The Leeuwenborch stairwell is boring, grey and noisy. Photo Guy Ackermans Few students and employees take the stairs in the Leeuwenborch. Too few, according to the Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles researchers who are housed in “Lebo”. They called on Facilities & Services to implement their expertise in their own working environment. In addition to a scientifically substantiated plan, it also led to a master’s thesis. ‘We should apply our knowledge to ourselves more often.’
Three large elevators directly to the left of the Lebo entrance seduce students and employees to take the elevator to soar to their desired floors. There are even queues of people waiting to take the elevator in the early morning and during lunch time. This so-called elevator-focussed construction is typical of the building style of half a century ago. The stairwell was hidden, and it required some effort to find it. There must be a way to improve this situation, thought the Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles employees, among whom PhD candidate Irus de Leeuw. She reached out to Facilities & Services.
Her colleague, assistant professor Sanne Raghoebar, took responsibility for the issue. ‘Effectively influencing behaviour requires knowledge of which factors cause the behaviour in the first place. That is part of our research domain. We were now able to apply our knowledge of social sciences to social scientists’, she says. Her thesis student Julia Joosten (Management, Economics and Consumer Studies) went on to address the issue.
Boring, white building
Joosten used focus groups to investigate what stimulates or prevents Lebo users from using the stairs. ‘They associated the Leeuwenborch stairs with the words boring, white, noise and grey.’ The stairwell was unattractive. Joosten explains what keeps people from using the stairs: ‘The door to the stairwell is heavy, there is an echo in the stairwell, which feels as if everyone can hear what you are saying, and it smells like a hospital.’
The door to the stairwell is heavy, there is an echo in the stairwell, which feels as if everyone can hear what you are saying, and it smells like a hospital
‘The lack of identifying marks to indicate what floor you are on also causes those using the stairs to become disoriented and sometimes end up on the wrong floor. Moreover, they don’t like arriving at their destination out of breath. A positive aspect of using the stairs is the option to avoid someone.’
Influencing
After consulting focus groups, master’s student Joosten conducted a second investigation to determine what arguments are the greatest barriers or motivation. Joosten: ‘Those are what is most relevant to address, Consider, for example, posters. A frequently used method to influence behaviour. If a poster states that taking the stairs offers health benefits, you assume that everyone values health. While some people may value sustainability more. The study shows that Lebo visitors value different factors, which is why behavioural change should be approached from different angles. Including both individual motives such as health and sustainability and social factors such as time, full elevators and the atmosphere of the building, you can motivate more people to use the stairs.’
Joosten defended her thesis last week. She also presented the results of her research to Facilities & Services. ‘They were very enthusiastic to implement the results. An architect will use the insights from my thesis to make the stairs more attractive.’
Using in-house knowledge
According to supervisor Sanne Raghoebar, it is important that our knowledge is applied in our own environment. ‘Julia’s research investigates this stairwell problem from the roots. With this knowledge, an intervention is more targeted and, hence, more effective. You may design a beautiful new stairwell, but if the design does not match the Lebo users’ needs, they will continue to use the elevator.’
Raghoebar believes using in-house expertise could offer more benefits. ‘Critical societal issues are also relevant within WUR, for example, in how we design our restaurants to stimulate healthy and sustainable eating behaviour. I am delighted that Facilities & Services was willing to address this issue with us. I’d love to see this happen more frequently; we should apply our knowledge to ourselves more.’