Making a Footprint in Environmental Sustainability: A Behavioral Systems Approach to Engaging the Behavioral Community

Abstract

Climate change is arguably the most pressing issue facing humanity today. There is significant research to support the argument that climate change is a human-created problem and it can only be addressed by changing human behavior. Despite the magnitude of the issue and the potential for behavior science to make a significant contribution, there are few behavior analysts/scientists currently working in climate change. One possible explanation is that there is limited access to preparation for and opportunities to apply our science to large-scale issues. In response, the Behaviorists for Social Responsibility Special Interest Group of the Association for Behavior Analysis International developed the Matrix Project as a way to apply Behavioral Systems Analysis to issues of social importance. By understanding the contingencies that hinder or promote working in a particular area we can begin to create the conditions that will facilitate such work. The purpose of this article is twofold: 1) to demonstrate how the Matrix Project may be used to increase the likelihood that behavior analysts/scientists will work in areas of social importance using environmental sustainability as an example, and 2) encourage behavior analysts/scientists to target and understand complex systems by providing examples of actionable steps that could be generalized to other important social issues.

People are often drawn to behavior science because they see the potential for it to address the enormous challenges faced by human societies and life on earth (Chance, 2007; Dixon, Belisle, Rehfeldt, & Root, 2018; Leigland, 2011; Luke & Mattaini, 2014; Rumph, Ninness, McCuller, & Ninness, 2005). Perhaps one of the most pressing issues facing humanity is climate change and the need for people to engage in sustainable practices (IPCC, 2018). In 2010, 255 members of the National Academy of Sciences signed a letter declaring that there is compelling evidence that the changing climate threatening our ecosystems is the result of human action (Chance & Heward, 2010; IPCC, 2018). Behavior analysts/scientists have a unique skill set that helps us to understand and change individual behavior (e.g., Skinner, 1953) and thus far have developed numerous interventions that have focused on changing the contingencies related to promoting individuals to behave in more sustainable ways (e.g., Austin, Hatfield, Grindle, & Bailey, 1993; Burgess, Clark, & Hendee, 1971; Clayton & Nesnidol, 2017; Hake & Zane, 1981; Hayes & Cone, 1977; Manuel, Sunari, Olson, & Scolari, 2007; O’Connor, Lerman, Fritz, & Hodde, 2010).1

There have been numerous calls to action for the behavioral community to address climate change through environmentally sustainable practices (e.g., Chance & Heward, 2010; Geller, 1990; Grant, 2011; Tuso & Geller, 1976). There is also evidence that climate change is an area of continued interest for behavior analysts/scientists. For example, there are two special interest groups (SIGs) of the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) that include sustainability as primary focus—Behaviorists for Sustainable Societies (BASS) and Behaviorists for Social Responsibility (BFSR). In the 1970s and 1980s the behavioral community showed a large interest in the area of sustainability, with a total of 16 and 13 articles published in behavior analytic/scientific journals,2 respectively, during those decades.3 The 1990s saw a decline in interest with a total of only four published articles. However, over the past 2 decades there appears to be a renewed interest with a total of 17 published articles since 2000.4 Even though this renewed interest is encouraging, much more can and should be done by behavioral researchers and practitioners to address climate change. Nonetheless, there are numerous barriers for those who want to address issues of environmental sustainability. For example, it is rare that behavioral researchers and practitioners have the appropriate environment (e.g., training, experience, knowledge, qualifications) or opportunities (e.g., jobs, funding) to foster and to support work in this area.

Behavioral Systems Analysis and the Matrix Project

Biglan (1995) advocated for a science of cultural practices, expanding our work from individual behavior change to analyses of variables that influence cultural practices. He explained the scientific framework and principles necessary to engage in a science of cultural practices. Illustrating the utility of such analyses with examples related to tobacco use, child-rearing practices, sexism, and sustainability, Biglan articulated specific measures and methods that could be used if such a science were developed. Mattaini (2013) responded to Biglan’s call. Mattaini brought the science of cultural practices and Behavioral Systems Analysis (BSA) to bear on arranging the environmental supports to “developing and sustaining cultures of resistance prepared to engage in nonviolent struggle” (p. 2). He provided examples of such analyses related to creating, leading, and sustaining nonviolent resistance movements toward the creation of a just society.

