The Challenge

As part of its Access Reform Programme, Welsh Government requested that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) provide advice and options for associated actions for a number ofreforms. 

Feeding into the non-legislative recommendations, the aim of this project was to develop a behavioural science-based approach that would ultimately generate various behaviourally informed ideas for targeted interventions that might reduce the number of dog related incidents that occur in the vicinity of livestock.

The Approach

Initially, a rapid literature review was commissioned which was designed to explore a combination of academic articles and policy/grey literature to identify articles or papers outlining interventions or activities designed to improve dog control around livestock.

Following this, NRW commissioned DJS Research Ltd to deliver a behavioural insights project to provide some alternative perspectives to contribute to the Access Reform Programme.

Three reconvened workshops were conducted with stakeholders/experts from across various user groups, landowners and the public sector alongside a series of telephone interviews with Welsh dog owners to really understand the lives of different types of dog owner.

The Results

A range of behaviours were identified during the discussions which were then assessed according to how feasible each might be to change and how impactful a (positive) change in each would be on NRW’s ultimate goal.

Four were ultimately taken forwards to be the focus of a deep dive into their associated barriers and enablers analysed in detail using the COM-B model.

A long list of behavioural intervention ideas were then created either through co-development with stakeholders or through the process of taking participants’ literal suggestions and interpreting them through a behavioural lens.

These interventions are now being worked up for a field test.

Natural Resources Wales