When programs seek to protect human health and the environment, motivating individuals and organizations to change their behavior is often critical to success. Goals such as reducing lawn watering, increasing the use of public transit, minimizing the use of mercury-containing products and promoting organic food purchases all involve influencing people to behave differently.
From 2001 - 2009, Aceti Associates offered consultation and training in proven methods for promoting behavior change, focusing primarily on Community-Based Social Marketing (CBSM). CBSM is a practical, accessible approach that uses social science knowledge regarding behavior change to encourage environmentally sustainable practices.
Aceti Associates also provided customized "how-to" information to businesses seeking to make their office operations more sustainable.
Aceti Associates helped a variety of organizations achieve their goals:
"Jan Aceti's expertise ranges through all stages of a campaign; from planning to implementation through the evaluation stage. Aceti Associates consistently goes well beyond what is required of them, in order to create the most successful program possible."
- David Hirschler, Former Recycling Coordinator, Towns of Dedham, Randolph and Avon, MA
"The focus group and interview research conducted by Aceti Associates for the Town of Concord was well planned and executed. It improved our understanding of the barriers and opportunities for reducing outdoor water use and has helped point the way towards more effective outreach strategies."
- Joanne Bissetta, Water Conservation Coordinator, Town of Concord, MA
“The research and testing carried out by Aceti Associates provided us with the concrete results we needed to guide future decisions on our recycling outreach efforts. The quality of the work done was excellent.”
- Eileen Zubrowski, Recycling Coordinator, City of Waltham, MA
"Thanks very much for the great job you did facilitating our strategy development workshop. We are looking forward to taking the social marketing strategies we developed, along with your subsequent comments on them, and finalizing action plans for working with recreational boaters and aquarium stores to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic plants. Everyone was very happy with the workshop and they are eager to apply what they've learned to other projects as well. I would happily and confidently recommend you to others for guidance in developing their projects."
- Amy P. Smagula, Co-Chair, Education Committee, Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species Panel
“I felt as though we got a lot of good information from the work that Aceti Associates carried out for DEP. Furthermore, the work was consistently high quality and completed in a timely manner."
- Brooke Nash, Chief, Municipal Recycling Branch, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
“Thank you so much for your presentation, ‘Tools for Communicating Your Recycling Message.’ Workshops such as this that touch on challenging issues, ie. rumors, behavior change among colleagues, and/or close scrutiny of service provision, don't often end with such a collective sense of hope and cooperation. It was very apparent to us that your presentation accomplished that outcome! In fact, we received requests for more such groups. We hope that we can work with you again to repeat this workshop and to develop others for staff. We would also support other MIT departments and groups should they wish to explore how your consultation might be of service in their educational and outreach efforts.”
- Amy Donovan and Anne Wasserman, Co-Chairs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Working Group Recycling Committee