Students’ Green FundFirst Support Day | 06 September 2013

Agenda

11am Welcome, context and purpose of today

11.15am Meeting your fellow projects

11.30am Introduction to M&E and how things are going to work today

11.45am Domain huddle

12.30pmLunch

1.15pm Audiences huddle

2pm Project framing huddle

2.30pm Getting you up to speed – 1) Behaviour change, 2) Research methods, 3) Carbon calculation

3.30pm Next steps and questions

4pm Close

Welcome

Context

Purpose of today

The successful projects

25 successful projects, 27 SUs / colleges

Lancaster, UCLan, Bradford, Sheffield, Staffordshire, Exeter, Leicester, Southampton, Northampton, Cumbria,Gloucestershire, Bedfordshire, Greenwich, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, City, Bristol, Birmingham City, Worcester, Falmouth and Exeter, Roehampton, Brighton, Wigan and Leigh College, University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield College

Meeting your fellow projects

Find someone from a different project, explain your project to them as an ‘elevator pitch’, hear their pitch and move on.

Try to fit in 3 different projects!

Introduction to M&E, and how things will work today

Monitoring and evaluating the SGF is important…

• M&E is an essential part of an effective project- Without it, you won’t know what you’re achieving- It will help you learn what is/isn’t working (so you

can adapt)- It will help others learn from what you are doing- Finally, it will help others judge your effectiveness

(and resource you accordingly)• In short, M&E is primarily there to enable learning…

and thereby deliver change:Learning and change are intertwined

Argyris & Schon’s Double Loop Learning (1978)

Discovering

Acting

New mental model

Previous mental model

Consequences and other changes

Choosing

Collectively we’re aiming for…

Awareness and participation• Increase in student

participation in pro-environmental actions

• Increase in student awareness of sustainability initiatives

• Increase of 10-15% adoption of pro-environmental behaviours

• Graduate attributes include skills and knowledge to take positive action on sustainability

• Improve graduate employability

Reach• 125,000 unique

page views• 50,000

students engaged

• 20,000 followers on social media

• 5,000 staff engaged

• 100% engagement of HE SU’s with SGF

Impact • 4,000 tCO2/year saved• Increase in LiFE and Green

League scores• Student adoption of pro-

environmental behaviours continues beyond HE

• Institutional leaders are more engaged in sustainability, resulting in a more holistic and mainstream approach to sustainability across the institution

• Student governors, course reps, and academics become more engaged in sustainability, resulting in more courses with embedded sustainability content

• Institutions become more receptive and collaborative to student opinion and demand on sustainability issues, and act accordingly

• Institutions integrate sustainability into their graduate attributes and core purpose

How things will work today

• We want your help in developing the M&E strategy for the fund – this will ensure you it is appropriate to your project activities, and provides you with the information you need to understand how you project is working

• Hopefully you’ve all completed Task 2 circulated with the information about the event today.

• This sheet outlined three key areas of work, which we’re calling huddles. These are:• Domain• Audience• Framing of your project / Approach

Huddles

Domain

• Energy• Water• Waste• Food• Transport• Biodiversity• Health• Wellbeing• Equality and Diversity

Audience

• Students – the usual suspects (e.g. already engaged)

• Students – not the usual suspects• Students – accommodation type• Students – domicile• Students – location on campus• University staff• Local community• Landlords• Local business

Framing the project or activity / approach

• Skills and employability• ‘Green’ / pro-environmental• Diversity• Curriculum• Student-led projects• Competition

Example | Student Switch Off

Energy Waste

Students – not the usual

suspects

Students – accommodat

ion type

Competition

Skills and

employability

Skills and

employability

Forming the huddles

• The next three sessions of the day you will be working in the huddles you have identified to identify the areas of questioning that are most important to your project

• If your project spans several domains, please try to visit each one

• When you are at the huddle, please use the flip chart pads, post-its etc. provided to brainstorm the questions or areas of questioning that will help you track the performance of your project

• There are example questions on each table to prompt you if needed

• A member of the E&E team will also be visiting the huddles to help guide your discussions

Huddle 1: Domain

Huddle 1 | Domain

Domain

• Energy• Water• Waste• Food• Transport• Biodiversity• Health• Wellbeing• Equality and Diversity• Anything we have

missed?

• What are the key indicators that will help you track the effectiveness of your project?

• Are there particular behaviours or attitudes you need to assess?

• Do you need to know levels of awareness of these domains?

• What would project success in this domain look like?

