For your challenge → Government & Public Policy
Behavioural Design for Government & Public Policy

Policy that genuinely moves citizens begins with insight into how people actually decide.

Everything you do as a policy professional, from regulation to campaigns, depends on human behaviour. The question is whether you can read, predict and design that behaviour. That is exactly what Behavioural Design teaches you.

View the Fundamentals Course → Do you recognise this?
10.000+
trained
9.7/10
rating
EQAC
accredited
€1.190
from ex VAT
Policy professionals during the Behavioural Design Fundamentals training at SUE Amsterdam
Recognisable challenges in government

"How do we get citizens to not just know the rules, but actually follow them?"

10.000+ professionals trained, including people from

Heineken ING Bank KPN Randstad Achmea Adyen Eneco ANWB Roche European Commission Gemeente Amsterdam DPG Media Sony eBay Heineken ING Bank KPN Randstad Achmea Adyen Eneco ANWB Roche European Commission Gemeente Amsterdam DPG Media Sony eBay
The root of the problem

Do you recognise this?

Click on a situation you recognise.

01
The information campaign that doesn't move anyone to act
Your message is right. The target group knows the rules. Yet behaviour doesn't change. Transferring information is one thing; changing behaviour is something else entirely.
02
The participation process that only attracts the usual suspects
Public meetings, online surveys, citizen panels. Always the same people. The group of citizens you actually need drops out. Not because they don't want to engage, but because the threshold is too high.
03
The grant scheme nobody claims
Budget available, communications sent, desk open. Applications: disappointingly low. The problem isn't the offer, it's the friction between intention and action.
04
Enforcement that doesn't change behaviour durably
Inspection, fine, repeat. Behaviour stops while you're watching. The moment pressure eases, it reverts. Enforcement works, but lasting behaviour change requires more than supervision.
05
The policy that makes sense on paper but fails in practice
The measure was designed for a rational citizen who doesn't exist. People don't decide based on rules and facts, but based on context, habit and feeling.
Behavioural Design
Behavioural Design is the missing layer.

There is an explanation.

Behavioural Design for government and public policy is the application of behavioural science to policy challenges: from participation and enforcement to designing public services and government communications. The method helps policy professionals understand why citizens do what they do, and how to design the environment so that the desired behaviour becomes the obvious choice.

1
96% of behaviour is automatic. Most policy interventions address the conscious mind. The Behavioural Design method teaches you to read the unconscious, and design for it.
2
Six forces shape every behaviour. Goals, fears, habits, context, barriers and triggers. The Behavioural Design method teaches you to recognise and use them to influence citizen behaviour.
3
Behaviour is designable. The Behavioural Design method gives you a step-by-step process for changing the environment, not the citizen, so the desired behaviour becomes the obvious path.
Read more about the Behavioural Design method →
Behavioural Design × AI

What makes you an indispensable policy professional in the age of AI?

Understanding, predicting and changing citizen behaviour is the one skill AI cannot replace.

The context

AI is changing how policy professionals work, from data analysis to intervention design.

But AI only makes you more effective if you understand how citizens actually decide. Without that foundation, you use AI to design the wrong interventions faster. The technology amplifies what you already understand, not what you can't yet see.

Behavioural Design × AI

AI gives you speed. Behavioural Design gives you direction.

The policy professional who understands citizen behaviour will get more out of AI than one who only masters the technology. All SUE training programmes have AI applications built in as standard.

Read our view on Behavioural Design and AI →
Why the SUE Behavioural Design method

Behavioural science made practical for professionals who are not behavioural experts.

Most behavioural science knowledge is locked in academic papers and advisory reports. SUE built its own method, the Influence Framework, which translates that knowledge into a practical step-by-step process any policy professional can apply, without a scientific background.

SUE Influence Framework
No academic theory, you work on your own real policy case during the training and leave with a fully worked-out intervention plan
Built on Kahneman, Cialdini and Thaler, scientifically grounded but accessible for practitioners
Our own proprietary method, the Influence Framework is not taught anywhere else, described in the #1 management bestseller
16 years of experience, from local councils to ministries to the European Commission: the method has been proven on the largest policy challenges in Europe
Springest
9.7/10
★★★★★
Google
4.8/5
★★★★★
Bloomville
5.0/5
★★★★★
Certified by
EQAC accredited
What government and policy professionals say after the training

10.000+ professionals have taken a SUE Behavioural Design training.

Those working in government and public policy share one thing: they look at their work differently afterwards.

The best first step

Understanding citizen behaviour is the skill that changes everything.

And the Behavioural Design Fundamentals is the training that teaches you exactly that. In two days, or 33 online lessons, you learn the method that changes how you approach everything afterwards.

