EWSC Key Insight Summary

Enabling water smart communities requires rethinking value, stewardship and assets.

Summarised by Arup | published in EWSC Research & Insight

Rethinking current practices and approaches. Illustration by Arup for the EWSC project.

Article Overview

This article summarises the key research findings of the EWSC innovation project, providing new input for re-evaluating our current approaches to integrated water management and sustainable housing development.

1. The EWSC Framework

Within complex systems there are leverage points that can enable change. Early in the project the EWSC team identified three such points as potentially critical enablers: value, assets and stewardship. These concepts align with themes and areas of focus emerging across water and housing sectors. These themes were used by the EWSC teams as a starting point to define areas of research to be further tested and developed in the Discovery Phase.

In considering how to apply the model and scale impact we have identified three levels where enabling actions can be taken: individual, network and system. They range from isolated components or singular actions, through more expansive collective, networked interventions, to actions at the scale of whole systems.

By combining the building blocks of our EWSC model within the different levels of system complexity, we have developed a framework for enabling water smart communities. The EWSC framework allows us to map and explore different scales action and impact across assets, value and stewardship at individual, network and systems level.

In this article we have used the EWSC Framework to structure a summary of the key emerging insights from the discovery phase.

By combining the building blocks of our EWSC model within the different levels of system complexity, we have developed a framework for enabling water smart communities. The EWSC framework allows us to map and explore different scales action and impact across assets, stewardship and value(s) at individual, network and systems level. ​Illustration by Arup for the EWSC project.

2. Summary of Emerging Insights

2.1 Rethinking Stewardship — Key Insights

Rethinking Stewardship. Illustration by Arup for the EWSC project.

Individual Actors

• Building cultures of awareness, care and respect for the water cycle and a collective sense of responsibility towards the water commons.
• Individual ‘Must do’ obligations for resilient, long-term stewardship of water cycle assets should be clearly defined, formalised and enabled by the wider system.
• The critical nature of water systems means that duties, risks and liabilities must be carefully aligned to stewardship capability and capacity.
• Factors such as value(s), mandate and ownership structure (e.g., public/ private/ community-led) significantly influence the roles actors are likely to/able to take on.
• Water and housing sectors could continue to broaden definitions of stewardship including intergenerational outcomes and stewardship of the water commons.
• Other sectors (e.g., NHS, Universities, Local Government) are exploring stewardship through their role as local anchor institutions — providing a good model for the water sector.
• As part of their ‘anchor’ role, utility companies should consider increased independent representation on boards and creation of citizen organisations within utilities to inform policies, strategy and increase accountability.

Networks and Partnerships

• Enabling and scaling local actions requires a move towards wider network and system support.
• Whole-life stewardship models need to be underpinned by clear institutional support for collaborative long-erm planning.
• Being clear about roles, expectations and what drives individual action within the wider system is essential for resilient governance and stewardship, especially when working in collaboration/partnership.
• Innovative stewardship models such as community-owned trusts are emerging from the housing and energy sectors and
  could be extended to water sector assets.
• Place-based partnerships, such as local anchor institution networks or catchment partnerships, are often voluntary and unable to take on formal asset stewardship roles.
• New financial and legal instruments and enabling platforms can amplify local initiatives and extend potential stewardship activities. These would typically be aligned at city/local government scale but could also consider catchment-scale mechanisms.

System

• Institutional culture change towards a greater awareness of the value of the water as a common good and concepts of intergenerational stewardship and long-term planning.
• System-wide legal and regulatory instruments to enable and underpin resilient stewardship models.
• Regulatory frameworks to shape private company behaviour in a way that enables the greater building of community wealth and delivery of social and environmental value.
• Impact can be scaled by developing a more overt, targeted and regulated anchor ‘mission’ for water companies. Similar approaches may be considered for other key actors, including large developers that may form part of anchor institution networks.
• Delivery of EWSC at scale can be enabled by new multi-value system level agreements, structured economic instruments and frameworks for stewardship of common goods and creation of public value.
• Mechanisms such as Common Asset Trusts arrange the legal ownership of asset portfolios among multiple stakeholders (typically at city/local government scale). This enables peer-governed funding and revenue model with collective accountability for outcomes.

2.2 Rethinking Assets — Key Insights

Rethinking Assets. Illustration by Arup for the EWSC project.

Individual Assets

• Water-cycle assets are made up of a series of interdependent place-based systems that can be implemented at a range of scales.
• Investment in non-physical assets such as digital services, knowledge, information, culture, community groups, jobs, skills, and local economy are fundamental to EWSC.
• The relative influence of household technology and physical assets on demand (versus behaviour/values/value etc) is complex and is a key focus of EWSC project.
• The importance of ‘hidden systems’ — the grey infrastructure and less visible networks should not be downplayed or undervalued. There is opportunity further to optimise these.
• Resource recovery, energy use, environment and other outcomes, alongside public health and comfort, could influence future design of household wastewater and surface water collection.
• Current ‘can’t do’ activities linked to public health risks and existing/new regulations may limit deployment of certain innovations, for example provision of dual supply and grey water recycling within the home.

