Technology, Innovation, Impact Assessment and Management in Policy Process
Data mining and evaluation are two key steps involved in Policy Process. The former provides the foundation and justification for agenda setting and policy option priorisation; the latter ensures the impact and outcomes of policy delivery. The Centre’s work in this area involves the development of the theoretical construct and logic model for big data for good and sustainability assessment:
- Sustainability assessment framework and model (Dr. Vivian CHU*, Professor Wai-Fung LAM and Dr. Winnie LAW)
Sustainability assessments enable individuals and organisations engaged in sustainability projects to assess their performance in a consistent and holistic manner. Results generated from conducting an assessment can help key actors and stakeholders to understand and communicate the value created in the context of sustainability, thus improving the cooperation among all parties to enhance project sustainability performance. The assessment framework is designed to not only assess rural sustainability programmes, but site based sustainability programmes with a focus on working with the local community and other stakeholder groups for wider applicability.
- Tech and big data for good (Dr. Vivian CHU, Professor Wai-Fung LAM and Dr. Jessica WILLIAMS*)
Insights from psychology, economics and neuroscience indicate that people make use of heuristics to simplify decision making, which can result in predictable systematic biases and errors. These behavioural insights can be incorporated into policy making alongside traditional forms. Of note here are ‘nudges’, which essentially make minor adjustments to the choice architecture to encourage people to voluntarily contribute to environmental protection. Research into this area of behavioural policy is growing, but there is a need to build coherent and comprehensive understandings regarding the actual application of sustainability-oriented nudges within policies, particularly regarding their success in real world settings. How behavioural policy tools could be applied through XR to influence people’s sustainability behaviours would inform the future development, and opportunities to make use of the metaverse to contribute towards a more sustainable society.
Behavioural policies and policy design (Dr. Vivian CHU, Professor Wai-Fung LAM and Dr. Jessica WILLIAMS*)
To encourage sustainable consumption, an array of policy tools are available to governments, these tools include both traditional measures, such as regulations, as well as behavioural ones, namely nudges. Much work on sustainable consumption focuses on the environmental or economic pillars of sustainability, overlooking the social dimensions. This study develops understanding on the behavioural assumptions that underpin sustainable purchasing behaviour. In particular, it focuses on how better understanding of the impact of the social context and internal consumer dynamics provides insights into how policy tools and tool mixes can be better designed to motivate desirable consumption practices.