Record of the Behaviour Change Workshop in Ōtautahi to protect and restore freshwater biodiversity across urban areas in Aotearoa

Abstract

This workshop was part of disseminating the research and capabilities from the National Science Challenge (NSC) - New Zealand’s Biological Heritage | Ngā Koiora Tuku Iho, Strategic Outcome 2 – We empower New Zealanders to demand and enact environmental stewardship and kaitiakitanga. This research utilised behaviour change frameworks to understand and influence human behaviour to protect and restore freshwater biodiversity across urban areas in Aotearoa. We identified 29 key behaviours important to urban freshwater health, and investigated three key behaviours in more detail: volunteering as part of a group (Maris et al., 2024; Dorner et al., 2024), reporting stormwater pollution (McLeod et al., 2024b; McLeod et al., 2024c), and installing a rainwater tank (McLeod et al., 2024a). As part of the project it was decided that there is a critical need to share the learnings from this research with volunteer groups and decision makers in local government and to equip them with the knowledge of the behaviour change tools available. The workshop in Ōtautahi | Christchurch was a result of a discussion and collaboration between the authors on this report, as well as staff at Environment Canterbury, after initial meetings in 2023 to discuss past and future work as part of the Biological Heritage NSC. The purpose of this report is to provide a record of the workshop; the outcomes, process and how effective it was.