What does Behavioural Design do concretely for my sustainability work?

You learn the SUE Influence Framework: a method to analyse why people do not behave more sustainably despite good intentions, and to design interventions that actually work. You apply the framework to your own sustainability case during training and leave with a concrete intervention plan you can implement immediately.

For whom → Sustainability professionals

Behavioural Design for sustainability professionals

Designing sustainable behaviour is at the core of your work as a sustainability professional.

Everything you do as a sustainability professional, from climate campaigns to ESG policy to the energy transition, 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 → Does this sound familiar?

10,000+

trained

9.7/10

rating

EQAC

certified

€1,190

from excl. VAT

Sustainability professionals during the Behavioural Design Fundamentals training at SUE Amsterdam

Recognisable sustainability challenges

"We have the targets. But how do we get people in the organisation to actually behave differently?"

The core of the problem

Does this sound familiar?

Click on a situation you recognise.

The awareness campaign that changes nothing

You have the posters, the intranet posts, the kick-offs. People nod in agreement. And then carry on exactly as before. Awareness does not automatically lead to behaviour.

The green facility nobody uses

You built the bike sheds, installed charging points, introduced Meat-free Monday. Adoption is disappointing. You cannot understand why people do not simply make the better choice.

The sustainability programme that reverts

Three months after launch the energy is gone. Behaviour that seemed to change returns to old patterns. Habits are stronger than good intentions, unless the environment supports the new behaviour.

ESG targets without grip on the behaviour behind them

You report well on output, but do not know which behavioural changes drive that output. You can measure but not steer. That makes demonstrable impact difficult.

Resistance to the energy transition you cannot explain

Rationally, everyone is in favour of sustainability. But once it becomes concrete, resistance appears. That resistance is not unwillingness. It is psychological barriers you can design around once you understand them.

Behavioural Design is the missing layer.

There is an explanation for this.

Behavioural Design for sustainability is the application of behavioural science to sustainability challenges: from designing green defaults to using social norms for climate behaviour. The method helps you understand why people do not translate sustainable intentions into action, and how to design environments where sustainable behaviour becomes the natural, easiest choice.

96% of behaviour is automatic. Most sustainability interventions target the conscious mind. The Behavioural Design Method teaches you to read the unconscious, and to design for it.

Six forces drive every behaviour. Goals, fears, habits, context, barriers and triggers. The Behavioural Design Method teaches you to recognise and use them to influence sustainable behaviour.

Behaviour is designable. The Behavioural Design Method gives you a step-by-step process to change the environment, not the person, so that sustainable behaviour becomes the obvious choice.

What makes you an indispensable sustainability professional in the AI era?

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

The context

AI is changing how sustainability professionals work, from data analysis to stakeholder communication.

But AI only makes you more effective if you understand how people actually decide. Without that foundation, you use AI to design the wrong interventions faster. Better ESG data means nothing if you do not understand which behavioural forces drive it.

Behavioural Design x AI

AI gives you speed. Behavioural Design gives you direction.

The sustainability professional who understands behaviour gets more out of AI than the professional who only manages dashboards and reports. AI applications are built into all SUE training programmes as standard.

Read our vision 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 inside academic papers. SUE built a proprietary method, the Influence Framework, that translates that knowledge into a practical step-by-step process any sustainability professional can apply, without a scientific background.

No academic theory, you work on your own sustainability case during training and leave with a concrete action plan

Built on Kahneman, Cialdini and Thaler, scientifically grounded but accessible for practitioners

Proprietary method, the Influence Framework is available nowhere else, described in the #1 management bestseller

16 years of experience, from ING to Heineken to the Dutch national government: the method has been proven on the biggest sustainability and behaviour challenges in the Netherlands

Ratings

9.7

★★★★★

4.8

★★★★★

What participants say

“The training was incredibly interesting: a wonderful combination of theory and practice. It is so great to suddenly see the world through different lenses.” “

Nathalie Hulsen-Bax

Communications Advisor · Ennatuurlijk B.V.

