Northumbrian Water Group (NWG)
Every one of us uses about 150 litres of water a day; that’s 70% more than we did 60 years ago, and our water use is steadily increasing. What’s more, population and housing numbers are also increasing, creating even more demand for water. Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) wanted to help reduce water use per person per day. In particular, children were recognised as the key audience to change behaviour due to research identifying their lack of knowledge on effective, sustainable water use and their ability to influence others.
When we all make small changes to our water use, we can make big waves in protecting our precious water supply, whether in the home, school, community and wider. Developed in collaboration with educators, we created ‘The Ripple Effect’ - a behavioural change education programme for Northumbrian Water Group, aimed at teaching KS2 pupils about the water cycle and water efficiency. A hero film and a suite of interactive resources help children commit to taking action to reduce what they use and influence others, whilst also helping schools (and eco committees) with water sustainability, with assemblies and workshops also delivered to the schools in their North East and South East catchment areas.
Regularly delivered to hundreds of schools, annual evaluations reported that over 85% of pupils responded positively on information retention and general understanding, while 95% of teachers rated the resources as excellent, engaging and relevant, with clear learning outcomes, and said they would recommend them. Most importantly, highly positive behaviour change was reported across the board, with teachers observing changes among pupils, within schools and even in their own habits. Over 80% of pupils surveyed across all water-saving KPIs said they had made changes to their behaviour, with most also mentioning, unprompted, that they had shared the information with their families.
The Ripple Effect engages schoolchildren and teachers around this critically important issue. Children are now very aware and have a strong ability to motivate, influence and galvanise their peers.
Sarah Bowerman, Water Efficiency Analyst
