Community of Practice for Behavioral Economics Discusses Legacy of 2022 World Cup

Doha, August 01 (QNA) - Qatar's Community of Practice for Behavioral Economics initiative has completed its second session entitled the "Legacy Majlis" which focused on the application of behavioral insights to education and employing sport in the service of education. The community of practice was devised as a joint venture between the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy's (SC) Qatar Behavioural Insights Unit (QBIU) and Qatar Foundation in April 2018, with the aim of promoting and sharing knowledge and best practices about behavioural economics in Qatar. Daniel Shephard, a former member of the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST), co-founder and president of the Implementation Science & Communication Strategies (IS-CS) Group, and member of the Board of Trustees of Nudge Lebanon, where he also serves as Senior Advisor, was the guest host. The session, which took place within the Majlis of the SC Legacy Pavilion, was attended by SC Secretary-General Hassan Al Thawadi, Chief of the QBIU Dr. Fadi Makki, founder and director of the Programme on Behavioural Economics and Public Policy at Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein, as well as practitioners and experts in the area of education representing key entities in Qatar, such as Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha British School, Newton Schools, Qatar Fund for Development, Generation Amazing and INJAZ. The discussions centered around two main topics: students' performance and the supporting environment around them, such as parents, teachers, nannies and coaches. Against this background, members of the community of practice identified a number of education challenges in Qatar and discussed how injecting behavioral insights could tackle these challenges. Commenting on the session, Dr. Fadi Makki said that QBIU is a fine example of how the 2022 FIFA World Cup is having a positive impact on Qatar and the region. "Were very proud to be contributing to the success of the event and more importantly the legacy it leaves for Qatar, the region and the world. To have the opportunity to learn from and share knowledge with other high level experts continues to provide a wonderful opportunity for us all". Asked on the use of behavioral insights in a FIFA World Cup setting, Shephard stressed the pioneering work of QBIU in applying insights from behavioral sciences in the run-up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup to enhance sustainability, workers' welfare, entrepreneurship and education. "The World Cup has created unique opportunities for welfare-enhancing behavioral insights work and will continue to do so. There are unique opportunities to use sports and the national pride associated with the World Cup to encourage hard work and positive self-images among students," he said. "The Generation Amazing programme at the SC, which is supported by the QBIU, is a very good example of these efforts, in particular by creating social impact through sport and using football to create behavioural change and transform lives and communities," he added. "Many countries strive to leave a legacy after hosting the World Cup, and the whole concept of using behavioral insights to address many of the challenges that the country and the region is facing is a great legacy," he underlined. "What Qatar is doing through its initiative stands out as pioneering. Many more countries will be looking to learn from this experience and use behavioral insights in future World Cup events and other mega sports events in the future. The US had already announced in its bid that it will also be using behavioral insights to advance various aspects of the World Cup in 2026," he continued. The QBIU, launched by the SC in 2016, leads policy experimentation in areas such as healthy lifestyles, sustainability, workers welfare and entrepreneurship that will support the successful delivery of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and steer Qatar and the region towards a better future, in line with the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030. (QNA)