Dr Zoe Sofoulis
University of Western Sydney
Co-authored with Carolyn Williams
From pushing atoms to growing networks: cultural and sociotechnical principles for water conservation
“Whereas the Atom represents clean simplicity, the Net channels the messy power of complexity.” (Kevin Kelly, Out of Control: the new biology of machines, 1995).
As water authorities become more concerned with managing water demand, the water user has become an increasingly important entity in water research and conservation programs. Dominant approaches to researching domestic water users usually rely on large scale quantitative (questionnaire) surveys in order to identify the psychological, attitudinal, socio-demographic and other factors that ‘drive’ and therefore predict the water use of individuals. The idea is to develop conservation campaigns to systematically target these ‘drivers’. Even more sophisticated variants of behavioural and social psychology approaches (such as theories of ‘reasoned action’ and ‘planned behaviour’) are limited by their traditional western conceptions of the water user as a rational and autonomous individual: no more than a social ‘atom’. Such approaches are systemically blind to the roles of ‘Big Water’ systems and existing technologies, as well as cultural norms, in shaping user expectations and water practices.
We promote instead an approach to research and conservation initiatives informed by cultural and socio-technical perspectives. Here, water use and water users are understood to be embedded in ‘co-evolving’ (Shove 2003) relations involving culture, technology and systems in which one can’t change without the others. The strategy presented here focuses on ‘meso-level’ groups and networks (family, friendship and other affinity/identity groups; streets, neighbourhoods and local communities) and on changing the relationship between water users and water authorities, and their roles and responsibility. We outline Principles and Guidelines for Sustainability Programs to demonstrate the potential of applied cultural research to facilitate cultural innovations towards water sustainability, based around the idea of ‘growing networks of water-savers’.
Email: z.sofoulis@uws.edu.au
Email: ca.williams@uws.edu.au