Community engagement
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Introduction
The characteristics of water sensitive city (WSC) transitions—complex, long-term and involving technological, cultural, social and institutional changes—mean that top-down approaches on their own will not be sufficient for driving change. Communities therefore have a critical role in WSC transitions.
Sustainable, resilient, productive and liveable communities are within reach if communities are engaged.
Research findings and reports
Our research on community engagement has identified some interesting findings:
- Understanding methods of community engagement is as important as the engineering and science. Engagement establishes effective and productive relationships to enable a shared understanding or commitment to change. (Strengthening the delivery of WASH in urban informal settlements)
- Collaboration, co-design and co-governance techniques require careful planning, but they are powerful game changers in transitioning to water sensitive cities. (Pursuing sustainable urban water management through co-governance; Community engagement in the water sector)
- Community engagement is essential if we are to transition large cities and communities, and achieve the water sensitive cities vision. (The role of community champions in long term sustainable urban water planning; Benchmarking, envisioning and transition planning for a water sensitive Greater Sydney: final case report; Shaping Perth as a water sensitive city)
- Understanding knowledge awareness and behaviours (water literacy and champions) in your community will give context, shape objectives and lead to successful projects. (A national survey of Australians' water literacy and water-related attitudes)
- It is important not to assume pre-existing knowledge and to make information relevant for the target group. (The role of community champions in long term sustainable urban water planning; Using social norms an incentives for demand management; Community knowledge about water; Water and the Australian city: lessons from history)
You will find a range of research reports on community engagement under the categories below.
Community behaviour
- A behavioural rebound effect
- Promoting spillover: how past behaviours increase environmental intentions by cueing self-perceptions
- Guide to promoting water sensitive behaviours
- Changing household water consumption practices after drought in three Australian cities
- More than money: how multiple factors influence householder participation in at-source stormwater management
- “A spirit of Bolshevism?” Perth’s water crisis of the 1920s
- Lawnscaping Perth: Water supply, gardens, and scarcity, 1890-1925
- The risky business of water sensitive innovation: A legal analysis of risk allocation
Communicating with community
- Communicating about sustainable urban water management: community and professional perspectives on water-related terminology
- Community understanding of water terminology
- Images that engage communities with Water Sensitive Cities
Community knowledge
- Community perceptions of the implementation and adoption of WSUD for stormwater systems
- Community knowledge about water: Who has better water-related knowledge and is this important?
- Engaging communities in stormwater management: Knowledge and awareness in the Australian community (Project 2.3)
- Engaging communities in stormwater management
- Targeting the social context: Engaging diverse communities in the Transition to a WSC
- An interdisciplinary and catchment approach to enhancing urban flood resilience: a Melbourne case
Driving community change
- The role of community champions in long-term sustainable urban water planning
- Benchmarking, envisioning and transition planning for a water sensitive Greater Sydney: final case report
- Benchmarking, envisioning and transition planning for a water sensitive Townsville: final case report
- Benchmarking, envisioning and transition planning for a water sensitive Bendigo: final case report
- Mechanisms for unpacking socio-institutional pathways for change: a research compendium from A4.1
- Changing water cultures to achieve water sensitive cities: The importance of communities and households
- Strengthening the delivery of WASH in urban informal settlements
- From water engineers to financial engineering: Water provision in Australia’s East Coast capital cities, 1945-2015
Research application
The CRCWSC’s community engagement research has been used on many projects including:
- In response to strong community interest, the Park Orchards Trial Community Engagement Panel was established to proactively engage with residents in a community sewerage trial .
- Co-design research was applied to the Small Creek naturalisation. For example, ‘Design your creek week’ involved a series of events to encourage the community to contribute ideas.
- Research synthesis and city-scale master planning workshops applied community engagement research Ideas for Tonsley (SA). The session posed ‘what if’ scenarios with results used to create a more liveable, sustainable, and resilient Tonsley. Options (and priorities) were developed through collaborative group work. Other examples include projects in Queensland (Ideas for South Bank and Ideas for UQ St Lucia) and Victoria (Ideas for Aquarevo).