Behavioural Design Fundamentals training for policy professionals
Most popular
9.7/10
rating
EQAC
accredited
Max 16
participants
Behavioural Design Academy

Behavioural Design Fundamentals

You learn the complete Influence Framework, the JTBD method and all the core tools of Behavioural Design. You work on your own real policy case and leave with a worked-out intervention plan you can apply the very next day.

Three ways to participate
Live in Amsterdam, 2 intensive days, max 16 participants Online self-paced, 33 lessons at your own pace With your team, in-company, at your location or in Amsterdam
View the Fundamentals → View start dates

Want to explore which format suits you best first? Choose the format that fits →

How do you want to learn?

Choose the format that fits you

Individually, with your policy team, or across your whole organisation. Every format works on a real policy challenge.

Individual Behavioural Design training for government professionals at SUE
For myself

Learn individually at foundation level or go deeper. Live in Amsterdam or online at your own pace.

  • Fundamentals CourseLearn the complete Influence Framework on your own real policy case
  • Deep Dive Behavioural EconomicsHow behavioural economic theory translates into concrete policy interventions
  • Deep Dive Creating Buy-inHow to turn resistance into engagement around policy changes
Open edition training options → View available start dates
Team Behavioural Design training for government teams at SUE
With my team

Train your policy team together. In-company, at your location or at our place in Amsterdam.

  • Behavioural Design SprintLearn behavioural thinking and apply it to your own policy challenge, 6 sessions over 3 months
  • Fundamentals for TeamsThe complete method in 2 intensive training days
  • Deep Dives in-companyA focused day on a policy behavioural topic of your choice
View team training options → Plan a conversation
Organisation-wide Behavioural Design learning journey for public sector at SUE
For my organisation

Embed behavioural thinking organisation-wide in a tailored multi-year learning and development programme.

  • Learning JourneysBespoke programme of 4-8 months, from €25.000
  • Influential Leadership TrackEmbedding behavioural thinking in leadership, 5 months
  • Culture change programmesLong-term support for organisation-wide behaviour change
View Learning Journeys → Get in touch
After the training

What you do differently from then on

Not abstract knowledge. Concrete changes in how you approach policy challenges.

You analyse before you design

You use the Influence Framework as the starting point for every policy intervention: what drives citizens, what holds them back, which context helps?

You design context, not communications

You know how to structure the environment so that the desired citizen behaviour becomes the easiest choice, not the most communicated one.

You speak the language of behaviour

You share a framework with your team: goals, fears, habits, context, barriers, triggers. Policy discussions become more concrete and interventions more evidence-based.

Frequently asked questions

Before you decide

Most participants start without any prior knowledge, and that's exactly the point. The training teaches you the behavioural science you need, linked directly to your own policy work. No academic theory for theory's sake, just actionable insights you can apply the very next day in your intervention design, enforcement or communications.

You learn the SUE Influence Framework: a method for analysing why citizens behave the way they do, and for designing policy interventions that genuinely work. During the training you work on your own real policy case, whether that's participation, compliance, behaviour change or service design, and you leave with a worked-out approach you can apply the following day.

Experienced policy professionals tend to get the most out of the training. You already have the domain expertise. The training gives you the behavioural science framework that validates and sharpens your intuition about interventions. Many participants say afterwards: I knew information campaigns don't work, but now I finally understand why, and what actually does.

You are deliberately placed in a mixed group: policy advisors, HR professionals, marketers, communications advisors and managers all together. Maximum 16 participants. That mix is what makes it valuable, you learn not just from the content, but from how people outside government tackle the same behavioural challenges.

Yes. We invoice to your organisation's name and the training is EQAC-accredited, which makes reimbursement easier. Most public sector organisations have a professional development or training budget. Get in touch if you need a quote or additional information to support your request.

Start with the Fundamentals. It gives you the complete Behavioural Design framework: the Influence Framework, the JTBD method and all the core tools. The Deep Dive in Behavioural Economics builds on that with specific applications for policy design. Without the Fundamentals, the Deep Dive lacks its foundation.

Ready to take the step? View the next available start date or ask your question.

View start dates → Ask a question

10.000+ professionals trained · 9.7/10 rating · EQAC accredited

Further reading

Government & behavioural science: essential reading

1
Nudging
What is nudging? Definition, examples and how to use it in policy
 2
Policy theory
Libertarian paternalism explained: preserving choice while steering behaviour
 3
Method
The SUE Influence Framework explained: six forces that drive every behaviour
View all articles on policy and behaviour → The Art of Designing Behaviour
Book by Astrid Groenewegen
The Art of Designing Behaviour
The complete practical guide to using behavioural science to change what people do.
#1 Bestseller · The standard in behavioural design
Astrid Groenewegen
Astrid Groenewegen
Co-founder, SUE Behavioural Design
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