Accelerating transitions to water sensitive cities by influencing behaviour (Project A2.2)

Overview

This project focuses on household behaviour that affects water consumption, quality and run off as an important part of the solution to the issues of drought, flooding, and pollution. Specifically, it seeks to address the issue that there are many ways in which householders can act to help address these challenges through the identification, prioritisation and ultimately influence of behaviours that assist in transitioning to greater water sensitivity. To achieve this the project will:

• identify target behaviours that will assist in the transition to water sensitive city scenarios;
• identify and apply tools to prioritise and sequence identified behaviours; and
• test the relative efficacy of individual and collective interventions design to influence prioritised target behaviours.

Key outcomes

The outputs have included a behaviour assessment database documenting behaviours as assessed against prioritisation criteria, a sequenced behavioural road map for transitioning to water-sensitivity (based on the database) and policy advice on individual and collective interventions to influence prioritised behaviours. In addition to the outputs, which will serve as a reference point for new programs but also as a tracking tool, outcomes from the project include a greater understanding about relationships between individual water sensitive behaviours as well as how to use these relationships to influence transitions from one to another.

Recommendations for effective behaviour change strategies have been produced, along with a report and industry note identifying priority water conservation and water quality behaviours and actions for the industry to target behaviours in campaigns.