behave.
But they come from different traditions, use different toolkits, and are useful in different ways. As someone who helps social impact organisations apply social and behavioural science in their projects, I see a lot of confusion about the labels. This piece is a practical guide to what each means, how they overlap, and how you can use them alone or together to make programmes more effective.

So far this year, I’ve worked with five different teams on projects ranging from social protection to making nightlife safer. A large portion of my work involves supporting teams in understanding how they can pragmatically apply a social and behavioural science lens to their work. Having always been drawn to psychology and understanding how people are ‘put together’, it still comes as a surprise to me when I encounter people who haven’t really engaged with concepts like understanding behavioural barriers, systems thinking, applying a behavioural design lens or even the socio-ecological model. Because I look at everything through a behavioural science lens, I can’t process how people work without it.

When we run a workshop, what are we really trying to achieve? Sure, we might want to pass on information, “raise awareness” or introduce a new tool. But if we zoom out a little, the real goal is simple: we want people to do things differently afterwards. Whether it’s adopting a new process, shifting their mindset or improving a skill, we’re in the business of behaviour change.

Looking at workshop facilitation through a behavioural science lens can make a real difference.

Here are a few techniques that can help you design and deliver workshops that stick, while keeping things dynamic, responsive, and fun.