Tools and guidelines
We have tools and guidelines that can help practitioners engage with the community:
- Becoming a water sensitive city requires us to transition from large-scale, centralised infrastructure to more decentralised systems with integrated built and natural environments, and communities. The WSC Index and Transitions Dynamic Framework can be used as a guide for a transition process which includes an assessment of community engagement.
- Getting the message right: the use of frames, community-friendly terminology and visuals outlines approaches for understanding knowledge. It also provides guidance on community-friendly terminology and visuals to convey key messages and evaluate the types of messages that are more effective in engaging communities.
- Principles for engaging communities in water sensitive city transitions presents 10 key principles to help practitioners and policy makers work with their local communities to plan and implement water sensitive city actions.
- Designing raingardens for community acceptance provides a tool for understanding the attitudes/perceptions of community around raingardens. The tool applies the ‘five perceptual lenses’ of aesthetics: scenic; ecological; care; attachment; and affordance.
- Social inequality and Water Sensitive Cities outlines the relationship between social inequality and water use practices, a model of the evolving dynamic between the social and the existing domestic contexts was developed.
- Water managers planning on water savings education can review the Social Behavioural Roadmap to understand the impact and likelihood of householders adopting water saving behaviours.
Infographics
Infographic 1
Which states have the highest and lowest water knowledge? (Dean et al., 2015. Community knowledge about water: who has better water-related knowledge and is this important? Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 11.)
Infographic 2
Where do people get information about water? (Dean et al., 2015. Community knowledge about water: who has better water-related knowledge and is this important? Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 11.)
Infographic 3
What factors influence knowledge? (Dean et al., 2015. Community knowledge about water: who has better water-related knowledge and is this important? Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 13.)
Infographic 4
Community self-reported understanding of commonly used water management terms (CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, 2016. Ideas for South Bank. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 16.)
Infographic 5
Tripartite model of place attachment (Dobbie MF, 2016. Designing raingardens for community acceptance. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 9.)
Infographic 6
Support for different uses of treated stormwater (Dobbie MF, 2016. Designing raingardens for community acceptance. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 13.)
Infographic 7
Framework for assessing engagement in water-related issues (Dean et al., 2016. Community profiles of engagement with water: identifying ‘footholds’ for building engaged communities. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 7.)
Infographic 8
Engagement profiles across each Australian state (Dean et al., 2016. Community profiles of engagement with water: identifying ‘footholds’ for building engaged communities. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 11.)
Infographic 9
The impact-likelihood matrix (Wright et al., 2016. Behavioural roadmap: prioritising water saving behaviours in households using measurements of impact and likelihood. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 14.)
Infographic 10
Targeting behaviours for change (Wright et al., 2016. Behavioural roadmap: prioritising water saving behaviours in households using measurements of impact and likelihood. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 16.)
Some water-saving behaviours are popular with high ‘likelihood’ of uptake but with limited water savings (low impact on consumption). Targeting high-impact behaviours, while considering the likelihood of uptake, can refine your campaign.
Infographic 11
Tips for engaging communities (Dean A, 2015. Engaging communities in stormwater management Project A2.3 Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 13.)
Infographic 12
Different concepts of community, communities of place and communities of interest (Dean et al., 2016. Community engagement in the water sector: an outcome-focused review of different engagement approaches. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 8.)
Infographic 13
The IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum (Dean et al., 2016. Community engagement in the water sector: an outcome-focused review of different engagement approaches. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 9.)
Infographic 14
Processes of engagement, and different outcomes that these activities may achieve (Dean et al., 2016. Community engagement in the water sector: an outcome-focused review of different engagement approaches. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 10.)
Infographic 15
Examples of aspects of processes, outcomes and impacts that can be measured to assess effectiveness of community engagement activities (Dean et al., 2016. Community engagement in the water sector: an outcome-focused review of different engagement approaches. Melbourne, Australia: CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, p. 14.)
