CONTEXT

A municipal partnership in South Tel Aviv–Yafo set out to improve cleanliness in public gardens across two neighborhoods. Despite regular cleaning and maintenance, littering persisted and shaped residents’ daily experience of these shared spaces. Importantly, the issue was not a lack of infrastructure. Bins were present, playground facilities were in very good shape, and cleaning crews operated routinely. Yet visible litter continued to shape residents’ experience of the space. 

The partnership sought an approach that would move beyond infrastructure and enforcement, and instead examine the behavioral mechanisms shaping how public gardens are actually used.

OUR APPROACH

1. Behavioral framing
   Together with partners, we reframed the challenge in behavioral terms, clarifying target behaviors, audiences, and key moments that shape cleanliness in public gardens. 
2. Diagnosis
   We integrated four complementary data sources:

• Stakeholders Interviews (municipal teams, community managers,  day-to-day operations)
• Field observations of real- time behaviors, conducted in the gardens themselves (together with the Center for Educational Technology)
• Data analysis of municipal records (previous surveys, 106 reports) 
• International and local evidence review on the processes underlying littering behavior and practical interventions types that have proven effective.

3. Co-design and prioritization ideation workshop
   Building on the diagnosis and evidence, we facilitated a multi-partner workshop using SIT (systematic inventive thinking) and BE (behavioral economics) tools. We generated and prioritized intervention ideas based on behavioral logic, feasibility, and expected impact.
4. Behavioral specification
   From the broader idea pool, two intervention directions were selected. We produced a final behavioral specification for each, focusing on mechanisms and design principles rather than execution details.

FINDINGS AND SOLUTIONS

We found that cleanliness issues were driven less by awareness and more by routines, friction, and weak situational cues. Most waste was generated during long stays, especially by families and groups of children. Disposal often competed with play and social interaction, and bins were not always located or designed to fit these moments. Although regular cleaning was in place, perceptions of neglect made it largely invisible to residents and weakened norms of care.

Interviews and municipal survey data indicated a broader pattern: public gardens were often perceived as the municipality’s responsibility rather than a shared civic space, reducing personal accountability for cleanliness.
The evidence review helped translate these observations into behavioral logic. Research consistently shows that littering is shaped by friction, attention, norms, and signals of presence, not by information alone.

Interventions that rely on enforcement or moralizing messages tend to underperform, especially in low-trust contexts. More effective approaches make the desired behavior easy at the moment of action, provide immediate feedback, and signal that the space is cared for and socially monitored.
Based on this combined diagnosis and evidence, two intervention directions were selected together with the stakeholders and developed in depth:

1. Reflective signage platform (שילוט ש(י)קוף) 

A modular, interactive, physical signage system designed to make care, norms, and expectations visible. Core behavioral mechanisms:

• Reducing uncertainty through up-to-date, transparent cleaning information, 
  
• Strengthening trust via visible signals of municipal presence 
  
• Activating shared responsibility through first-person, community-framed language
  
• Enabling agency via QR-based reporting
  
• Fostering belonging through optional interactive and neighborhood-specific elements

Through clear, positive messaging and optional interactive elements, the signage aims to strengthen trust, belonging, and autonomous motivation rather than compliance through enforcement. 

2. Gamified feedback bin for children (פח פידבק): 

A waste bin designed specifically for children, using gamified visual or auditory feedback to turn disposal into an immediate, rewarding action. The intervention targets moments whenre attention naturally drifts away from cleanliness and leverages feedback loops to reinforce the desired behavior, while also signaling norms to the surrounding adults.

Together, the interventions bridge local realities with behavioral evidence, focusing on moments where behavior actually happens and translating insight into feasible, context-sensitive solutions.

INSIGHTS

1. Cleanliness problems are driven more by context and routines than by awareness.
   
2. When public space is perceived as municipally owned, personal responsibility declines.
   
3. Transparency can function as a behavioral lever in low-trust environments.
   
4. Information alone rarely changes behavior in low-trust contexts.
   
5. Effective interventions start from how spaces are actually used, not how they are designed to be used.