The approach used by Biglan (1995) and Mattaini (2013) involves identifying an issue (e.g., food deserts) as well as the sectors (i.e., actors, institutions, organizations; e.g., grocery stores, food distributors, governmental funding agencies) that play a role in causing the issue. The environmental conditions that support (e.g., incentivizing grocery stores in specific zip codes, promotional campaigns for healthy foods) and hinder (e.g., financial incentive to avoid the use of environmentally friendly products, communities that actively protest the adoption of pro-environment policies) beneficial practices by that sector are then described and targeted for change (Biglan, 1995). This type of analysis, and BSA in general, has been employed to gain a better understanding of and to target solutions to various social issues, such as tagging behavior (Carvalho, Sandaker, & Ree, 2017), youth activism (Mattaini, 2013), and sustainability (Grant, 2010).

The BFSR SIG of ABAI is a group of behavior analysts/scientists interested in the application of behavior science to large-scale social issues, in particular issues concerning social justice, human rights, and the environment. The BFSR SIG undertook the Matrix Project as a way to use BSA, and the approach initially described by Biglan (1995), to describe and target the contingencies that promote and hinder behavior analysts/scientists working in areas of social importance (Mattaini & Luke, 2014). The goal of the Matrix Project is to increase the number of behavior analysts/scientists working on social issues (e.g., social justice, poverty) that will likely require systems-level change to have a big impact (Mattaini & Aspholm, 2016; Skinner, 1982/1987; see http://bfsr.abainternational.org/ for the current version of the Matrix Project).5 Once supporting practices and the relevant environmental variables (antecedents, motivating conditions, consequences) have been identified for the various sectors, members of the BFSR and the members of each sector can take actions to increase the probability of these practices occurring and sustaining. As elements of the Matrix Project are put into action, data regarding their impact at achieving the stated goals of the Matrix Project can be collected. In some cases, the analysis conducted may need to be revised (if ineffective) or expanded (if achieved). The Matrix Project is a live document in the sense that it is continually being updated, revised, evaluated, and expanded.

The Matrix Project itself was not generated with an explicit emphasis on one particular social issue; rather, it was constructed with a focus on increasing the number of behavioral researchers and practitioners addressing social issues more generally. The current application and expansion of the Matrix Project to the issue of sustainability illustrates how the use of a similar behavioral systems approach like that taken with the Matrix Project can be applied to address a specific social issue. Thus, the goal of this article is to is to 1) demonstrate how the Matrix Project may be used to increase the likelihood that behavior analysts/scientists will work in areas of social importance using environmental sustainability as an example, and 2) encourage the behavioral community to target and understand complex systems by providing examples of actionable steps that could be generalized to other important social issues.

Using the Matrix Project to Increase the Number of Behavior Analysts/Scientists Working in Sustainability

To begin the application and expansion of the Matrix Project (initiated in 2014; see Mattaini & Luke, 2014) to the social issue of sustainability, the BFSR SIG created a subcommittee (established in 2017) focused on one social issue—increasing the number of behavior analysts/scientists addressing issues related to climate change and sustainable practices (hereafter referred to as the “Sustainability Subcommittee”). The members of the Sustainability Subcommittee are doing this by adapting the Matrix Project to fit the systems that support or hinder behavior analysts/scientists from addressing sustainability and then using this analysis to identify and create the resources (i.e., arrange the environment) that might make it easier for supporting practices to occur.