Huddle 2: Audiences

Thinking about audiences

First rule(s) of behaviour change:

“Identify the audience group and the target behaviour” [AD, GSR Knowledge Review 2008]

“Identify the barriers and benefits to an activity from the audience’s point of view” [McKenzie Mohr 2000]

“Always segment” [Andreasen 1995]

Key principles for segmentation

Segmentation is…1. A practical tool

Developed to subdivide large audiences into well-defined subgroups, in order to target them more effectively If a behaviour change tool: segment on the behaviour(s) in

question, OR the most proximal determinants of those behaviours

2. An iterative processMake this as transparent as possible but keep it flexible

3. As much an art as a science

Focus on practical purposes of the model for diverse stakeholders: more heads are better than one (steering group, advisory group etc)

Potential uses of segmentation models

Segmentation is good for subdividing large samples in order to…

• Build insight• Develop strategy• Design interventions• Devise KPIs, and

evaluation frameworks• Target subgroups more

effectively with mass communications/intervention

• Develop a common language for audiences (collaborate on all the above)

Segmentation is less good for…

• Accurately profiling individuals

• Re-classifying existing subgroups – especially where relevant ‘communities’ already exist which can be targeted effectively (eg. localities; faith groups; age bands)

Defra Pro-Environmental Segmentation Model (2008-)

Willing to Act

Ability to act High potential and willing

Low potential and unwilling

Segment willingness and ability

1: Positive greensI think it’s important that I do as much as I can to limit my impact

on the environment.18%

High

Low

HighLow

7: Honestly disengaged

Maybe there’ll be an environmental disaster, maybe not. Makes no difference to me, I’m just living life the way I want

to.18%

6: Stalled startersI don’t know much about

climate change. I can’t afford a car so I use public

transport.. I’d like a car though.

10%

5: Cautious participantsI do a couple of things to help the environment. I’d really like to do more, well as long as I

saw others were.14%

2: Waste watchers‘Waste not, want not’ that’s

important, you should live life thinking about what you are

doing and using.12%

3: Concerned consumers

I think I do more than a lot of people. Still, going away is

important, I’d find that hard to give up..well I wouldn’t, so carbon off-

setting would make me feel better.14%

4: Sideline supportersI think climate change is a big problem for us. I know I don’t

think much about how much water or electricity I use, and I forget to turn things off..I’d like to do a bit

more.14%

Defra Pro-Environmental Segmentation Model (2008-)

SegmentStudent

population (%)(NUS GLF 2009)

General public (%)

(Defra 2007)

+ or - (%)

S1 Positive Greens 25.9 18 7.9

S2 Waste Watchers 4.5 12 -7.5

S3 Concerned Consumers 19.9 14 5.9

S4 Sideline Supporters 11.8 14 -2.2

S5 Cautious Participants 15.6 14 1.6

S6 Stalled Starters 4.7 10 -5.3

S7 Honestly Disengaged 17.6 18 -0.4

Defra Pro-Environmental Segmentation Model (2008-)

17 Golden Questions…

• I would only travel by bus if I had no other choice

• For the sake of the environment, car users should pay higher taxes

• People who fly should bear the cost of the environmental damage that air travel causes

• I don't pay much attention to the amount of water I use at home

• People have a duty to recycle• We are close to the limit of the

number of people the earth can support

• The Earth has very limited room and resources

• If things continue on their current course, we will soon experience a major environmental disaster

• The so-called 'environmental crisis' facing humanity has been greatly exaggerated

• It would embarrass me if my friends thought my lifestyle was purposefully environmentally friendly

• Being green is an alternative lifestyle it's not for the majority

• I find it hard to change my habits to be more environmentally-friendly

• It's only worth doing environmentally-friendly things if they save you money

• The effects of climate change are too far in the future to really worry me

• It's not worth me doing things to help the environment if others don't do the same

• It's not worth Britain trying to combat climate change, because other countries will just cancel out what we do

• Which of these best describes how you feel about your current lifestyle and the environment?

Huddle 2 | Audience

Audience

• Students – the usual suspects (e.g. already engaged)

• Students – not the usual suspects

• Students – accommodation type

• Students – domicile• Students – location on campus• University staff• Local community• Landlords• Local business• Anything we’ve missed

• What are the key indicators that will help you track the effectiveness of your project?

• Are there particular behaviours or attitudes you need to assess?

• Do you need to know levels of awareness, attitudes and behaviours amongst these audiences?

• What would project success each audience look like?

Huddle 3: Framing of your project

Huddle 3 | Framing of your project

Framing the project or activity / approach

• Skills and employability• ‘Green’ / pro-environmental• Diversity• Curriculum• Student-led projects• Competition

• What are the key indicators that will help you track the effectiveness of your project?

