Shaping the environments in which people live is one of the most commonly used approaches in behavioural sciences applied to health prevention. For good reason: often simple changes to the environment can unconsciously encourage healthier behaviours, without people feeling manipulated.
An environment stacked against health
Modern environments often work against healthy behaviours. Food environments and sedentary lifestyles contribute to overweight and related health conditions, but also to social isolation and deteriorating mental health. “Dense urban spaces, limited access to green areas, heavy traffic and easy access to highly processed foods all increase the physical and psychological effort required for young people to adopt healthier habits,” explains Céline Falco, President of the APRIL Foundation. The result is a form of passivity that undermines both physical and mental wellbeing, which are closely linked to healthy lifestyle habits.
Active design
In this context, interventions based on the principles of active design offer a practical response at a collective level. The objective is to make healthy behaviours the path of least resistance. The concept is simple: redesign public spaces to encourage natural movement by creating environments that are accessible, attractive and stimulating, subtly prompting people to be more active. The underlying idea is both straightforward and powerful. Everyday decisions are heavily influenced by the immediate environment. Strategic modifications can therefore encourage healthier behaviours without being restrictive or requiring significant effort to take action.
The classic example: taking the stairs
One of the most widely used applications of active design involves encouraging people to choose the stairs over the lift. Featured in the APRIL Foundation’s third Expert Report, an experiment conducted at an Indonesian university illustrates this principle. Motivational posters were placed near lifts with messages such as: “Want to stay healthy but don’t have time to exercise? Climb four floors a day and reduce your risk of stroke by 40%. Take the stairs!” The investment was minimal, yet the results were significant: stair use increased by 6.7% after six months. “The most important aspect of this type of intervention is ensuring that the message remains positive,” explains Elorri Golhen, who led a similar initiative during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. “The goal is to encourage people, avoid guilt‑based messaging and highlight the benefits of taking the stairs.” “To sustain engagement over time, ongoing activities and reinforcement are also important. Behavioural change takes time, and new habits require continuous support before they become established.”
Permission to play with food
Physical activity is not the only target for environmental interventions. Food choices provide another powerful example. A Danish experiment conducted in vocational education canteens simply rearranged beverages in refrigerated displays. Healthier drinks were placed at eye level, while less healthy options were moved to lower shelves. “This intervention relies on the principle of salience, which refers to people’s tendency to be drawn towards the most visible options,” explains Pierre Chandon, Professor of Marketing at INSEAD and specialist in the field. “The results were striking: sales of healthier beverages increased by 11%. This is particularly significant given how difficult it usually is to achieve meaningful changes in dietary behaviours.”
Key success factors
Lessons from behavioural science initiatives in health prevention highlight several factors that contribute to effective interventions:
➜ Simplicity and affordability: the most impactful interventions are often the simplest, while low implementation costs make them easier to replicate.
➜ Positive framing: emphasising benefits tends to be more effective than focusing on negative consequences.
➜ Social acceptability: some highly effective interventions may be perceived as intrusive (reducing portion sizes, for example). Explaining their purpose and benefits can help reduce resistance and improve acceptance.
➜ Co-design with end users: involving beneficiaries from the outset helps ensure that interventions address real needs and encourages long‑term ownership.
Encouraging without manipulating
Modifying public, educational and social environments represents a significant shift in the way health prevention is approached. Rather than relying exclusively on information campaigns to change individual behaviours, this perspective recognises that our surroundings exert a powerful influence on the choices we make every day. “By acknowledging the psychological reality of human behaviour and recognising that human rationality is imperfect but predictable, we can design environments that naturally facilitate healthier choices,” emphasises Sophie Ferreira Le Morvan, Executive Director of the APRIL Foundation. The goal is not to manipulate people, but to create conditions in which healthier options become the easiest (and most appealing) choices. “The challenge now is to move from experimentation to large‑scale implementation, systematically integrating principles of health‑promoting environments into public policy and into the spaces where young people live, learn and grow.”