The work of the Sustainability Subcommittee was directly derived from the analyses in the Matrix Project. In the original Matrix Project, 28 sectors (e.g., behavior-analytic/scientific universities, students, local governments)6 were identified as those that play a role in training, supporting, and employing behavior analysts/scientists who address social issues. Various methods were then used to determine what members of each sector could be doing to support the goal of increasing behavior analysts/scientists working in areas of social importance. These methods included (a) conducting a keyword search in Google to gather information about the sector, making note of existing practices that appear to support behavior science, trending topics within the sector, current issues facing cultural practices within the sector, and general descriptions of the conditions that lead to positive outcomes of the practices within the sector; (b) conducting interviews with individuals who have or who currently work on the social issues in the corresponding sector; and (c) contacting the literature from that sector, social issue, and/or behavior science using Google Scholar and database (e.g., PsycINFO) searches.

The information gained from the aforementioned methods led to the development of an analysis of each sector. The sector analysis focused on the purpose (i.e., increasing behavior analysts/scientists addressing social issues) and included (a) the supporting practices (i.e., target behaviors that members of the sector could engage in); (b) the opposing practices that could be reduced or replaced by the supporting practices (i.e., those that are incompatible with the goal); and (c) relevant motivating operations (MOs), antecedents, and consequences related to each practice.

In many cases the information collected from the aforementioned process did not specify the exact antecedents and consequences for members of each sector. As a result, the authors were often tasked with drawing connections from distinct but related examples to extrapolate how similar environmental supports might be applied to our specific areas of interest, interpreting and drawing inferences from the information. For example, many students find their way into behavior science through their work or interest in its applications to autism or/and early intensive behavioral intervention. These students may be members of the Autism SIG of ABAI and may work with a particular agency, clinic, or organization. One way the Sustainability Subcommittee identified to increase students’ interests in sustainability was to partner with other, more populated SIGs like the Autism SIG. For example, someone from the BFSR SIG could provide a talk for members of the Autism SIG about how to implement sustainable practices in the organization in which they work.

The Sustainability Subcommittee’s adaptation of the Matrix Project to sustainability focused on five sectors: the BFSR SIG, students studying behavior science, faculty in behavior analysis/behavior science programs, practitioners, and researchers (see Table 1 for a definition of each sector). Sectors were selected based on the amount of progress that has been made in each area, the potential for members of each sector to produce more behavior analysts/scientists addressing sustainability, and the ease in targeting the members of that sector. Figure 1 provides examples of the beneficial practice that members of each sector might engage in, the relevant antecedents and/or motivating operations that might set the occasion for these practice(s) to occur,7 the consequences that will maintain the practices, the practices that might interfere or compete with the target practices, and sample interdependencies between and among sectors. It should be noted that we focused on antecedents that could be directly manipulated (e.g., providing resources) by members inside and outside of each sector and consequences that, when possible, could naturally maintain the new practices and behaviors (rather than programmed consequences). The choice to focus on directly manipulable antecedents was made in order to “nudge” (Thaler & Sustein, 2008) or to increase the probability that the desirable practices would start to occur. The focus on naturally maintaining consequences was made to promote the sustainability of the behavior change and change in cultural practices without the need for continued support (also see Fawcett, 1991).

Table 1.

Definitions of each group of each example sector

Sector	Definition
BFSR SIG	a group of behavior analysts [scientists] interested in the application of behavior science to large scale social issues, in particular issues concerning social justice, human rights, and the environment
Student	an individual who is enrolled in course(s) at the post high school level (e.g., undergraduate, graduate, non-degree seeking, continuing education) with a stated interest in a philosophy of behaviorism and/or behavior analysis [science], behaviorology, applied behavior analysis, experimental behavior analysis, etc.
Faculty	an individual who currently works for a university teaching behavior analysis [behavior science] courses, who may or may not also conduct research in that area
Practitioner	an individual who provides services that are explicitly based on principles and procedures of behavior analysis [science] (i.e., the science of behavior) and are designed to change behavior in socially important ways
Researcher	an individual who is currently conducting research in behavior analysis [science] either at a university or in the public or private sector
University BA	any program within a university setting that is accredited by the
Programs	BACB or is recognized as a Verified Course Sequence (VCS) by ABAI

For a complete list of sectors visit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1e2GxlPF6gQhWmObK0tbcmVu5W8bOgTr6KsWe-0LDOWs/edit

Fig. 1.