• Are there particular behaviours or attitudes you need to assess?

• What would project success in this framing / approach look like?

1) Introduction to behaviour change

What is behaviour change?

Definitions are scarce – but here are two alternatives...

• For policymakers:

An intervention to encourage individuals to change their behaviour in a

way that will help Government achieve its policy goals...incorporating a better

understanding of behaviour (NAO 2011)

• For practitioners:

A way of working based on the understanding of behaviours and audiences

which results in learning and change (Darnton 2012)

Implications include that we may not need to target individuals in order to

change behaviour

Spanning 3 Schools of Behavioural Theory…

SocialPsychology Sociology

Behavioural Economics

…with 3 different views of people

SocialPsychology Sociology

Behavioural Economics

Individual asSocial Animal

Individual asRational Man

Individual as Actor

Introducing ISM Individual Social Material

Each model/discipline suggests different avenues for intervention, and when faced with complex problems, we need to draw on as many as we can: • AD’s GSR Review 2008: “There is no one winning model”• BUT, faced with myriad models, practitioners ask ‘Which one

should I use?’• ISM devised to bridge this divide: one single multi-disciplinary

model• Predominantly a practical tool (also, theoretical objections)• ISM argues that for substantive and lasting behaviour change

we must:i) Work across multiple contextsii) Draw on multiple disciplinesiii) Involve multiple stakeholdersiv) Combine into a package of interventions

(or multiple at the same time)

The ISM Model (Darnton & Evans for TSG 2013)

ISM applied to…recycling

SOCIAL

CONTEXT

- NORMS

INDIVIDUAL

CONTEXT -

ATTITUDES MATERIAL

CONTEXT -

SCHEDULES

ISM applied to…mobile phone driving

SOCIAL

CONTEXT -

MEANINGS

MATERIAL

CONTEXT –

TIME & SCHEDULES

INDIVIDUAL

CONTEXT –

COSTS &

BENEFITS

Implications from behavioural theory for SGF M&E

• Overall, measure success vs ‘reach, outcomes and impacts’

• But to understand (and potentially replicate) effectiveness, also measure change in the target factors and the target behaviour

• If using ISM as overarching evaluation framework, implication is that multidisciplinary ISM requires multiple research methods, eg.

o Costs & Benefits – experiments (inc. RCTs)

o Values, Beliefs & Attitudes – primary methods (quali; quant)

o Habits – (self) monitoring inc. pagers/diaries, SRHI

oMeanings – discourse analysis

o Infrastructure – (street) audits

o Time & Schedules – time use studies

• Outcome: story of success across ISM contexts/labels

(qv. recycling), plus factor-specific insights

k

k

2) Research methods for M&E

Monitoring and evaluation is all about…

• Understanding your achievements and the changes occurring as a result of your project activities.

• Therefore we need to know:• What the current situation is, including what your audiences

are thinking and doing (baseline research) • What the situation is at the end of the funding period, what

your audiences are thinking and doing then (follow-up research)

• Carrying out mid-point research provides an update half way through, allowing you to adapt your work accordingly

Two main research techniques…

Quantitative• Concerned with ‘hard’

data, for example ‘what?’ and ‘how much or how many?’

• Therefore often numerical (QUANTity)

• Methods include face-to-face questionnaires and online surveys.

Qualitative• Concerned with the ‘how’ and

‘why’ • Common methods include in-

depth interviews or focus groups.

• Particularly useful when investigating why people behave in certain ways.

Surveys / Questionnaires

• Generally considered a quantitative research technique• But, open-ended questions can obtain qualitative data• Online surveys are increasingly popular, there are

advantages and disadvantages with this method…

Online surveys

Advantages

• Can reach large groups of people in a short amount of time.

• Can gather facts, opinions, feedback and attitudes

• Easily repeatable• Can cover more

stigmatised or sensitive topics.

• Possibility of interviewer bias is also reduced

• They are also fast to deploy and report upon

Disadvantages• Self-selection bias• Possible technical issues• ‘Netiquette’• Survey fatigue• May be less suitable for

complex issues• Possibility for respondents

to misinterpret questions• May require follow-up

research to unpack findings

Minimising disadvantages of online surveys

• Don’t promote the survey as a green/environmental/sustainability survey to encourage those without a particular interest in this area to take part

• Provide an incentive for completing the survey• Test your survey before you send it out, making sure

instructions to respondents are clear and easy to understand

Samples and populations

Total population• For example, distributing the

survey through an ‘all-student’ mailing list.

• Sending to all students/staff allows you to gather data on people who have been taking part in your projects as well as those who haven’t.

