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ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES: Beyond the Information Campaign: Community-Based Energy Behavioral Change at the University of Toronto

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2013

Matto Mildenberger ,
Leah Stokes ,
Beth Savan ,
Brian Kolenda  and
Dan Dolderman
Matto Mildenberger*
Affiliation:
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Leah Stokes
Affiliation:
Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Beth Savan
Affiliation:
Cities Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Brian Kolenda
Affiliation:
Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP, Toronto, Canada
Dan Dolderman
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
*
Matto Mildenberger, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511; (phone) 203-432-5100; (e-mail) matto.mildenberger@yale.edu
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Abstract

For three decades, many environmental practitioners have used the information campaign as their tool of choice. Yet most simple information appeals remain ineffective and are rooted in an outdated understanding of human behavior. In this article, we report on policy lessons from the Rewire program, an innovative energy conservation campaign at the University of Toronto that has grown to reach over 12,000 community members in Canada's largest university. Drawing from the Rewire experience, which evaluated the program by using a mix of psychological, electricity, and qualitative metrics, we suggest cost-effective methods for delivering policy interventions in a complex institutional setting and explore effective methods to generate widespread changes in energy behaviors through a community-based social marketing approach. Campaign designers should move away from single-tool policy interventions to employ a coordinated set of tools and techniques that address a wide range of determinants of human behavior. By training community-based coordinators, campaign designers should also move away from hierarchical policy implementation and toward decentralized deployment of modular and locally adaptive campaigns. For behavioral change to make a meaningful contribution to energy policy, we emphasize the need for more regular dialogue between social science research and the community of energy conservation practitioners.

Environmental Practice 15:147–155 (2013)

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 147 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2013 

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