For each sector, the target action/practice is shown in the context of the antecedent and motivating operations and the consequences that can promote and sustain the target action/practice. One opposing practice for each sector is also included. The arrows indicate a few examples of the interdependencies between and among the sectors

In the subsequent sections, we provide examples of supporting and opposing practices, antecedents, and reinforcers for each sector. In addition, where applicable, we describe the resources the Sustainability Subcommittee has been developing to promote the supporting practices in each sector. We also include some recommended action steps that members of each sector can take to increase the likelihood of behavior analysts/scientists working in the area of sustainability.

Behaviorists for Social Responsibility Special Interest Group

One of the primary activities that the BFSR SIG can engage in is to create resources to support SIG members who are interested in sustainability (identified supporting practice). Antecedents for the development of these resources include having people volunteer their time to create the resources, creating a SIG structure that holds the volunteers accountable for completing the work, and creating a roadmap of what resources need to be developed. These activities may result in an increased interest in sustainability and the BFSR SIG, an increase in the number of individuals working in sustainability, and further behavior-analytic/scientific activity to address sustainability. Each of these outcomes will help to maintain engagement in the identified supporting practice.

Resource development

Over the last few years, the BFSR SIG has focused on developing the Matrix Project (Mattaini & Luke, 2014) to create a roadmap for its activities. The BFSR SIG subcommittees (e.g., Sustainability Subcommittee) are now taking the Matrix Project and developing resources for a variety of social issues (e.g., poverty) and sectors (e.g., faculty, federal and local government). The Sustainability Subcommittee has focused its efforts on creating the resources necessary to arrange the motivating operations/antecedents for the members of sectors relevant to sustainability. Many of these efforts rest on the assumption that the creation of these resources will either reduce the effort necessary to engage in the practices identified for the members of a sector or will strengthen the probability of a practice occurring due to the availability of resources in that person’s environment.

In addition to continuing to expand the number of resources available in each of the aforementioned areas, the Sustainability Subcommittee plans to support the development of sustainability webinars; create lists of community partners, funding opportunities, and nonbehavior-analytic/scientific conferences to promote interdisciplinary collaboration; and highlight examples of interdisciplinary partnerships and projects in sustainability. As each of these resources are developed, they will be available on the BFSR website (http://bfsr.abainternational.org/).

Steps you can take

This article is part of the antecedent arrangement—an invitation for you to join our efforts by becoming a member of the BFSR SIG and getting involved with the various subcommittees to develop resources from the Matrix Project.

Individual students

The goal for individual students is to get involved in sustainability work through research, practica, internships, or other academic projects (identified supporting practice). For example, students could “conduct independent research and practice pertaining to behavioral systems science research, and to practice directed to systemic and structural social and cultural-level issues” (Matrix Project, n.d.). Antecedents for this practice might be the availability of mentors who have expertise in sustainability and BSA as well as availability of sites and collaborators for conducting research and training. It is anticipated that this practice will result in increased knowledge and skills for the students, opportunities for employment and connections after graduation, and improved knowledge and skills for the faculty/mentor overseeing the project.

Resource development

Finding faculty mentors and university programs that provide such experiences can be a challenging and unnecessary barrier. The Sustainability Subcommittee opted to arrange antecedents through the development of an experience and training directory to help facilitate connections between individuals interested in sustainability and experts in those areas who may be willing to provide mentorship. This directory was developed by sending a survey to individuals in the behavioral community who work in the area of sustainability (and who address other significant social issues) to inform the content of the directory. The questionnaire resulted in responses from eight individuals who work in diverse areas, including sustainability, willing to be listed as contacts for persons seeking training in behavioral applications to social issues. The experience and training directory will be regularly updated and is available at http://bfsr.abainternational.org/.

