CBC ITP Intermediate Training: Meet course participant Nassima

Please tell us a bit about yourself, and what brought you to the Centre for Behaviour Change.

Hi, I’m Nassima. I work as a Gender Equality Specialist at Plan International Belgium. In September 2024 I completed the Centre for Behaviour Change’s course on Applied Principles and Practice of Behaviour Change.

I was motivated to sign up for this course because behaviour change is a critical component of my work in advancing gender equality and inclusion. My goal was to gain practical skills and frameworks that would allow me to design effective, evidence-based behaviour change interventions to support gender-transformative programming and policies.

The course stood out for its evidence-based approach and reputation for providing expertise in behaviour change science. The course’s practical structure, which included a focus on real-life projects and tailored plans, aligned perfectly with my needs. I was looking for more advanced and practical courses where complex case studies and real-life challenges could be discussed. I appreciated the interactive format, which blended theory, group discussions, and practical application to address challenges specific to my field of work.

How did you find the course?

I thoroughly enjoyed the interactive nature of the course, especially the mentoring sessions and live Q&A sessions. The facilitators were highly knowledgeable and approachable, making the live sessions both stimulating and practical. The opportunity to apply the course content directly to a project relevant to my work was particularly useful, as I left with a more practical understanding of how to apply the COM-B model and work around problems encountered in real-life.

What have you gained from the course?

The course equipped me with skills to identify behaviours to target within a system, analyse the drivers of behaviours using the COM-B model, and design comprehensive strategies using the Behaviour Change Wheel. I also learned to select specific behaviour change techniques that fit the context of the interventions.

I plan to use these tools to design and refine gender-transformative interventions in my work. Additionally, I will share this knowledge with colleagues through workshops and training sessions to strengthen our organisation’s capacity in gender-transformative programming.

On a personal note, the skills I’ve gained also helped develop and stick to new behaviours to improve my health and wellbeing, such as incorporating more movement into my workday and developing a workout routine that I genuinely enjoy.