On September 1, 2020, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new publication, “The Little Book of Green Nudges”, to inspire students around the globe to adopt environmentally friendly habits and greener lifestyles. The Book was drafted with The Behavioural Insights Team and GRID-Arendal.
Nudging:
i.This is UNEP’s first book on behavioural science and nudge theory, which focuses on human actions and how to change them.
ii.UNEP also launched a “Green Nudges” programme for Universities. UNEP is collaborating with higher education institutions around the world to pilot nudging on campuses.
iii.UNEP will share insights from discussions with leaders of world’s top universities at THE (Times Higher Education) World Academic Summit, which happened from September 1-2, 2020 in this book.
iv.David Halpern, Chief Executive of the Behavioural Insights Team and GRID-Arendal Managing Director Peter Harris welcomed their work with UNEP.
Points to be noted: –
Nudging is simply meant as a push. Here through this book UNEP strongly recommends pushing ourselves on usage of food,waste,transport,recycling and Sharing.
Key Points:
i.The Book contains 40 ready-made nudges which university campuses can deploy to encourage students and staff to embrace sustainable behaviours.
ii.Nudging can be a powerful tool at universities to deploy alongside strategies like decarbonizing and divesting from fossil fuels.
iii.It encloses case studies of nudging interventions rolled out at universities from Thailand to Kenya, Finland and Colombia.
iv.Around 20 universities around the globe have already joined the programme, which includes University of Chile, University of Nairobi, University of Tsukuba in Japan and University of California at Berkeley.
THE World Academic Summit:
i.The theme of the summit was “the power of place” and it took place virtually from September 1-2, 2020. It focused on interrelationship between universities and the places.
ii.Times Higher Education World Academic Summit brings together thought leaders across higher education, research, industry and government to share best practice and innovation in development and leadership of world-class universities and research.
iii.Times Higher Education is a weekly magazine based out of London, which focuses on news and issues specifically related to higher education.
iv.During the summit, THE World University Rankings 2021 were released.
About UNEP:
Director – Inger Andersen (Denmark)
Headquarters – Nairobi, Kenya
