Denise de Ridder appointed as new coordinator of Behavior and Institutions

Professor of Psychology Denise de Ridder has long been familiar and involved with ‘Behavior and Institutions’, a stream of the strategic theme of Institutions for Open Societies. She has organised various events, including the two-day WINK conference, an international meeting where researchers, professionals and policy consultants shared the latest insights into nudging. From 1 September, De Ridder will be the main coordinator of Behaviour and Institutions.

De Ridder takes over from Thomas Schillemans. De Ridder: ‘I am going to organise coordination together with Lars Tummers, Professor of Public Management and Behaviour. It’s a co-production. I will take the lead this year, Lars will be in charge next year.’

Behaviour and institutions are inextricably linked

Inextricably linked

De Ridder and Tummers already have plans for various symposia where behaviour will obviously take centre stage: ‘We want to organise symposia on issues such as behaviour and sustainability. We also plan to have meetings on Covid policy and behaviour, and are thinking about setting up pilot experiments in the area of behaviour and policy-making. One of the questions we want to answer is: how can a government truly involve citizens when making policies where behaviour plays an important role? Behaviour and institutions are inextricably linked, as recent social developments have demonstrated.’

Everyone is welcome

De Ridder emphasises that everyone is welcome to contribute ideas on how the Behavior and Institutions stream can be given shape. ‘We currently have regular meetings with a group of about ten people – psychologists and public administration researchers, as well as communication researchers, legal scholars, philosophers and economists – to exchange ideas about the content and possibilities of this stream. But of course there is room for more people who want to share ideas on Behavior and Institutions: it’s an open network. Everyone is welcome to share ideas on everything we do. So if you want to contribute, feel free to contact me.’