Behavioural Change

Photo credit : GIZ

The most advanced waste management systems, strongest policies, or innovative technologies will not succeed without people choosing to act differently. Whether it’s sorting trash, refusing single-use plastic, buying local food, or conserving energy, individual and collective choices shape the impact of environmental and climate actions on the ground. That’s why behavioural change is central to all sustainable development goals, especially in areas like waste management, marine litter prevention, and the circular economy.

In Southeast Asia, many of the environmental challenges we face today are deeply connected to human behaviour. Open dumping, single-use consumption, excessive packaging, overreliance on plastics, food waste, and poor recycling practices are not just technical failures they are social and behavioural patterns. Transforming those behaviours is both a challenge and an opportunity.

This thematic area of the ASEAN Knowledge Platform focuses on behavioural change as a driver of environmental transformation. The aim is to support policymakers, educators, civil society organizations, and local governments to engage people in real, lasting change and to complement ASEAN’s regional policy frameworks, such as the ASEAN Framework on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) and the ASEAN Regional Action Plan on Combating Marine Debris (2021–2025). Both frameworks highlight behavioural change as a key enabler for reducing waste generation, tackling marine litter, and advancing circular economy practices across the region.

Awareness is necessary, but it is not enough. People often know that plastic is harmful, that food waste is a problem, or that water should be conserved. But knowledge doesn’t always lead to action. Behavioural change is about bridging the gap between knowing and doing. It involves understanding people’s motivations, removing barriers, and making sustainable choices the easy, attractive, and normal thing to do.

Traditional information campaigns alone have limited impact. Behavioural change efforts must go deeper by working with social norms, local values, emotional triggers, and practical incentives. Instead of assuming that people are passive recipients of information, successful campaigns treat people as active agents who can co-create solutions when supported effectively.

This shift from top-down messaging to collaborative engagement has inspired a new generation of tools and approaches being used across ASEAN.

Understanding the Psychology of Change

Across Southeast Asia, the most persistent environmental challenges such as marine plastic pollution, growing waste volumes, and unsustainable consumption are closely tied to everyday human behaviour. While strong infrastructure and regulation form the backbone of sustainable systems, they cannot succeed without people making conscious, collective choices. Changing behaviour is not just about giving people information it’s about making sustainable choices easier, more visible, and more rewarding.

To support a more behaviourally informed approach, the ASEAN Behavioural Lab—an initiative of the Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) and the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES)—was initiated to rally the support of global partners under a voluntary cooperation mechanism, including GIZ, Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment, and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The Behaviour Lab aims to support ASEAN Member States and regional stakeholders in developing and scaling behaviourally effective interventions, particularly those that reduce plastic waste and encourage more circular habits. It provides technical tools, co-learning opportunities, policy insights, and a growing repository of shared ASEAN experiences.

The Behaviour Change Toolbox

Separately, the Behaviour Change Toolbox developed under GIZ’s 3RproMar project is a practical methodology designed for field actors working in Southeast Asian communities. Created specifically for behaviour change in the context of plastic waste and circular economy goals, it was co-developed with local stakeholders in ASEAN countries and field-tested in markets, schools, and municipalities.

The toolbox provides hands-on tools to help practitioners:

• Identify problem behaviours and target actors,
• Understand motivations through interviews and observation,
• Design tailored campaigns using approaches like nudging, storytelling, and incentives,
• Test and evaluate interventions for effectiveness.

The toolbox is especially useful for local governments, civil society groups, educators, and project implementers who want to create community-based campaigns that are easy to apply and based on behavioural science.

Who Needs to Be Involved?

Behavioural change is a collective effort. It requires the involvement of a wide range of actors:

• Local governments play a key role in shaping the physical and policy environment by providing infrastructure, enforcing regulations, and launching public campaigns.
• Civil society organizations bring knowledge of community dynamics, especially among vulnerable or hard-to-reach groups.
• Teachers and educators shape long-term attitudes and can integrate environmental values into daily learning.
• Religious leaders, elders, and cultural influencers carry deep social capital and can validate change.
• Private sector actors can design sustainable product choices, shape consumption patterns, and lead through corporate responsibility programs.
• Youth movements often act as powerful advocates, bringing creativity and energy into campaigns that can shift norms quickly.

Photo credit : GIZ

Challenges

Transforming behaviours is not easy. Cultural norms, convenience, lack of alternatives, and economic pressures can all hold back progress. Sustainable habits sometimes conflict with what feels easier, cheaper, or socially accepted.

Behaviour change campaigns must avoid judgmental tones or top-down preaching. They must offer alternatives, show empathy, and celebrate small wins. Equally important is consistency mixed messages or poor infrastructure (e.g., asking people to sort waste when no one collects it) can undermine even the best intentions.

Measurement is another challenge. Behaviour change is hard to quantify. Many projects focus on outputs (e.g., number of posters distributed) rather than outcomes (e.g., reduction in plastic use). The toolbox addresses this by including evaluation tools that track changes over time and help improve strategies iteratively.

Finally, funding for behaviour-focused work is often limited, especially compared to infrastructure-heavy projects. Yet the return on investment if done right is high. A well-designed campaign can reduce waste generation, support policy compliance, and enhance community trust at a fraction of the cost of physical infrastructure.

The Next Step

Long-lasting behaviour change is not about one-off campaigns it’s about cultural shifts. It happens when new habits become normal, when communities redefine what’s acceptable and desirable, and when sustainability becomes part of everyday life.

In ASEAN, this shift is already underway. Cities are banning plastic bags not through punishment, but by creating alternatives. Schools are turning waste education into art projects and debates. Faith leaders are calling for stewardship of nature as a moral duty. Businesses are finding that eco-friendly branding builds trust and loyalty.

At the same time, ASEAN and its Member States are increasingly looking beyond downstream waste management toward midstream and upstream solutions. Efforts to reduce unnecessary packaging, promote sustainable product design, and encourage new business models are becoming part of the regional agenda. This integrated approach reflects ASEAN’s recognition that tackling plastic pollution requires interventions across the entire life cycle of plastics, aligning with international discussions, e.g. as under the negotiations for a global plastic treaty (INC).

This thematic area offers a way to support, connect, and amplify these efforts. By sharing methods, celebrating progress, and learning from mistakes, we can accelerate the cultural transformation toward sustainability.