Watershed Outreach Professionals’ Behavior Change Practices, Challenges, and Needs

Background

Insights and Recommendations for the Chesapeake Bay Trust

Authors: Meghan Kelly, Samuel Little, Kaitlin Phelps, Carrie Roble Under the guidance of Dr. Michaela Zint   Published By: School of Natural Resources and the Environment, UM-Ann Arbor Published Date: April 2012

Key Concepts

Chesapeake Bay Trust - a publicly funded nonprofit organization based in Annapolis, Maryland. The CBT funds environmental stewardship efforts through a variety of grants, and recently expanded their Outreach and Community Engagement (OCE) Grant Program to include a specific Behavior Change Program Track allocating funding for ERB-related programs.

Environmentally Responsible Behaviors - ERB can be defined as an “approach to seeking information, making decisions, and valuing a stewardship ethic” (Monroe, 2003). . . Research-supported evidence from social science disciplines, especially conservation psychology, reveals that individual ERB can have a measurable and significant environmental impact (Dietz et al., 2004; Dietz et al., 2009). During the last 40 years, there has been a growing literature base on effective interventions that strategically motivate individuals to adopt ERB (Heimlich & Ardoin, 2008). However, there is a lack of research investigating ERB from the perspective of organizations conducting outreach programs, particularly in the context of watershed conservation and restoration.

Outreach and Community Engagement -

Survey Research

Methods To determine the practices, challenges, and needs of the CBT OCE grant applicants, the team developed and distributed a survey to applicants of the grant program since 2005. Survey measures were created based on interviews with leaders of programs funded by the OCE grant as well as observations of funded programs. The purpose of the survey was to verify if the information collected from the interviews and observations applied to the majority of grant applicant programs, as well as acquire a broader understanding of environmental outreach programs (EOPs) in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed (See Appendix 5: Survey Instrument). The survey explored the following themes: organizational background; program goals, practices, challenges, and needs; and use of outreach best practices and behavior change strategies (Table 2: Survey Principle Research Questions).

Results Context Type of Organization for Which Respondent Worked: Non-profit - 69% Governmental Agency - 19% Academic Institution - 13% Grassroots Organization - 9% Other - 3%   Respondents’ Involvement Within Their Organizations’ EOPs: Implement EOPs - 88% Design EOPs - 82% Write grants for EOPs - 79% Evaluate EOPs - 62% Other - 7%   EOPs Goals of Respondent Organizations' EOPs: Increase audiences' awareness of environmental issues - 91% Increase feeling that audience can personally help - 89% Provide audiences with knowledge and skills - 84% Engage audiences in restoration activities - 80% Change audiences'  attitudes - 77% Engage audiences in outdoor experiences - 73% Share how audiences can personally benefit - 67% Help to reduce audiences' barriers - 61% Stress how audiences can help future generations - 60% Other - 8%   Effective Elements of Respondents' EOPs: Providing information, training, and/or education - 27% Providing hands-on, active experiences - 35% Strengthening relationships, through collaboration, with community and other stakeholders - 16% Using normative messages to motivate others’ actions - 9% Providing an intrinsic and/or extrinsic incentive - 12% Making connections between human welfare and the environment - 21%   Themes Seen Throughout Survey Responses: Targeting other audiences Concerns about evaluation Limited funding leading to competition Connection to nature leads to behavior Too many under-funded groups Small organizations, training, and social marketing Increased organization collaboration   Information and Experiences Informing Respondent Organizations'  EOP Design: Personal experiences - 84% Collaborations with other organizations - 76% Evaluations of your organization's EOPs - 50% Audience data collected by respondents' organization - 40% Academic research on changing conservation behaviors - 32% Audience data collected by another organization - 28% Social marketing - 25% Other - 10%

Main Findings The majority of respondents’ EOPs seek to change individuals’ behaviors that affect the Bay. Although a number of respondents’ EOPs seek to do so in ways that have been supported by research, results also suggest that many respondents’ EOPs are designed based on misperceptions about how to foster behavior change. For example, many respondents believe that by providing positive nature experiences, individuals’ connections to the Bay will be strengthened, which in turn is expected to result in actions that protect the watershed. Although ERB have been related to individuals’ connections to nature, research also suggests that this relationship is not necessarily a causal one (Mayer & Frantz, 2004). While an individual’s connection to nature may have some relationship to their level of ERB, literature has not yet demonstrated that this is a particularly strong relationship. Other factors, such as social influences or skills, may be much stronger determinants of ERB and thus, possibly more important influences to leverage in EOPs (Hungerford & Volk, 1990; Cialdini, 2001). EOPs may therefore be more effective in fostering ERB if they are based on research-based strategies other than, or at least in addition to, ones focused on connecting humans to nature. Moreover, the extent to which research-based behavior change strategies are currently being intentionally incorporated into EOPs appears limited. For example, responses suggest that EOPs may be incorporating a mix of behavior change strategies, but only about half of respondents are using these strategies intentionally. This suggests that respondents may not understand the impact that these strategies can have on behavior. Given this lower level of intentionality, many respondents are likely not maximizing the potential impact of strategies, consequently limiting the capacity for effective behavior change EOPs. Program “best practices”, such as audience targeting and assessment as well as program evaluation, are another essential element to successful EOPs (McKenzie-Mohr & Smith, 1999; Braus, 2009). Although many respondents’ EOPs are based on a series of best practices, these practices also need be implemented with the intention of changing behavior to increase EOP effectiveness. The majority of respondents said they target audiences and evaluate their EOPs. However, only half are using data collected from their audiences to inform their program design, implying that respondents may not be using audience information to customize their programs. Furthermore, less than half of respondents are using evaluation to inform their program design, indicating that evaluative results are not widely used to improve program development over time. These results suggest that best practices may be challenging to implement, largely because many organizations have limited resources and/or little guidance for how to apply these results for improving programs. In addition, respondents face other challenges in developing, implementing, and evaluating EOPs. While respondents reported being able to recruit their traditional audiences, they indicated difficulties with reaching underrepresented audiences that include communities of color, low-income communities, and individuals who are not already concerned about and engaged in environmental issues. Since more than half of respondents reported knowing their audience’s barriers and benefits to ERB, respondents may lack the skills to correctly collect or make use of this information. In light of these significant challenges, respondents also felt that they might be trying to do too much with too little. Importantly, respondents appear eager to learn more about behavior change strategies and program best practices through a variety of means. Respondents were particularly interested in learning from other organizations, suggesting that EOP professionals could be encouraged to share “lessons learned” from their programs with others. Respondents also had a strong desire to learn more about social marketing and participatory programs. This likely reflects a strong desire, or at least recognition of the need, to design programs in a more strategic manner. It may also reflect that participants are interested in both the structured approach of social marketing and the community-inclusive approach of participatory programs. After collaboration, respondents were most interested in learning about these topics through a website that includes guidance on how to use specific behavior change strategies as well as information on relevant academic research, shared in an accessible way.

