Scooping top awards for our innovations to cut dog-fouling

The imaginative team at our Centre for Social Innovation are always finding new ways to tackle old problems. By understanding why people do what they do, we can help nudge them towards doing the right thing.

And our approach really works – like our Big Scoop project with the Dog’s Trust – cutting dog fouling by an average of 38% and up to 89% in some areas. 

But don’t just take our word for it. We’ve just won first prize at the Health Psychology in Public Health Annual Conference, for an academic poster about the project. 

By nudging dog-walkers along fun, new walking routes, and providing bins on these, not only was dog fouling cut, but more people are now using the parks and two-thirds agree the parks are now a more enjoyable place to be.

“We are delighted to have won this prize, and to have developed a new way to make our parks cleaner, safer and more used. It is fantastic to have this public recognition for our innovations, and the use of behavioural insights, to improve local spaces, cut litter and end waste.” - Lizzie Kenyon, Director, Centre for Social Innovation

Congratulations to the team for this well-deserved award win. We all look forward to seeing their next exciting innovations. 

Centre for social innovation