When we talk about changing behaviour, it’s easy to assume that the decision lies solely with the individual. But in reality, behaviour is shaped by a much larger ecosystem. By breaking down the layers that influence behaviour, we can better understand why certain actions happen (or don’t) and what barriers might be in the way. This can also be understood as combining systems thinking with behavioural insights. Many people assume systems thinking is complex, but at its core, it’s about seeing behaviour in context. Luckily, there is a simple way to understand systems around a behaviour.

With the start of a new year, it’s the perfect time to reflect on where we are professionally and identify areas for growth. I wanted to create a way for those of us working in the change space (service designers, behavioural designers, social and behaviour change managers, change management professionals, monitoring and evaluation experts and many more!) to get a glimpse of how they can level up their skills using social and behavioural science.

I got the wonderful opportunity to attend and speak at the Impact + Profit Conference organised by the SIE Society, Population Media Center and Johns Hopkins Center for Communications Programs. I left the two-day event with one major conclusion: we need to take film and entertainment more seriously and embed them as part of well-rounded social and behaviour change interventions.

This year, I celebrated 10 years of running Osman Advisory Services and I launched our first programme, Ela. This programme was born from my own experiences as a consultant and my desire to create a space for women globally to turn to for help. Here, I share how I used behavioural science to transform an idea into a practical platform for aspiring consultants.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly being incorporated into the way social change and behaviour change projects are researched, designed and implemented. By integrating AI, organisations are finding more efficient and impactful ways to engage communities, tailor interventions, and drive change. Below are some examples of how AI is being applied to projects.

The Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) working group of the NLP Community of Practice, of which I am a co-lead along with Nicola Harford and Stephanie Coker, recently organised a Slack event where participants looked at how various existing AI tools could potentially be used in SBC strategy design.