Steps You can Take

The BFSR SIG is continually recruiting volunteers and updating the directory. It is likely that the current directory underrepresents the number of individuals working in areas of social importance and sustainability in particular. If you have expertise in applications of behavior analysis/science to sustainability or research related to sustainability and are interested in mentoring others with similar interests, you may add your name and information to the directory by contacting the BFSR SIG (http://bfsr.abainternational.org).

Behavior Analysis/Science Faculty Members

Faculty members who teach courses in behavior analysis/science have the opportunity to train students in research and applications of behavior science to sustainability issues. Faculty members can teach course units or full courses with a focus on research and applications to increase sustainable practices (identified supporting practice). The Sustainability Subcommittee sought to develop resources for faculty members interested in integrating sustainability content into their courses.

A secondary supporting practice identified for faculty members is interdisciplinary collaboration. The faculty member who engages in interdisciplinary collaboration through research labs, environmental clubs, and community groups, or through participation in public processes related to sustainability provides a model for their students. Involvement in these research labs, clubs, and community groups increases opportunities for students to become involved in sustainability work from an interdisciplinary perspective. Faculty have access to other disciplines on-campus and can increase access to sustainability content by coteaching, guest lecturing, and collaborating with members of other disciplines (e.g., environmental scientists, engineers, public policy experts). If students contact reinforcement through these interdisciplinary efforts in sustainability, then they might take courses in one of these disciplines, increasing their marketability for positions more directly related to sustainability.

Resource development

To increase the likelihood of sustainability being taught by faculty members in university training programs, the Sustainability Subcommittee developed a) a bibliography of readings in social issues, including sustainability, and b) sample course units in sustainability.

The bibliography was created in collaboration with another BFSR SIG Subcommittee—the Bibliography Subcommittee. The Bibliography Subcommittee was creating a broader bibliography that included a list of behavior-analytic/scientific articles pertaining to social issues, an extension of Luke, Roose, Rakos, and Mattaini (2017). The bibliography was created to function as an antecedent for faculty to incorporate social issues into their courses and as a reference for individual students and researchers interested in the areas. With respect to sustainability, the Bibliography Group connected with colleagues who were already working on a literature review about behavior analytic/scientific contributions to sustainability issues. Dr. Derek Reed and Brett Gelino graciously shared their list of articles they had obtained through their exhaustive review of the behavior analytic/scientific research in sustainability (n = 72). This list, consisting of conceptual and empirical articles published in behavior analytic/scientific journals,8 served as the basis for the development of sample course units.

To develop the course units, a group in the Bibliography Subcommittee—the Course Unit Working Group—began by classifying the list of sustainability articles by topic (e.g., climate change, environmental protections). Articles were then distributed across members of the Course Unit Working Group to be evaluated and coded for their correspondence with the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB^(R))’s BCBA/BCaBA Task List (5^th ed.; Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2017)9 such that these course units could be included in courses offered as part of a verified course sequence. Each article was assigned to a primary coder and a minimum of 30% of the articles in each subcategory were also assigned to a secondary coder. Coders identified no more than five task list items in each article. For example, if an article included a definition of and examples of positive and negative reinforcement contingencies, it was coded as item “B-4 Define and provide examples of positive and negative reinforcement contingencies” (BACB^(R), 2017). Once all of the articles had been reviewed and coded, members of the Course Unit Working Group began to develop sample course units that included a) relevant readings and the associated link to the BCBA/BCaBA Task List (5th ed.), b) general and specific student learning objectives to be accomplished through sample assignments, and c) an associated assessment plan by which the effectiveness of the instructional design might be evaluated. Course units are available from the BFSR SIG website (http://bfsr.abainternational.org/) and new course units focused on different social issues are continually being added.

