ENROLLED IN TRAINING? LOG IN HERE
news

Understanding the COM‑B Model: A Powerful Tool for LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Oliver Alexander

Creating meaningful LGBTQ+ inclusion isn’t just about awareness, it’s about behaviour.

How people act, how systems respond, and how organisations embed inclusive practice all come down to one thing: behaviour change. That’s where the COM‑B model comes in.

The COM‑B model is one of the most widely used behaviour‑change frameworks in contemporary education and organisational development. It helps us understand why people behave the way they do, and what needs to shift for new, more inclusive behaviours to take root.

Whether you’re working in a corporate environment, a healthcare service, a community organisation, or a sporting club, COM‑B gives you a practical way to design training that leads to real‑world change for LGBTQ+ people and communities.

At its core, the COM‑B model proposes that behaviour (B) is shaped by three interacting components:

  • Capability — the knowledge, skills, and psychological capacity to perform a behaviour
  • Opportunity — the external factors that make the behaviour possible or prompt it
  • Motivation — the internal processes that energise and direct behaviour

For a behaviour to occur, such as using inclusive language, challenging discrimination, or designing safer systems — all three components must be present.

This matters because LGBTQ+ inclusion isn’t achieved through awareness alone. Real change happens when people have the capability to act inclusively, the opportunity within their systems and environments to do so, and the motivation to make inclusion part of everyday behaviour. COM‑B helps us identify which of these elements are missing, whether it’s skills, confidence, supportive policies, cultural norms, or personal understanding, and design learning experiences that address those gaps.