Valuing Water Community of Practice - Making the Case for Water Literacy

This event is for practitioners interested in building water literacy, promoting water efficiency and conservation, and water sustainability more broadly. Its purpose is twofold. Firstly, to bring practitioners together to share backgrounds and experiences with a view to establishing an ongoing community of practice. Secondly, to explore how to sell decision-makers on the benefits of campaigns that build water literacy amongst customers and the community.

We will explore how to raise the profile of water literacy conservation within organisations, whether starting a programme or campaign, building on and expanding previous work, or to maintaining high levels of water literacy. The forum will start with short presentations from three experienced practitioners. This will be followed by interactive session to share experiences, positive and negative, around obtaining buy-in from colleagues and decision-makers. Lastly, we will be looking to bed down participation in developing an ongoing online community of practice through a survey on where to next.

We ask that participants come prepared with a short “story”, positive or otherwise, about their own or a colleague’s experience with initiatives focused on building community awareness and/or behaviour change. It need not relate to water literacy specifically – themes from other issues of community concern such as climate change, coastal habitat protection, waste management etc, are all applicable.

This event builds on a Water efficiency conservation network workshop ‘The Value of Water: A national conversation on how we can build water literacy and a water conservation ethic amongst Kiwis’. Held in Christchurch 2022, event follow up revealed interest in establishing an ongoing community of practice focused on building water literacy and promoting water efficiency and conservation. This forum will be the group’s inaugural Valuing Water Community of Practice event.