Strategies to Promote ERBs

Strategy - Definition - Example (% of organizations reporting use)

Appealing to Positive Emotional States - Appealing to emotions such as hope and enjoyment as a way to change people’s behavior Stressing the enjoyable aspects of gardening (69%) Commitment - Using verbal or written agreements, such as pledges, to encourage people to adopt a behavior - Asking people to sign a pledge to only use organic fertilizers on their lawns (48%) Extrinsic Rewards - Using money, food, or prizes to motivate behaviors - Rewarding households that save water with tax rebates or entering them in a raffle for a prize (37%) Feedback - Providing people with information about their level of success or need for improvement in response to a particular behavior - Providing homeowners with information on their electricity consumption throughout the year (42%) Highlighting Personal Benefits - Pointing out the health, financial, or other benefits that may result from a behavior - Emphasizing how using less fertilizer on one's lawn will save the property owner money while also contributing to improved water quality (72%) Increasing “How-To” Skills - Providing people with information and/or training on how to carry out conservation behaviors - Teaching installation, maintenance, and usage skills through a hands-on composting demonstration (88%) Intrinsic Rewards - Motivating individuals to perform an activity because of the personal satisfaction it can offer; this may include stressing values, morals, or how an activity can be enjoyable or interesting - Stressing that using resources wisely and avoiding waste is "the right thing to do" or encouraging individuals to participate in a river clean-up because it will be fun and enjoyable (74%) Participatory Programs - Involving members of the community in program design or implementation to create a sense of community ownership over the program - Creating block leaders to customize and oversee a neighborhood water conservation program (77%) Positive Nature Experiences - Exposing people to nature via an outdoor experience - Sunset kayak outing that allows people to engage and connect with the Bay and/or local waters (78%) Prompts - Short, simple reminders to perform a desired behavior - Displaying signs to turn off the lights or turn down the heat (57%) Social Marketing - Adapting the outlook and techniques from the field of marketing to help promote environmental and social change (Definition of Social Marketing, 2008) - In 2004, the Chesapeake Bay Program created a campaign to reduce nutrient pollution flowing into the Bay. Because much of this pollution is the result of excess lawn fertilizer use, the campaign targeted homeowners with lawns in the Washington, DC region... (55%) Social Norms or Modeling - Demonstrating the importance of a behavior to people either by describing the behavior as socially acceptable or unacceptable, or by having individuals perform the desired behavior around others to influence their behavior - Encouraging people to talk to their neighbors, family, and friends about installing rain barrels (52%) Stories - Personal verbal or written tales sharing what others are doing to solve environmental problems, or tales with embedded environmental messages - Sharing a story about one's experience fishing in a littered river that motivated them to no longer litter and support river cleanup efforts (61%)

Figure 13: How respondents learned about behavior change strategies Regarding ways in which respondents learn about behavior change strategies, the majority reported learning about them through professional experiences, although many also identified workshops, websites, and sources other than those listed, such as interactions with other organizations via networking or collaborations. In contrast, relatively few respondents indicated that they learned about behavior change strategies through academic research, courses, or webinars.

Table 10: Examples of responses demonstrating challenges respondents’ organizations face Need more resources, such as money, staff, volunteers, time and/or location where programs are run (48 %) Difficulty reaching audiences “outside the choir”. Demonstrate need for the ability to reach out to, communicate with, and/or target culturally diverse audience, e.g. urban and/or minority audiences. (20%) Bay residents do not connect human actions with impacts on the watershed (14%) Funders’ requirements for EOPs limit the ability of outreach efforts to motivate people (14%)    

Figure 16: Respondents' perception of funders' priorities Change individuals' conservation behaviors - 77% Reach/recruit as many individuals as possible - 72% EOPs lead to quantifiable reductions of key pollutants - 69% Funders requirements limit what we can do - 32% Other key priorities - 30%

Main Findings