Asset Networks

• Moving from individual assets or isolated schemes to network and whole system scale will support the adoption of integrated investment and stewardship models.
• Whilst fully-off grid developments do exist, most homes and communities depend on larger scale infrastructure networks.
• Community-scale developments can often support wider network outcomes such as linking green infrastructure or providing flood storage for surrounding development.
• Certain assets can be delivered at local community-scale. Suitability of decentralised systems depends on the risks and benefits in terms of public health, resilience and local stewardship capability and capacity.
• Digital and information technology can support collaboration and unlock new funding, finance, and value models across community, civic, and catchment scales.
• (Re)design of water and wastewater systems, and surface water management systems, for new development could lead to cheaper, more reliable assets supporting an incremental network-scale transition.

Asset System

• Mandatory regulations and design standards can be essential to drive action; they can also be limiting unless they reflect future challenges and enable innovation.
• There is currently no regulatory structure or standard for bringing water reuse into practice at community scale.
• Within housing there is not yet the same focus on water as on energy/carbon and biodiversity — there is an opportunity better to align these agendas at system scale.
• Design life, ‘whole life’ (including retrofit/ refurbishment) and other asset planning timeframes are misaligned across systems inhibiting joined up long-term planning.
• Managing ‘shared asset pools’ at local civic government scale (or catchment scale) could maximise outcomes and enable new forms of funding, finance and stewardship.
• Assets at system scale could include financial and funding instruments, new institutions, and enabling platforms for supporting, aligning and scaling local value cases and actions across multiple sites.

2.3 Rethinking Value — Key Insights

Rethinking Value. Illustration by Arup for the EWSC project.

Individuals and Organisations

• Clarity on roles, expectations and what drives individual action is essential for EWSC. The ecosystem of actors involved is complex, but the number of actors with a direct role in stewardship of water assets is limited.
• The primary driver for action — for an individual or an organisation — is discharge of their core ‘must do’ obligations.
• ‘Can’t do’ actions prevent actors expanding their responsibilities and can lead to misunderstanding amongst stakeholders.
• Essential value is created through core activities such as water supply and sanitation. This can should not be underestimated.
• For individuals and organisations core obligations can be delivered in a way that maximises wider value and outcomes.
• Water demand is linked to essential activities such as drinking, bathing, toilet flushing and clothes washing. Value(s) and behaviours have a strong influence over water use.
• Many frameworks have emerged to explore holistic outcomes and value(s) — often these remain ‘should do’ or could do’ actions.
• In practice a strong ‘individual’ value case is essential to secure action beyond core duties.
• Monetary value is a primary consideration in most value cases, however non- monetary value may increasingly inform action and investment.
• Water companies, alongside others, can act as anchor institutions building community wealth through employment, procurement and stewardship of land and water system assets.

Networks and Partnerships

• Unlocking more holistic value cases for individual organisations is driving increased system integration and partnership working.
• Alignment and agreement on value(s) and clear targets is fundamental to securing buy-in fostering collective actions, and leveraging co-investment opportunities.
• The shared value case may need to be made at a civic or catchment scale and may span multiple sites and/or multiple housing and water assets across networks/portfolios.
• Partnerships based only on ‘should do’ or voluntary activities have less agency, accountability and resilience.
• Anchor institution networks, formed around a shared mission, can act as catalysts for delivery of local outcomes, with water companies, as anchor institutions, enabling positive social, economic and environmental change for the local area.
• Processes that enable individuals and communities to shape outcomes and experience value will catalyse local capacity, capabilities and widen impact.

System Value

• Representation of water systems needs to be strengthened within value(s) frameworks, partnership visions and cultural narratives.
• Pricing, incentives and ‘nudges’ can shape action, but some outcomes might be best achieved by changing ‘should do’ actions to ‘must do’ and reviewing ‘can’t do’ boundaries.
• New models of shared value creation and exchange are required to enable place-based outcomes, capture ‘total’ system value, avoid double-counting and ensure accountability.
• Mechanisms such as multi-value flow models enable inter-connected outcomes for a wide range of beneficiaries and risk holders, with comprehensive bundles of long-term benefits captured across the actors involved.

This article is written by Arup, a collective of designers, architects, engineering and sustainability consultants, and experts dedicated to sustainable development. The article synthesises research insights produced by CLES, Dark Matter Labs, and KWR Water Institute, as well as the diverse knowledge across the EWSC partnership. See our ‘Research & Insights’ section on Medium for the constituent research.

As Discovery research lead and series editor, Arup’s Transformation & Design Studio led the multi-partner research effort contributing public innovation and strategic design expertise.

This is one of a series of insight articles produced as part of the EWSC innovation programme, exploring how integrated water management can be delivered through innovative housing and stewardship models. For an overview of the project, latest news or to get in touch visit https://www.ewsc.org.uk/.