Steps You Can Take

Faculty members can start adding course units on sustainability to their courses now. In addition, more behavior analysts/scientists can contribute to the creation of syllabi banks, course units, and bibliographies and share them with the larger behavioral community. The content and materials, when used in the classroom, will broaden students’ exposure to a diverse range of issues and the applicability of our science. In addition, behavior analysts/scientists can reach out to faculty, researchers, practitioners, etc. in other areas to identify areas for collaboration and student education. The Fresno State Sustainability Project, led by Criss Wilhite, provides an excellent model for this kind of interdisciplinary collaboration (Wilhite & Weinman, 2018).

Practitioner

Practitioners offer a relatively large, scientifically well-prepared, and underutilized population for increasing applications of the science of behavior and BSA to major social and global issues and, in particular, sustainability. Practitioners could become involved with groups or projects that are targeted at addressing climate change (identified supporting practice). For example, Alavosius and Newsome (2012) describe a small-scale project called The Patch—a small gardening cooperative developed by behavior analysts/scientists who shared a common value of environmental sustainability. Relevant antecedents may include encouragement and pressure from peers and/or the behavioral community; availability of relevant collaborators, groups, and projects; and practitioner’s available time to do side projects. These activities have the potential to result in new collaborators, new business and training opportunities, and opportunities for practitioners to broaden the scope of their practice and gain experience in diverse areas of behavior science (LeBlanc, Heinicke, & Baker, 2012).

Resource Development

To support practicing behavior analysts/scientists in identifying opportunities to become involved in sustainability, the Sustainability Subcommittee has been creating a living document that includes job postings, volunteer and grant opportunities, as well as sustainability-related conferences. The purpose of this document is to assist in locating relevant opportunities. This document is currently being developed and will be posted to the BFSR SIG website soon.

Steps You Can Take

Practitioners can get involved in groups and with volunteer opportunities dedicated to sustainability initiatives. Practitioners’ time as students might be over, but opportunities to help to expand the reach of our discipline remain abundant, whether that is attending conferences outside of one’s area of expertise, reading relevant literature (see bibliography described in the “Faculty” section, above), serving on task forces, becoming a member of volunteer groups, engaging in personal behavior change, or applying BSA to different organizations or causes.

Researcher

The role of the researcher is essential to diversification; it is from research that innovation and empirically based interventions arise, expanding the scope and utility of a natural science of behavior. Social issues are not owned by any individual discipline and the opportunities to foster and to engage in collaborative, interdisciplinary research are abundant. In the area of sustainability, the efforts of policy makers, environmental scientists, business owners, sociologists, educators, engineers, urban planners, and many others are important to the design and implementation of effective strategies to improve sustainable practices.

Community partnerships are an integral component of sustainability research. It is necessary to understand the rules, systems, and structures that support the adoption of “environmentally friendly” behaviors. Universities follow their own rules and policies in addition to the rules and policies of the cities and towns in which they reside. Many cities are already dedicating resources to sustainable practices. Over 1,000 U.S. mayors have signed onto the United States “Mayors Climate Protection Agreement,” committing themselves to three actions: strive to beat Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities; urge their state governments and the federal government to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol; and urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan greenhouse gas reduction legislation, which would establish a national emission trading system (Mayors Climate Protection Center, 2017). Researchers located on university campuses, in cities with goals related to sustainability, may find increased opportunities for sustainability research on-campus and off, because of these commitments from local governments throughout the country. In addition, collaborating with community groups, task forces, and businesses whose missions include sustainability will diversify research opportunities on a systems level, leading to a greater chance for improved outcomes. If we can make small changes to systems that control populous sustainable behaviors, then we can produce change more commensurate to the overwhelming problem of climate change.

