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Hello All, I would like to inform you of an initiative, and invite you into a continued discussion with the Beyond Behaviour Change Research Group that is operating from within the Centre for Design at RMIT University. http://www.rmit.edu.au/cfd/beyondbehaviour. The Beyond Behaviour Change (Beyond BC) research group is exploring opportunities to facilitate change that move beyond the current focus on individual resource consumption and behaviour to consider why and how people consume within a broader social, cultural, technical and institutional context. Our inter-disciplinary team of social scientists, material geographers, industrial designers, urban planners and engineers takes a unique approach to behaviour change research and evaluation by shifting emphasis away from individuals (and their drivers and barriers for change), and onto the social practices people participate in. The group builds on the recently completed Australian Research Council Linkage project ‘Carbon Neutral Communities’, which included an evaluation of 100 behaviour change programs. Drawing on the theory of 'social practices', the group is engaged in projects and activities that seek to identify avenues for change that add new dimensions (and establish alternatives) to familiar economic and psychological approaches and theories dominating the resource and environmental sectors, such as rational action, consumer choice, information provision, demand management and market mechanisms. We see the potential to draw on practice theory to inform the design of our built world (from products, architecture and urban planning) to script outcomes for sustainability. The team conducts applied research, undertakes inter-disciplinary projects, supports Higher Education by Research (HDR) candidates, and provides other collaborative opportunities to engage with the research agenda, such as through a social practice theory reading group. For further information and contact details please visit our Beyond Behaviour Change web page: http://www.rmit.edu.au/cfd/beyondbehaviour. Regards, Stephen -------------------------------------------------- Dr Stephen Clune Research Officer Centre for Design Design & Social Context Portfolio RMIT University GPO Box 2476V Melbourne, Victoria 3001 Ph: +61 3 9925 9724 Fx: +61 3 9639 3412 www.rmit.edu.au/cfd