the changelog

Volume 1, Issue 2 | July 2022

5 min readOct 28, 2022

ADVANCING CLIMATE-CONSCIOUS ACTION

The last two months at the Centre for Social and Behaviour Change have been about exploring ways in which we can build better behaviours related to climate change and sustainability.

Thus, we are proud to officially partner with NITI Aayog for a call for ideas and papers under Mission ‘Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE)’, which is a global movement that aims to drive climate action through behaviour change. A global invitation for behaviourally-informed solutions such as this is a meaningful step forward for designing thoughtful, inclusive, and impactful climate action policies and will also provide a significant impetus for advancing and democratising behavioural science.

We are also excited to announce a new project, Encouraging Low Carbon Lifestyles in Indian Cities, which aims to help India turn the corner on rising emissions of GHGs. In collaboration with the MacArthur Foundation, we will study low-carbon household choices and design behavioural interventions to redirect household choices toward low-carbon technologies and solutions in Indian cities.

PROJECTS

UNDERSTANDING VACCINE HESITANCY IN RURAL AREAS, UTTAR PRADESH & BIHAR
CSBC recently conducted a large-scale in-person survey of 6,000 respondents to understand attitudes and behaviours driving vaccine hesitancy in rural India. The team also investigated the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine for children and tested two short video-based interventions to influence parents’ intentions to immunise their children against COVID-19. This study will provide insights that could be useful for the COVID-19 vaccination campaign for children in rural areas, as well as learnings about designing communication strategies to combat last-mile vaccine hesitancy. The Sabin Vaccine Institute generously provided funding for this study.

OPTIMISING ADHERENCE TO NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTS, UTTAR PRADESH
CSBC partnered with the Centre for Customer Insights at the Yale School of Management on a behavioural evidence review of iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation. Based on insights from the evidence plus an original programme implementation analysis for Uttar Pradesh, the UP Behavioural Insights Unit drafted a whitepaper on literature and practice gaps in IFA supplementation. The UP BIU will also issue a Request for Proposals in July and identify project teams to conceptualise, develop, and rigorously test interventions for better adherence to an IFA regimen. In the project’s final phase, the UP BIU will lead intensive advocacy efforts around successful results at state and national levels. This project will target adolescents and pregnant or lactating women with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

IMPROVING FOUNDATIONAL LITERACY & NUMERACY OUTCOMES, UTTAR PRADESH
With the Central Square Foundation, CSBC conducted a randomised control trial with 1400 respondents to evaluate an intervention to increase parents’ engagement in their children’s education, especially in early education. The intervention encouraged parents to become good coaches by assessing their child’s performance, motivating them to learn, using simple activities to promote learning and track progress, and arranging support when required. The intervention was delivered over WhatsApp for parents with smartphones and through a workbook for parents without smartphone access. Read more.

If you’re interested in participating in our research studies, click here!

PAST EVENTS

SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR COMPUTATIONAL SOCIAL SCIENCE (SICCS) DELHI 2022
Along with the CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation, CSBC co-hosted a week-long programme in computational social science research methods for PhD candidates, junior faculty, and young professionals. The summer school involved lectures and hands-on tutorials by global and Indian faculty. Topics included digital data, natural language processing, machine learning, crowdsourcing, experiments and ethics. SICSS Delhi also featured guest speakers who use computational methods in health and nutrition policy. Participants ended SICSS-Delhi by planning a research project using one of the taught methods. The Social Science Research Council supports SICSS, securing access for all selected applicants.

DISCUSSION WITH DR MICHAEL KREMER
A closed session with Nobel Prize-winning economist Dr Michael Kremer was organised at NITI Aayog. Dr Kremer presented his recently published meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials on the impacts of water treatment on child mortality. Parameswaran Iyer, the CEO of NITI Aayog, was also present. Read more.