For these reasons then, one supporting practice for researchers would be to collaborate with individuals in other disciplines or community agencies and groups already addressing sustainability issues to conduct research projects related to sustainability (identified supporting practice). Antecedents that may make this behavior more likely include requests from other disciplines to collaborate, availability of potential collaborators, and knowledge of the issues and approaches other disciplines are using to address sustainability to establish common goals. Through these behaviors and practices, researchers might come into contact with reinforcers such as increased access to funding opportunities, opportunities to disseminate the science of behavior to other disciplines, and the development of more robust research studies that address sustainability issues.

Resource Development

A potential barrier for researchers (as well as faculty, students, etc.) interested in collaborating with other disciplines is a limited understanding of other fields. Thus, the Sustainability Subcommittee is conducting interviews with members of other disciplines (e.g., energy efficiency, environmental management) to collect information that could serve as a starting point for better understanding their discipline. For example, what are the seminal readings in their field and how they think that behavior analysts/scientists can contribute to their efforts in sustainability? The results of these interviews will be shared soon, again on the BFSR website.

Steps You Can Take

The Sustainability Subcommittee intends to continue to build this resource by conducting more interviews. Readers are encouraged to recommend individuals or disciplines that would be valuable to include by contacting http://bfsr.abainternational.org. Related to this, researchers who are part of interdisciplinary sustainability work are encouraged to share their experiences and advice with the BFSR SIG and others who are also interested in interdisciplinary research collaborations.

University behavior analysis/science programs

University programs have the opportunity to support faculty members to teach courses and course units focused on applying the science of behavior to sustainability and the capacity to encourage students to become interested and engaged in behavior-analytic/scientific work pertaining to sustainability. One way to accomplish this is for programs to arrange the conditions that encourage faculty to integrate course units on sustainability issues (identified supporting practices) or teach courses and seminars focused on social issues such as sustainability. An appropriate antecedent might be to offer a summer seminar, research colloquium, or regularly scheduled course on behavior analysis/science and sustainability. Another antecedent might be to provide faculty members with information related to the resources the BFSR SIG created for individual faculty members (i.e., course units and bibliographies). University programs might also provide incentives for faculty members who include course units focused on social issues or sustainability in their regularly scheduled courses (e.g., to teach about positive reinforcement in an introduction to behavior analysis/science course using articles that have explored its use in increasing sustainable behaviors). As a result, programs may experience increased interest from faculty members and students, opportunities to collaborate with other disciplines, and access to different sources of funding.

Resource Development

The course units, described above, provide both faculty members and university programs with the resources to integrate sustainability into their currently offered courses.

Steps You Can Take

University programs and verified course sequences can increase students’ access to content related to sustainability issues by making the inclusion of courses or course units standard practice for that program. Although many programs and verified course sequences specialize in areas such as autism and intellectual disabilities the incorporation of such content can easily fit in a variety of courses, and would expose students to the plethora of applications of our science.

Many colleges and universities also have initiatives to decrease their carbon footprint or to embrace more sustainable practices or have environmental sustainability as part of their strategic plans. The University of North Texas (UNT) Division of Student Affairs, for example, has the “We Mean Green Fund.” This program actively solicits and funds proposals from members of the UNT community that aim to embed sustainable practices into the University culture (We Mean Green Fund, n.d.). The University of Nevada-Reno serves as the home of the Nevada Institute for Sustainability (Nevada Institute for Sustainability, n.d.), whose two main areas of research focus are the development of energy efficient materials and manufacturing and power systems. University programs can collaborate with similar institutes, initiatives, and priorities to bring sustainable practices to the forefront of their own programs.

