Promoting responsible camping: research summary

Conclusions

Behaviour change strategy

This research has focused primarily on how communications can be designed to encourage responsible behaviour. Communications, however, are just one of many tools available to encourage behaviour change.

A recurrent theme in this research was the lack of knowledge and awareness of the SOAC and other guidelines. Carefully developed communications will be an important tool for filling this knowledge gap, whilst also changing the social context by making it socially unacceptable to engage in irresponsible camping behaviours.

The greatest impact will be achieved through traditional offline media in areas that are popular wild camping destinations, such as flyers at local retailers and service stations or noticeboards in car parks or laybys.

Given the lack of detailed pre-departure research, search engine optimisation should be used to direct people towards guidance when they conduct broader online searches, such as about where to camp or how to get there. It was clear from the literature review and speaking to stakeholders that other interventions also have an important impact on behaviour, pointing to a multi-pronged behaviour change strategy, outlined in figure 5 below.

• Infrastructure: Additional infrastructure, particularly toilets and bins, will make it easier for campers to do the right thing and will lessen the amount of effort needed to educate them about responsible and correct toilet practices. Such practises require preparation, knowledge and effort. Additional infrastructure will lessen the environmental impact of inappropriate toileting and littering.
• Outreach in schools: It is easier to prevent irresponsible behaviours than change them once established. If ways can be found to incorporate discussing the environmental rationale for responsible wild camping behaviour into lessons and activities among schools and youth groups, there is a better chance of a behavioural shift – similar to the decline in adolescent smoking – among future cohorts of campers. This approach could be taken forward through NatureScot's current engagement with schools to promote the SOAC and joined up with the outreach work that some other stakeholders are already carrying out.
• Visible staff presence: At present, perceived impunity is an enabler of consciously irresponsible behaviours, such as littering. Messages based on legal penalties are unlikely to be effective unless there is a perceived risk of being caught, which emphasises that communications campaigns need to be accompanied by a staff presence on the ground in areas where problems occur.

Recommendations for public facing communications

A recurrent theme in this research was the lack of knowledge and awareness of the SOAC and other guidelines. Carefully developed communications will be an important tool for filling this knowledge gap, whilst also changing the social context by making it socially unacceptable to engage in irresponsible camping behaviours.

Our recommendations for these communications are as follows:

How to access background or source data

The data collected for this social research publication:

☐ are available in more detail through Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics

☐ are available via an alternative route

☒ may be made available on request, subject to consideration of legal and ethical factors. Please contact SocialResearch@gov.scot for further information.

☐ cannot be made available by Scottish Government for further analysis as Scottish Government is not the data controller.