Trials of Improved Practices Manual

This manual is intended to introduce Trials of Improved Practices (TIPs) to organizations, including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Clean Cities, Blue Ocean (CCBO) program’s grantee organizations and local governments working in the reduce, reuse, recycle (3R) and solid waste management (SWM) sectors. As part of its approach and its focus on promoting social and behavior change (SBC) for more sustainable practices, the program employs TIPs—a brief formative research approach that aims to help SBC programmers and policy makers understand which behaviors are feasible for key participant groups to adopt and identify what resources can further support their success.

The manual provides an overview of TIPs, its uses and benefits, and step-by-step guidance on how it can be conducted. It also shares examples from CCBO’s experiences and provides guidance on how organizations may conduct and employ TIPs results to develop SBC strategies, test new technologies or behaviors, and/or help local governments to develop related policy and refine SWM systems to better meet the population’s needs.