Climate change driven by human-generated global warming poses significant problems to the globe. Individual human behavior adjustments towards more pro-environmental behaviors are therefore critical for mitigating climate change and promoting environmental sustainability (Clayton et al., 2015; Gifford, Kormos, & McIntyre, 2011). While many sponsors, companies, and individuals are concerned about climate change and its effects on the environment and sustainability, very few are involved in mitigating behavior to adequately limit environmental problems. Through this proposed project, KCS hopes to collaborate with the GEF/SGP-UNDP to be among the few organizations that contribute to mitigating human behavior to reduce environmental problems.
KCS holds the opinion that in order to effectively respond to the issue of climate change, the first step is to mitigate how communities perceive climate change, as well as the variables impacting mitigation and adaptation practices. While we recognize that sometimes structural barriers, such as economic constraints, limit one's ability to go green, many reasons are related to psychological barriers, such as beliefs, values, and social norms, which limit people from adopting more pro-environmental choices and behaviors (Clayton, 2012; Gifford, 2011). KCS believes that relying solely on technical efficiency gains without first changing people's mindsets will be insufficient because all physical and technological innovations must be accepted and properly used by individuals, and thus changes in relevant human behavior are required first to act on reducing negative environmental impacts that leads to climate change. The project will be implemented in the Bobirwa area, building on the existing data and information obtained by KCS from the previous GEF/SGP-UNDP-sponsored project. Bobirwa is chosen as a target region due to high levels of land degradation, inappropriate use of natural resources, environmental changes, littering, and other harmful environmental practices. The area was also chosen because KCS has a detailed awareness of the area; fostering behavior change sometimes necessitates a thorough understanding of the targeted communities on how they behave, think, and organize their activities in their villages.