What are Nudges?
Let’s begin with a simple fact: people make inconsistent decisions. What was initially mere intuition has since been validated by over 40 years of academic research on the decision-making process.
Through a better understanding of human behavior in both its rational and irrational dimensions, it becomes possible to take more effective action to modify behavior as we wish. In their popular book Nudge – Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth and Happiness (2008), Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein suggested that if a particular unfortunate behavioral or decision-making pattern is the result of cognitive boundaries, biases, or habits, this pattern may be "nudged" toward a better option by integrating insights about the very same kind of boundaries, biases, and habits into the choice architecture surrounding the behaviour – i.e. the physical, social, and psychological aspects of the contexts that influence and in which our choices take place – in ways that promote a more preferred behavior rather than obstruct it.
Over 30 self-nudges
The SDG-iLevel project developed a collection of more than 30 "Self-Nudges". In the context of the SDG-iLevel project, self-nudges will remind university staff of the relevance of their work to the SDGs, prompting them to think about sustainable development, apply this mental framework to their work and as a result create more contributions to SDGs while feeling better about what they do.
A continuous and reinforced engagement with the SDGs will create a mindset conducive to forging new individual contributions to sustainable development and the SDGs.