Related EU Projects

Water consumption and water conservation are significant issues in Australia. In contrast with many schools across Australia that are already engaged in water education and water conservation programs, the early childhood education sector has been slow to respond to this challenge.

The study comprised two parts; the first part was a statistical analysis to investigate reductions in water usage in the seventeen centres engaged in the program and the second was a qualitative analysis exploring the ‘quadruple bottom line’ benefits (social, environmental, educational and economic) that stemmed from engagement in Rous Water’s Water Aware Centre Program.

Statistical analysis results were inconclusive. From the data available it was not possible to show measurable reductions in water consumption across all centres, as there were too many variables that prevented a valid calculation of reductions. The qualitative findings were compelling in determining the impact of the program, which provide the primary focus for this report.

The qualitative results showed important ‘quadruple bottom line’ benefits that arose from participation in the program. These included but were not limited to:

- Child leadership and advocacy for water conservation (social benefits);

- Uptake by teaching staff of sustainability education pedagogies (educational benefits);

- Improved water conservation and other resource management practices (environmental benefits);

- More efficient use of water resources (economic benefits).

Correlations between awareness and action, and action and consequence were noteworthy in these results, with positive changes to practices, intentions and ideals at centre level transferring to home and community contexts. Numerous centres made physical changes to their water infrastructure such as large scale redevelopments of centre grounds, while others made substantive efforts to purchase and install water-saving devices. One surprising element of the results was the extent to which children influenced the adults around them in relation to water conservation practices. Both teachers and parents were compelled to make changes to their own water use habits because of the children’s advocacy for water-conserving alternatives, a direct consequence of what they had learned in the Water Aware Centre Program.

The results reveal that even a relatively small-scale sustainability education program can provide considerable social, environmental, educational and economic benefits. To date, the early childhood education sector has been an ‘untapped’ resource in addressing sustainability issues of water use and water conservation. This study demonstrates clearly the potential of sustainability education investments in early years’ education.

ROUS Water (2008). The Impact and Potential of Water Education in Early Childhood Care and Education Settings.

In this article, several studies which were commissioned to assess the effectiveness of campaigns after their implementation are discussed. In order to be more effective, the article also discusses the role of construction and planning of water conservation campaigns. The role of ongoing evaluation when developing public information programs as demand management tools is also pointed out.

For the purposes of this article, public information campaign evaluations are defined as having an identifiable component of information or persuasion. Other policy evaluations pertaining solely to legislation for water-efficient appliances or introduction of pricing policies have been omitted, although technology and price included in water conservation “packages” have been discussed as appropriate. It is acknowledged, however, that the implementation of any new demand strategy imparts new information to the consumer as a matter of course.

Syme, G., Nancarrow, B. and Seligman, C. (2000). The Evaluation of Information Campaigns to Promote Voluntary Household Water Conservation. Evaluation Review, 24(6), pp.539-578.

The aim of this study was to examine the barriers and opportunities in the retrofitting of sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) to appraise their effectiveness in the mitigation of flood risk. The study has investigated the feasibility of the implementation of SUDS. Specifically, it has examined a range of multiple benefits from retrofitting SuDS such as: the enhancement of air quality; and the identification of a number of potential barriers, including the lack of trust in such systems. However, the study suggests that further research is required to identify the monetary and non-monetary benefits of SuDS as part of an integrated approach of flood risk management.

Oladunjoye, O., Proverbs, D. and Collins, B. (2017). The Barriers and Opportunities to the Retrofit of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) Towards Improving Flood Risk Mitigation in Urban Areas in the UK. In: International Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS). [online] Leeds. Available at:

Link

[Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

The project showed how sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) can contribute to the overall catchment dynamics of cities such as Glasgow, which ultimately relieved stress on the current predominantly combined sewer system. The project aim was to come up with SUDS demonstration areas (case studies) that were representative of different sustainable drainage techniques and different types of areas available for development and regeneration.

The project has achieved the following objectives:

1. Identified variables that determined the suitability of a given site for the implementation of SUDS;
2. Identified suitable SUDS sites within Glasgow;
3. Classified qualitatively and quantitatively sites suitable for different SUDS technologies;
4. Developed a general outline for a SUDS decision support key and a SUDS decision support matrix;
5. Identified representative SUDS technologies for representative sites that were used for demonstration purposes;
6. Provided a detailed design and management guidelines, and a brief cost–benefit analysis for representative sites and representative SUDS techniques to be used for information and education purposes;
7. Assessed the soil contamination and the associated impact on environmental health.

The preliminary designs of SUDS helped to understand the challenges of holistic catchment management, diffuse pollution, and the linking scales in catchment management. It was forecasted that the implementation of SUDS would help to relieve the local sewer system. Subsequently it would also allow for more regeneration activities to take place.

Scholz, M., Corrigan, N. and Yazdi, S. (2006). The Glasgow sustainable urban drainage system management project: Case studies (Belvidere hospital and Celtic FC stadium areas).

[online] Available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/20752/1/SCHOLZ.pdf [Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

Global warming and environmental pressures are endangering not only Europe's coasts but also the habitats and human development around them. For Europe to monitor its seas and coasts effectively and address these pressures, the continent's coastal observatories must join forces and work closely together. With this in mind, the EU-funded JERICO (Towards a joint European research infrastructure network for coastal observatories) project gathered European coastal observatories and encouraged joint research initiatives and standardisation through a unified European organisation for data management.

Work began by taking stock of existing technology and methods, best practices and key challenges in order to lay down a common vision and strategy for coastal observatories. Project partners harmonised operation and maintenance methods by carrying out technical studies on various observing systems. They delivered best practice guidelines and quality control standards, and introduced ways to enhance the service components of coastal observatories via technological improvements and innovation. Transnational access was offered to several unique European coastal observatories and calibration facilities for international research and technology development. This enabled scientists and engineers to freely access coastal infrastructures not otherwise available in their homelands. Transnational activities also helped to foster joint research initiatives across national boundaries. The JERICO team evaluated the management of distributed data from other infrastructures and European projects. It set up a dissemination platform to boost the visibility of JERICO and raise the awareness of industry, academia and government. JERICO introduced a networked infrastructure based on an end-to-end coastal monitoring process, from data acquisition to dissemination. It will improve environmental monitoring efforts and improve predictions of climate-related impacts.

Article:

http://cordis.europa.eu/docs/results/262/262584/final1-articl-int-inov_jerico.pdf

Final presentation:

http://cordis.europa.eu/docs/results/262/262584/final1-presentation-jerico-recto-verso.pdf

Progress in marine science supported by European joint coastal observation systems: The JERICO-RI research infrastructure: DOI: 10.1016/j.jmarsys.2016.06.004

Deliverables:

http://www.jerico-ri.eu/project-information/deliverables/