Trusted by

+200 more

The reference work

#1 Management bestseller

The Art of Designing Behaviour

Astrid Groenewegen · Boom Publishers

View →

What sustainability professionals say after training

10,000+ professionals have completed a SUE Behavioural Design Training.

The sustainability professionals among them share one thing: they look at their work differently afterwards.

Ik heb er enorm van genoten. Ik ga het zeker toepassen zodat ik impact en gedragsverandering kan maken op het gebied van duurzaamheid in de langdurige zorg.

Birgitta Vrins

Business Consultant · AAG

★★★★★

Dit ga ik zeker toepassen, in combinatie met de methode, binnen projecten bij ZUID. Bijvoorbeeld rondom de energietransitie. Heel veel geleerd in korte tijd.

Merel Vingerhoets

Project manager · ZUID creatives

★★★★★

Nooit eerder heb ik een methode gevonden om gedragsprincipes daadwerkelijk te gebruiken om gedrag effectief en duurzaam te veranderen. SUE geeft je mentale modellen die je elke week gebruikt.

Lori Buma

Consultant · Inhealth

★★★★★

The best first step

Understanding 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

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

Three ways to learn

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 → See start dates

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

After training

What you do differently afterwards

No abstract knowledge. Concrete changes in how you approach sustainability challenges.

You analyse before you design

You use the Influence Framework as your starting point: what drives these people, what holds them back, what context helps the sustainable behaviour?

You design context, not campaigns

You know how to shape the environment so that sustainable behaviour becomes the easiest choice, not the most communicated message.

You speak the language of behaviour

You have a shared framework with your team: goals, fears, habits, context, barriers, triggers. Sustainability decisions become more concrete and better founded.

Frequently asked questions

One more thing

Most participants start with no prior knowledge. The training gives you the behavioural science you need, applied directly to your own sustainability practice. No academic theory, just actionable insights you can apply the very next day.

You learn the SUE Influence Framework: a method to analyse why people do not behave more sustainably despite good intentions, and to design interventions that make the desired behaviour the natural choice. You work on your own sustainability case during training and leave with a concrete plan you can implement the next day.

Especially for experienced sustainability professionals, this is where it gets valuable. You have the content knowledge and the ESG targets. The training gives you the behavioural science framework that explains why awareness campaigns are not enough, and what to design instead. Many participants say: I knew something was off, now I understand why and what to do differently.

Deliberately a mixed group: sustainability professionals, HR advisors, policy makers, marketers and managers from different sectors. Maximum 16 participants. That mix is part of the value: you learn not only from the content but from how people in other sectors approach similar behavioural challenges.

Yes. We invoice under company name and the training is EQAC-accredited, which makes expensing straightforward. Get in touch if you need a quote or additional documentation for your application.

Start with the Fundamentals. It gives you the complete Behavioural Design framework: the Influence Framework, the JTBD method and all core tools. The Deep Dives on Behavioural Economics and Creating Buy-in build on that foundation with applications directly relevant to sustainability work. Without the Fundamentals, the Deep Dives lack their foundation.

Ready to take the next step? View the nearest start date or ask a question.

View start dates → Ask a question

10,000+ professionals have gone before you · 9.7/10 rating · EQAC certified

Sustainability & behavioural science: the most-read articles

Nudging

Nudging explained: what it is and how to apply it

Defaults

Defaults explained: the most powerful tool in sustainability design

Behavioural policy

Libertarian paternalism explained: combining freedom and nudging

View all articles on behaviour change →

Astrid Groenewegen

Co-founder, SUE Behavioural Design

Weekly newsletter

1.5 minutes of Influence

Every week I notice something: a hospital sign, a supermarket shelf, a sentence in a meeting. Always something that shows exactly how context drives behaviour. I write it down. Every Thursday morning it arrives in your inbox. In 90 seconds.

Read by 10,000+ professionals · Free · Unsubscribe at any time