Updated audio

This episode takes a closer look at the COM-B model and the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), drawing on four articles to create a clear, structured overview. It’s designed to help listeners who are new to these frameworks get up to speed quickly—and understand how they work together in practice.

Topics include:

* What the COM-B model is, and how Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation interact to drive behaviour

* How the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) adds detail to COM-B, offering a more granular diagnosis of behavioural influences

* Why the BCW is designed as a diagnostic tool (not a prescriptive one), and how it links behavioural determinants to intervention functions and policy categories

* Practical examples of how the BCW can be applied to different behavioural challenges

* Critiques of the frameworks—particularly around their predictive limits, overuse as templates, and need for contextual tailoring

* The idea of a “periodic table” for behavioural science, and how the Human Behaviour-Change Project contributes to that vision by building ontologies around intervention design

Throughout, the episode reflects on both the usefulness and the limitations of trying to codify behaviour in systematic ways—and what it means to design interventions when the map is never quite the territory.

This podcast version was generated using GenAI tools and curated by Elina Halonen. It’s ideal for long walks, slow mornings, or whenever you want to sit with the structure behind behaviour change.