Cambridge-LSE Behavioural Science for Biodiversity Conservation Policy Workshop
21 May 2026
10:00 -17:00
Times are show in local time
By invitation only
David Attenborough Building
New Museums Site
Conservation Research Institute
Cambridge
CB2 3QZ
United Kingdom
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Dasgupta Review have emphasised the need for transformative change to halt biodiversity decline, reflected in the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) target to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. Such change requires a fundamental shift in human behaviour at individual and structural levels, as has been outlined in the recent needs assessment by the IUCN Behaviour Change Task Force.
This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners to explore the conceptual field of behavioural science for biodiversity conservation policy, share empirical studies and insights.
Who will be there?
- Members of the International Behavioural Public Policy Association.
- Members and representers from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI).
- Scholars and practitioners from the IBPPA, LSE and University of Cambridge – Land Economy, Political Psychology.
Topics
- Behavioural intervention studies for biodiversity conservation.
- Innovative conceptual papers and models.
- Evidence reviews and synthesis.
Register
Participation by invitation only to presenting researchers and practitioners who are members of the International Behavioural Public Policy Association.
Please contact eei-info@jbs.cam.ac.uk for information and queries.
Agenda
08:45-09:15
Registration with coffee and tea, and a light breakfast
09:15-09:30
Welcomes
- Lucia Reisch and Arjun Kamdar, El-Erian Institute
- Chris Sandbrook, Cambridge Conservation Initiative
09:30-10:00
Paper session 1
- Diogo Veríssimo, University of Oxford: “Beyond monitoring extinction: tackling the 4 horsemen of conservation behaviour change”
- Marion Dupoux, European Commission: “A behavioural lens on nature credit markets”
10:00-10:30
Theme session: Behavioural science for conservation in practice and policy I
- Molly Brown, IUCN: “Strategic behavioural interventions are required to tackle Chinese aesthetic, cultural and social values driving ivory demand”
- Katie Mabbutt, TRAFFIC: “Applying the CITES Five‑Step Demand‑Reduction Framework across contexts: insights from Bolivia and China and their integration into a behavioural community of practice”
- Lisa Magnin, Foundations of Success: “Behavioural insights for conservation policy advocacy”
10:30-10:45
Tea and coffee break
10:45-11:15
Theme session: Behavioural science for conservation in practice and policy II
- Katarzyna Mikołajczak, London School of Economics: “What drives the acceptability and sustained uptake of conservation policy? A behavioural service design study of mobile electric fencing for human-elephant coexistence in northeastern Gabon”
- Laura Perry, Castlerock Conservation: “Integrating conflict resolution into behaviour change”
- Sam Gray, Willem Krüsmann, Rare: “Behavioural science for biodiversity conservation in Germany: project introduction”
11:15-11:50
Theme session: Conservation behaviour in the lab and in the field
- Mari Reitstøen Arnesen, Norwegian University of Science and Technology: “Does biodiversity labelling affect consumer choices of protein sources? A discrete choice experiment in Norway and Denmark”
- Luiza Martins Karpavicius, University of Copenhagen: “Keeping your options open: forest owners’ behavior under irreversible conservation”
- Joss Lyons-White, University of Cambridge: “Norms for nature: a randomised controlled trial of a social norm intervention to reduce deforestation while benefitting the livelihoods of Indonesian palm oil farmers”
11:50-12:00
Short break
12:00-12:50
Professor Cass Sunstein: Keynote
Followed by a Q&A
12:50-14:00
Lunch break
14:00-14:45
Paper session 2
- Ganga Shreedhar, London School of Economics: “Public understanding of the sixth mass extinction and support for transformative action”
- Patrik Michaelsen, University of Gothenburg: “Mass support for conserving 30% of the Earth by 2030: experimental evidence from 5 continents”
- Assaf Shwartz, Technion: “Three C’s for a biodiverse future: reduced consumption, compact living and connection to nature”
14:45-15:30
Theme session: Human-nature relationships and behaviour
- Max Eriksson, University of Klagenfurt: “Listening with others: fostering multispecies empathy and nature connectedness through immersive soundscape experiences”
- Svea Hörberg, Leibniz University Hannover: “Biodiversity on the doorstep: how small -scale residential conservation strengthens nature connectedness and place attachment to drive broader biodiversity”
- Geoffrey Whittle-Walls, The Humanology Lab: “From behavioural change to biodiversity outcomes: targeting decisions with conservation leverage”
- Malte Dewies, El-Erian Institute: “Behavioural responses to the rollback of the European Deforestation Regulation”
15:30-15:45
Tea and coffee break
15:45-16:30
Theme session: Transformative nodes for behavioural change
- Sarah Papworth, Royal Holloway, University of London: “Taking action for nature: prioritising individual actions for nature in NGO messaging”
- Andrea Pizarro, Fauna and Flora: “Participatory behavioural intervention design”
- Ruth Fletcher, Nature Restored, UNEP-WCMC: “Drivers of change”
- EJ Milner-Gulland, University of Oxford: “How can universities support behaviour change towards nature recovery?”
16:30-17:00
Reflections and wrap-up
17:00-18:30
Social: Walking tour/punting
18:30-21:00
Dinner at the Whale Café
Keynote speaker
Cass R Sunstein
Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard Law School
Distinguished Academic Visitor, Queens’ College, University of Cambridge
Cass is a leading US legal scholar. He is the founder and director of the Program on Behavioural Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School.
From 2009 to 2012, he was administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
From 2009 to 2012, he was the Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs under President Obama.
He has worked with the World Health Organization and the United Nations and served in the Biden Administration at the Department of Homeland Security.
He has published over 40 books on a range of topics, including ‘Nudge’, which he co-authored with Richard Thaler.
Workshop leaders
Lucia Reisch
El-Erian Professor of Behavioural Economics and Policy
Director, El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy
Professor Lucia Reisch was appointed in 2021 as the inaugural El-Erian Professor of Behavioural Economics & Policy and Fellow of Queens’ College, joining from Copenhagen Business School. Lucia is a behavioural economist and social scientist, whose work includes research in sustainable consumption, behavioural public policy, and consumers and digitisation.
She is a leading authority in her field, whose extensively cited research is internationally recognised. She has worked on sustainable consumption and other issues with the OECD, the European Commission, the World Bank, various United Nations agencies as well as several governments worldwide. As the El-Erian Institute Director she is giving specific attention to mentoring early career researchers, particularly those currently less represented at the Business School.
“I am excited that the El-Erian Institute for Behavioural Economics and Policy is now part of the vibrant research and educational environment of Cambridge Judge Business School. With its interdisciplinary research, applied education, and team lab approach, the institute could not be better placed. We will continue to develop as a lively platform for researchers and practitioners, students and policymakers alike to study and learn how to effectively ‘nudge for good’.”
Arjun Kamdar
PhD researcher under the supervision of EEI Academic Director Professor Lucia Reisch
Arjun is a wildlife scientist combining behavioural insights with ecology to design and implement conservation projects. His work has focused on enabling human-wildlife coexistence in India. He completed a research internship with EEI in spring 2023 and is now embarking on full-time pre-doctoral research.
Arjun has worked with a diverse set of stakeholders towards securing a wildlife corridor between 2 fragmented protected areas in northeast India, understanding elephants’ ecology through radio-telemetry, and working to reduce snakebite through human-centred design.
Through interactions with the EEI team, conservation scientists, government entities, and local communities, he developed a framework for applying behavioural insights to drive environmental impacts. This project involves working in collaboration with Indian tea producers to create an intervention to redesign their social and environmental outreach materials.