Nudge Unit Greece: A New Nudge Unit is Starting Up
Nudge Unit Greece (NUG) is comprised of professionals who have a solid background in Economics and Psychology. As a team, they combine these two fields in order to bring a fresh perspective in Greek society by starting the NudgeUnitGreece blog, the first blog from Greece with Behavioral Economics (BE) content.
It is a matter of time before BE comes to Greece, thus a local Nudge Unit was needed more than ever. The vision of NUG is to bring together professionals occupied in BE, young people and students who are BE enthusiasts, and everyday people whose lives could improve through nudges.
In their own words:
“Nudge Unit Greece was created in order to introduce Behavioral Economics to Greece and show how effective the applications of Nudges could be in the real world.”
An important aspect of NUG is to present the ways Behavioral Science applies to individuals and society through ‘Nudges’. This happens, initially, via Case Studies, which have already been applied in other countries and have been effective.
NUG was inspired by Nudge Units operating in countries such as the US, the UK, and other European countries, such as France (BVA), Denmark (iNudgeyou), Italy (NudgeItalia) etc.
NUG’s vision is to become Greece’s national nudge unit in the near future.
A New Nudge Unit is Starting Up
NUG was founded by Chronis Lalas, an economist who specializes in BE. From the very first moment, his vision was to bring this upcoming sector of Economics in Greece, in order to help common people improve their everyday decision-making, and gradually expand this know-how to academia and corporations.
After 2 years of research and collaborations, the time had come for this Unit to start. His first step was to find people who shared the same purpose and values: university students and young scientists interested in BE. The core team was formed faster than Chronis had expected, and it currently consists of 5 young scientists and 2 experts with vast experience in the field.
NUG team always wanted to make an impact in the world of Behavioral Science and Psychology. That’s why 3 of its members have a Masters degree and 2 of them a PhD. The first conference that NUG took part in took place in Athens in December 2016, called, ”Social Science, Public Policy and the Law”. The talk was a success, and it kickstarted NUG’s activities.
The First Nudge in Greece
One way NUG spreads the word about BE is by juxtaposing methods of Economics, Psychology and Behavioral Economics, and making their differences evident.
NUG has created a 3-step method, BBN, which is an acronym for ‘Behavior, Biases and Nudge’. BBN methodology will be used to create nudges and solve existing problems that Greek society suffers from. Such problems concern the Environment, Policy-Making, Unemployment, and the Refugee Crisis.
The next step for NUG to become established as Greece’s national nudge unit is to apply its first nudge in the real world. Therefore, they will devote the next months to develop a “green” nudge to solve the garbage problem in the capital of Greece, Athens.
This goal will be accomplished with collaboration with GRouBLE (Group of Behavioral Law & Economics), a group of Greek academics from all over the world. GRouBLE is based in Athens, and they are supported by the University of Piraeus.
What’s Next
NUG is expanding their network of followers every day. That’s why everyone’s feedback is valuable. By ‘everyone’, we mean from everyday people who want to improve their daily decision-making, to academics and experts in Behavioral Science, who could support NUG with constructive conversations and collaborations.
If you think you could make an impact in Behavioral Science and contribute to Greece’s Nudge Unit, feel free to contact NUG’s team and start something fresh and exciting.
If you want to learn more, don’t forget to subscribe to their site and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Nudge Unit Greece Team, Thessaloniki, Greece
~Explaining Behavioral Economics Simply~