• Keep track of who is answering the survey so you can carry out extra promotion with sectors of the population who might be underrepresented.

• If you’re just surveying your total project population, consider finding a control group to enable you to assess wider changes.

Sampling• Only surveying a particular

proportion of the population.• Normally selected randomly.• Need to remember that

smaller groups are less likely to be selected.

• Should be representative of the total population.

• Online tools are available to help you calculate sample sizes.

Focus groups

Advantages

• Used to explore complex ideas and behaviours

• A great tool for collective idea generation, evaluating services and exploring experiences.

• Discover how different groups think and interact

• Save time and money compared to individual interviews.

Disadvantages• Can be time consuming and

costly to run and analyse• Some groups are difficult to

moderate so you may not get the information you are looking for

• Some participants may not feel confident expressing their opinions in a group situation (though online groups can be a solution to this)

Focus group top tips

• Groups normally include 6-8 participants (thought its always good to invite a couple more to account for drop outs)

• Run groups across your project audiences, and invite a range of people to get a cross-section of views

• Ask open-ended, probing questions and try to involve all members of the group (even the quiet ones)

• The facilitator should remain neutral and simply guide the discussion rather than controlling it

M&E Guidance | Handbook and on-going support• Monitoring and evaluation handbook distributed

next week with further top tips and guidance• Review your reach, outcome and impact

statements and make sure you’re able to gather data on all of these

• Get in touch if you have any queries• Use the ‘how to’ research guides that are

available on NUS Connect

3) Carbon calculation

Carbon target

Its about more than carbon, but… We need to collectively and quantifiably save 4,000 tCO2/year = 8,000 tCO2

Fyi average carbon for UK citizen c 11 tCO2/yr, so target like 727 people

Electricity, gas, water, travel, (food)

Only 12 projects have given carbon targets in bids. Total of just 3,000 tCO2. Need your help!

How to monitor? - utilities

University of Bristol Union - Difference by week 2007 vs. 2006

-11000

-9000

-7000

-5000

-3000

-1000

1000

3000

5000

Week

kWh

k

k

Defra conversion figures

0.58982kg of CO2e per kWh of grid electricity0.20435kg of CO2e per kWh of natural gas 0.3441kg of CO2e per m3 of water

This is updated every year so will change over the course of the SGF

k

7/6

/20

09

10

/14

/20

09

1/2

2/2

01

0

5/2

/20

10

8/1

0/2

01

0

11

/18

/20

10

2/2

6/2

01

1

6/6

/20

11

9/1

4/2

01

1

12

/23

/20

11

4/1

/20

12

7/1

0/2

01

2

10

/18

/20

12

1/2

6/2

01

3

5/6

/20

13

8/1

4/2

01

3

11

/22

/20

13

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

Av kWh/day Elec

k

10/1

0/20

06

2/22

/200

8

7/6/

2009

11/1

8/20

10

4/1/

2012

8/14

/201

3

12/2

7/20

14

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

Av kWh/day Gas

How much carbon has the Agombar family saved over last two years?

1,100 kWh electricity x 0.58982kg = 0.7 tCO21,350 kWh gas x 0.20435kg = 0.3 tCO2Total = 1 tCO2

How to monitor? - travel

gCO2/km

Agombar family does 14,000 km a year, has new car that has better fuel efficiency by 10gCO2/km

(1,000g in a kg, 1,000 kg in a tonne)

So should save us c0.2tCO2/yr, 0.4tCO2 over two years.

Better to displace car and plane travel

How to monitor? - food

How to monitor? - food

Local food: Each additional 1 percent of your food that comes from the UK saves 1.51kg of CO2e per year.Organic food: Each additional 1 percent of your food that is produced organically saves 2.25kg of CO2e per yearComposting: Each additional 1kg of compost saves 0.45kg of CO2e per yearFood waste: Every 1kg reduction in food waste saves 4.5kg of CO2e per yearEating less meat: Each additional vegetarian meal saves 1.1kg of CO2e per yearGrowing your own: Each additional 1m2 of growing space saves 0.9kg of CO2e per year

www.fifediet.co.uk/carbon/fide-diet-foodprint/

Next steps

Finalising your proposal documents

• Re-submitted by 17th September• Should include feedback provided by the SGF

team• Must also include a review of your reach,

outcome and impact statements

Reporting | Requirements and deadlines

• Requirement to submit monthly and quarterly reports

• Templates will be sent out following today’s meeting

• First monthly report is due 17 September 2013• First quarterly report is due 15 November 2013

Questions time

rachel.drayson@nus.org.uk07876 860 324

Thank you!