DIGITAL & STRATEGIC
UX DESIGN PRACTICE
STRATEGIC DESIGN
Enabling water smart communities
Designing for climate resilience through cross-sectoral collaborations
There is an increased number of challenges in which both the water and housing sector have a stake. Climate change, for example, is triggering an increase of extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves. This adds extra pressure on our water-related infrastructure and homes located in vulnerable places and limits the opportunity for new housing development and thriving local economies.
As the challenges facing the water and housing sectors are becoming increasingly intertwined, so does the responsibility of managing these risks collectively. Siloed thinking and isolated operations are reaching their limitations and are not producing the right solutions to be resilient and future-proof.
The EWSC project is an Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge Innovation Project, seeking to unlock cross-sectoral collaboration by providing the right guidance and tools to facilitate the deliberate systems change for enabling water smart communities.
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Leveraging their public innovation and strategic design expertise, Arup’s Transformation & Design Studio has played a pivotal role in shaping, mobilising and leading the multi-partnership project. As Discovery research lead, the team has facilitated the co-development of new knowledge and practices aimed at advancing water-smart communities, uniting experts from diverse fields. They were responsible for the development of a practical framework for systems changes and identified over sixty enabling actions, with three key demonstrator projects now being implemented.
Through effective storytelling, Arup communicated complex ideas, motivating stakeholders to support and sustain the project's long-term impact. This approach has not only advanced the current programme but also laid the groundwork for future initiatives, ensuring that WSCs can continue to evolve beyond the project's lifespan.
In addition, Arup designed the EWSC website, Medium blog, and Notion page to disseminate narratives and insights, aiming to reach a wider audience and foster ongoing collaboration. Their strategic stakeholder engagement activities, including workshops and focus groups, ensured alignment and facilitated collaborations among diverse partners.
Arup helped the EWSC partnership to unlock their potential for enabling water smart communities and facilitated cross-collaboration and knowledge production, essential for the successful adoption of WSC across England and Wales.
Through their work, Arup delivered a holistic framework for instigating systemic change, providing actionable, step-by-step guidance for overcoming the intricate challenges that the housing and water sectors are encountering. This framework provides a foundation for a portfolio approach to funding innovation for WSCs, enabling projects to be strategically planned and effectively coordinated. This helps avoid conflicting efforts and maximises the value of simultaneous initiatives.
Water smart communities (WSC) are essential to delivery housing in England and Wales as they can reduce pressure on water resources, flood risk and water pollution. Without them, we cannot build the sustainable and affordable homes we need or deliver on green growth ambitions. However, enabling WSC and scaling them across Wales and England demands a comprehensive system change. Transitioning from where we are today, to a desired future where WSCs are mainstream is a long process and requires momentum, coordinated efforts, and continual learning.
The EWSC project is seeking to build a better understanding of how deliberate systems change can be mobilised through cross-sectoral collaboration and how it can maximise its impact by supporting efforts to enable WSCs to continue once the current programme ends.
Funded through the Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge Fund, the EWSC project brings people from different sectors and disciplines together; including UK and global water utilities, globally recognised innovators in the built environment and consumer behaviour in water, leading academics and industry bodies.
Arup’s Transformation and Design Studio Team (T&DS) has been instrumental in shaping, mobilising, and leading the EWSC multi-partnership innovation project. Leveraging their strategic design skills and public innovation expertise, the team has successfully united the different partners in a design-led process, aligning them around their shared responsibilities and opportunities to generate positive change. As Discovery research lead, Arup has successfully managed collaborative research efforts that have resulted in the development of a systemic framework for cross-sectoral action and the discovery of more than sixty enabling actions for the delivery of WSCs. From these, the program has prioritised six demonstrator projects which are in delivery.
Currently, Arup is providing strategic oversight and innovation management support in the ongoing phase of the EWSC project. Additionally, Arup holds the role of lead delivery partner on a demonstrator project focused on establishing a functional stewardship model in collaboration with Community Land Trust Network (CLTN), the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) and United Utilities.
Project Highlights
Designing a process for instigating deliberate system change collectively
Applying a systems innovation approach, Arup broke down complex endeavour into a structured process, guiding the multi-stakeholder partnership through each step successfully. The team designed the project to be ‘innovative within itself’ in its design, governance and methods – and used it as a testing-ground to encourage new ways for working collaboratively across disciplines and sectors.
Arup's stakeholder engagement strategy was pivotal in aligning workstream efforts with the broader project vision and encouraging stakeholders to think creatively and beyond immediate goals. It fostered a 'transition mindset' within the partnership, driving systemic change and considering the long-term impacts well beyond the project's conclusion. In addition, they utilised visual storytelling to bolster the approach and enhance overall understanding and engagement across stakeholders.
Facilitating collaborative knowledge production
Leading the Discovery workstream of the EWSC project, Arup facilitated the co-development of new knowledge and practices to advance WSC. The team led the collaborative research among diverse industry experts, including UK water utility companies, housing developers, local authorities, economists, policy advisors, and community organisations.
This involved researching the context, challenges, and opportunities for enabling WSCs, and mapping the EWSC stakeholder ecosystem to identify key roles and actors. The insights gathered informed the development of the EWSC model and EWSC framework and mapped the areas of action required to enable WSC.
Mobilising collective action through storytelling
Arup utilised storytelling as a powerful tool to mobilise collective action for systemic change within the EWSC programme. By crafting compelling narratives, they effectively conveyed complex ideas in a relatable and personal way, increasing the numbers of EWSC champions and inspiring greater action across the industry.
As research lead and insights article editor, Arup spearheaded the design of the EWSC website, Medium blog, and Notion page, creating a comprehensive resource hub for the EWSC programme. This ensured the dissemination of narratives and insights to reach a wider audience beyond the project's partnership. In doing so, Arup aimed to garner constructive feedback and input from diverse knowledge communities, collating and producing knowledge and resources for WSCs, and mobilising the collaboration necessary for complementary innovations that support the transition towards Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) during and beyond the project's lifespan.
