For weeks, the vaccination campaign in Germany has been subject to debate and criticism. Less than 3% of the population have been fully vaccinated so far. At this pace, it would take more than 1.5 years to immunize 70% of the German population.

Decision-makers are now trying to improve communication efforts to increase uptake rates. The aim is to convince more people to get vaccinated. Coming from a process perspective, our directors argue in a critical commentary that this approach neglects other important elements: Vaccination uptake is not only driven by people’s intentions, but also by their ability to follow through with their plans.

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We have updated our poster on behaviors related to COVID-19. It now summarizes 12 promising interventions to improve hand hygiene, social distancing and responses to information. For each intervention, the poster shows a) the idea behind the main treatment, b) respective evidence on behavioral change, c) a takeaway related to COVID-19 and d) the reference to the original study.

The idea behind the poster is to demonstrate the general potential of behavioral insights for practitioners. For a recent literature review, interested readers may take a look at Lunn et al (2020).[i]

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Call for support: please participate in a 20 minutes survey on COVID-19 experiences and behaviors!

A well-established group of colleagues and scientists is conducting a global survey to develop a more accurate understanding of the covid19 pandemic. Please help them and join us in answering and circulating this survey.

The answers will help to inform public health responses, which can save lives. Here you will find the survey.

We have prepared a poster summarizing ten examples on hand hygiene, prosocial behavior and awareness.

For each example, the poster shows a) the key idea behind the intervention, b) evidence on behavioral change, c) a takeaway message and d) the reference for further reading. Evidence on three examples is still missing and we would be grateful for hints on related studies.

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Summary of our workshop on grand challenges, containing six key principles for an efficient burden-sharing mechanism to cope with forced migration. Presented at the Asbar World Forum 2019 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Impressions from a fantastic and super inspiring Asbar World Forum “Towards the Future” held under the patronage of HRH Prince Faisal bin Bandar, Governor of Riyadh Region. More than 100 speakers from 15 countries.

Let’s be honest. Why should we care about intangible global goods like climate change, international security or global market stability? Whatever we or our governments do, we will not be able to turn the world into a better place on our own. Of course, we would appreciate the provision of such goods; praise the one who would shoulder the burden. After all, we would acknowledge that global public goods are preconditions for economic prosperity and sustainability. But let us face the facts: we live in autonomous states with national interests and societies, not in a global village. And, even more important, none of us could ever be excluded from the gains arising from economic or social stability. So why should we agree to any of these global deals? There is nothing to win. Why should far-away Europe, for example, host Syrian refugees when Jordan or Lebanon are the natural candidates?

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