What happens when you invite 50 behavioral scientists and interested citizens to address one of the country’s biggest environmental challenges?
On October 24, 2018, we took on the NYC Stormwater Design Challenge, hosted by The Nature Conservancy,s in New York City.
The Nature Conservancy, Decision Fish, Clicksuasion Labs, participants from the ideas42 2018 Behavioral Summit and members of the Behavioral Economics NYC Meetup joined forces in our inaugural Design Challenge – the goal was to brainstorm ideas that use behavioral science to improve New York City’s approach to stormwater management.
Challenge:
Stormwater is a major water pollution source and is the only growing source of pollution in New York and many parts of the country. In older cities like New York, where raw sewage and stormwater are collected in the same pipes and transported to wastewater treatment plants, rain events or snow melts can overwhelm the water collection and treatment systems. This can lead to raw sewage flowing into surrounding rivers and lakes. This is a huge water quality and health hazard.
There are innovative “green” infrastructure solutions that use vegetated features such as green roofs and rain gardens to intercept and treat stormwater before it enters any pipes. These are much less costly than “gray” infrastructure alternatives such as new sewers. Cities incentivize private landowners to host such green infrastructure solutions, but often with little take-up. How can we get more private landowners to participate?
The audience formed teams to design practical and effective solutions.
Panelists:
Annie Duke, Author, Professional Speaker & Decision Strategist
Caroline Bauer, Design Studio Manager, NYC Mayors Office for Economic Opportunity
Erin Sherman, Vice President, ideas42
Elizabeth Smith, PhD, Environmental Economist at The Nature Conservancy
Facebook live video for this and all past Behavioral Economics NYC meetups are available at https://bit.ly/BE-NYC-Videos.