CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

BEHAVIOR, ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

November 14 – 17, 2010 – Sacramento, CA, USA

ABSTRACT DEADLINE: FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2010

2010 Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) Conference is the fourth annual conference focused on the practical applications of social and behavioral research to achieve viable solutions to energy/climate challenges. It builds on the overwhelming success of previous BECC conferences at which 700 participants from universities, government, corporations and organizations discussed successful policy and program strategies, shared important research findings, and created dynamic new networks and collaborations.

Conveners: California Institute for Energy and Environment (University of California), the Precourt Energy Efficiency Center (Stanford University) and the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

Call for Presentation Abstracts: The BECC 2010 Organizing Committee requests proposals for presentations from policymakers, businesses, social scientists, researchers, media specialists, marketers, energy experts, program designers, implementers, and evaluators. We invite proposals for three types of presentations:

1. Oral Presentations (15-20 minute formal presentations and slides; no written papers required)
2. Lightning Talks (5-7 minute presentations – highlights of results, insights, or novel/transformative ideas)
3. Poster Presentations (informal presentations)

We are seeking well-documented, effective applications of behavioral approaches in energy/climate policies and programs; new behavioral research findings; successful programs/scale-ups; measured results; and best practices. We are also interested in thoughtful discussions of emerging policy/program issues, behavioral research methods, and selected novel/transformative ideas.

1. Topic Areas: Abstracts must be submitted online under one of the following 6 categories; if your topic doesn’t fit easily into one of these categories (or if it fits into multiple categories) please choose the closest match.
2. Policy. Behavioral strategies in energy/climate policy design, legislation, regulation, implementation, enforcement. Behavior of policymakers and the policy process. International, national, state or local policy, as well as utility regulation and strategies.
3. Physical Environment & Technology. Integrating behavior insights in design, interfaces, adoption, usage, maintenance and disposal of technology; feedback, smart meters, HAN; the impact of the built environment on energy behavior; community planning; buildings, occupant behavior; and transportation.
4. Organizations, Corporations, Communities & Networks. Behavior-based approaches implemented by corporations, businesses, government agencies, military, schools, universities, churches and communities to address energy/climate; social groups and social networks; sociology; organizational behavior.
5. Media, Marketing & Communications. New & traditional media, communications, information, entertainment, social marketing, community-based social marketing, branding, labeling, segmentation, messages and messengers.
6. Individuals, Psychology, & Behavioral Economics.  Practical implementation of individual/social models of behavior and decision-making; social norms, habit formation, attitudes, lifestyles, incentives/dis-incentives, public goods, bounded rationality, choice architecture, framing, fairness.
7. Evaluation, Measurement, Models & Methods. Practical methods for measuring behavior impacts: program evaluation, cost-benefit analysis, non-energy benefits, real-time evaluation, behavioral models of decision-making, robustness, and experimental design.

Proposal Submission: Interested presenters should submit an abstract of less than 250 words of text summarizing the proposed presentation and a short bio (<100 words) online at www.BECCconference.org by May 15, 2010. Presentations do not require a written paper, but power point slides are requested for oral presentations and will be posted online. Submissions will be judged on relevance to conference themes, clarity of thought, data/documented results, creativity, fit in conference program and other criteria. Notification by June 30.

Conference Registration: All presenters are expected to register online by August 31 and to pay conference registration fees.

Date/Location: The conference will be held November 14 – 17, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Sacramento, CA. Reserve early online. Don’t lose out on the special “BECC” group hotel rate.