Sustainable transport behaviour change training in the Scottish Highlands & Islands

We designed and delivered a two-day course for HITRANS (one of Scotland’s seven Regional Transport Partnerships) and their partners in Highland Council. The training focused on applying Social Marketing and behaviour change techniques to encourage uptake of sustainable travel options.

HITRANS and Highland Council have ambitions to increase active travel (walking, cycling, and wheeling) for shorter journeys and encourage public transport instead of cars for longer trips. Our interactive training was designed to support this target modal shift, equipping participants to apply Social Marketing and behaviour change techniques.

Attendees came from varied roles: some hands-on in project delivery, others in strategic positions. The course needed to provide strategists with tools to design multi-dimensional programmes while helping delivery staff see how their projects fit the bigger picture. A further challenge was the vast geographical area, spanning towns, cities, and sparsely populated island communities.

Our training package included:

• Time for participants to consider their role in behaviour change
• Developing a social marketing mindset
• Key questions to support a sustainable modal shift from car use
• Behaviour change theories: the Behaviour Change Wheel and COM-B
• Gathering and using insight
• Levers for change
• A process to bring it all together

The sessions combined experiential exercises, presentations to show why theory and behaviour change matter, and individual, paired, and group activities to apply learning in context. Practical examples of how these approaches have worked in similar settings were also shared.

Feedback was very positive. Participants reported leaving with a clearer understanding of behaviour change principles and greater confidence in how to apply them within their roles