Conclusion

The Sustainability Subcommittee’s use of BSA for the Matrix Project has helped us to understand the contingencies that promote or oppose behavior analysts/scientists working in areas of social importance. For example, as demonstrated in Figure 2, a feasible practice that was identified for individual students is to “participate in classes pertaining to behavioral systems science research and practice directed to systemic and structural social and cultural-level issues” (Matrix Project, n.d.). In order for individual students to have this opportunity, university behavior analysis/science programs must engage in the practice of, “inclusion of cultural/behavioral systems level content particularly with emphasis on social issues in curricula” (Matrix Project) which requires teaching/research faculty to, “incorporate coursework lectures around applications of behavior analysis [science] to social issues (e.g., implementation considerations on a large-scale, applications to underrepresented social issues”; Matrix Project). The goal of increasing the behavioral footprint in sustainability is achievable when the members within each sector make small, targeted changes.

Fig. 2.

An example of how the behaviors of Individual Students can serve as antecedents and consequences for the behaviors of Teaching/Research Faculty, which can serve as a motivating operation for University Behavior Analysis [Science] programs. A=antecedent, B=behavior, and C=consequence

We also recognize that in a world of competing contingencies, systems-level work might not provide the immediacy of reinforcement needed for behavior analysts/scientists to stay involved in the sustainability endeavors mentioned here. Another way to get involved is through their own behavior change efforts, which can then produce aggregate change. Parents and teachers, for example, have frequent opportunities to model and shape new behaviors: recycling, composting, reducing consumption of single-use items, not eating meat once a week, and even energy reduction. If we make small changes to our behavior and the environments in which we reside, then our individual actions can have cumulative effects. Behavior analysts/scientists need not quit their day jobs or change their focus entirely to make a footprint in environmental sustainability.

Although this article highlights the BFSR SIG’s work to date in sustainability, BFSR is continually engaging in behavioral systems analysis to increase the number of individuals addressing the wide array of other “wicked” (Rittel & Webber, 1973) and “super wicked” problems (Levin, Cashore, Bernstein, & Auld, 2012). Outside of the work of the BFSR SIG, BSA provides a powerful technology to address a constellation of social issues that require a focus on large group and societal gains. It is important, if we want to address societies’ monumental challenges, that we educate aspiring and current behavior analysts/scientists on the use of behavioral systems analysis, and add this problem solving method to our repertoire. Once we are able to identify supporting and opposing practices, responsible parties, and the interdependencies across sectors, we can start to take actions that reduce barriers, strengthen supporting practices or create new systems and structures to promote effective action for a myriad of social issues.

In keeping with the scientific nature of our discipline and the value of data the Sustainability Subcommittee has established as a next step the evaluation of our efforts. Even though tightly controlled experimental analysis is not possible, there are a variety of metrics by which we can evaluate our efforts to some degree. Examples include the number of people reached through blog posts like the one recently published on the course units (Cihon, 2018); the number of courses that utilize the course units; the number of people included in and using the directory; the number of sustainability related publications and presentations at the annual ABAI convention; and the number of board certified behavior analysts, ABAI members, and others working in the field via survey. An analysis of the accomplishments (Binder, 2017) of the BFSR SIG and targeted actors and sectors within the Matrix Project and its applications and extensions to specific areas of social importance (e.g., sustainability) might provide an additional set of metrics by which to evaluate the impact of its efforts.

For behavior analysts/scientists who want to get involved and to help arrange the environment to increase the likelihood that behavior analysts/scientists are getting involved in sustainability (and other social issues), the Matrix Project provides a means to do so. We need greater numbers of people taking action to create the cumulative effect that will result in effective progress (Glenn et al., 2016). So even though this article highlights the utility of BSA, we want to leave the reader with specific actions they can take to help arrange the environment to promote supporting practices. If we begin by taking the steps described in this article, as the BFSR SIG, students, practitioners, researchers, faculty, and university behavior analysis/science programs, we will begin to make measured progress toward the BFSR SIG’s Sustainability Subcommittee’s ultimate goal of increasing behavior-analytic/scientific contributions to reducing the negative impact of climate change.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The information presented here is in compliance with the ethical standards of this journal.

Conflict of Interest

Holly A. Seniuk, Traci M. Cihon, Molly Benson, and Molli M. Luke declare that we have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

No human or animal subjects took part in the current study.