Strength in difference – How the Ofwat Innovation Fund is supporting equity, diversity and inclusion

This blog has guest contributions from Mumin Islam at South Staffordshire Water, United Utilities and Water Discovery Challenge judge Tania Flasck.

The water sector in England and Wales faces many challenges that it must urgently solve, from achieving net zero emissions, to preventing leaks, ending the overuse of storm overflows, tackling pollution and adapting to the impact of climate change, all while ensuring customers are properly served.

Tackling these challenges will require a wide range of innovation and fresh thinking. It means the sector needs to tap into the talent of as many different people and organisations as possible. And to do that, the water sector needs to become much more representative of the communities it serves.

Since 2020 the Ofwat Innovation Fund has awarded funding to 93 highly collaborative projects so far which see water companies working with promising innovators from across different sectors and around the world to develop and deploy solutions to the water sector’s biggest challenges.

Through our competitions we have also been supporting the sector in its journey to greater equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). One of the key ways we are doing this is requiring the entries we receive to actively consider EDI in their design and delivery – from the project teams working on the innovation, to the customers those innovations are intended to benefit. We want diversity of thought by helping deliver diversity of people. Projects are also encouraged to collaborate with a diverse range of partner organisations to deliver the project, with the hope that these partners also bring diverse viewpoints.

In this blog, we’ve asked two of our Ofwat Innovation Fund projects, currently in progress, to tell us more about how they considered EDI in their projects. Thank you to Mumin Islam from South Staffordshire Water who tells us more about the ‘Water efficiency in faith and diverse communities‘ project, and the United Utilities project team from the ‘Mainstreaming nature-based solutions to deliver greater value‘ project by United Utilities. And we’ve asked one of our independent judges, Tania Flasck, to give us her thoughts on EDI and innovation and help edit this blog.

Water efficiency in faith and diverse communities

Water efficiency in faith and diverse communities, led by South Staffordshire Water seeks to establish a deeper understanding on how water is used and valued in different faiths and cultures. Alongside 11 other partners from other water companies, the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and the local mosque amongst others, the aim is to develop an evidence-based comprehensive water efficiency engagement and support framework which water companies can adopt in the future.

EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion) is at the heart of the project as it aims to address a gap in the sector that fails to fully understand and take seriously how water is used and valued within diverse communities of different faiths and cultures in England.

Some of these communities are marginalised, misunderstood or get placed into the “hard to reach” category by water companies when it comes to engagement. This could be due to lack of appropriate or accessible communication channel, and water companies not truly reflecting the communities they serve in their own employees and supply chain.

Hence our project helps to bring light to some of these barriers and identify opportunities, in particular around water efficiency – with the aim to ensure the services provided by water companies are more inclusive than they are today.

The first phase and in fact large portion of the project was dedicated to “listening and learning” through academic research, stakeholder workshops, focus groups and speaking to people within these communities. It helped lift prejudged views and opened opportunities to work together and co-create campaigns. Adjustments during the project (so far) included the timing and style of communication, considering the language used and involving key stakeholders early, and the desire for collaborative work in the future.

Genuinely considering EDI when designing and delivering projects is crucial to ensure diverse customer concerns are meaningfully addressed and the benefits of any solutions reach as widely as possible.

It should be more than just an afterthought or “ticking a box” as it is sometimes perceived to be. When projects highlight benefits to customers, this should be broken down further to recognise the diversity and sensitivity within the term “customers”, as some customers may require additional support or may have a preferred channel of communication to have the positive impact intended.

Finally, we need to be willing to listen, learn and co-create with stakeholders and involve the relevant wider communities to increase the social value element of delivering a project – this can be reflected in the diverse partnerships formed when designing a project.

Illustration of what was achieved through these engagements are:

• Rice washing campaign
• Youth Innovator engagements on water usage
• Engagement in Cambridge Central Mosque on water usage

Driving Social Value through Mainstreaming Nature-based solutions (NbS)

Mainstreaming nature-based solutions to deliver greater value, led by United Utilities, seeks to brings together multi-sectorial expertise and leadership to collaboratively create and test new solutions to remove barriers to nature-based solutions  through real-life case studies and facilitate and enable transition of nature-based solutions into business-as-usual.

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) involve working with nature to address societal challenges, supporting human well-being and biodiversity. They include the protection, restoration or management of natural and semi-natural ecosystems; the sustainable management of aquatic systems and working lands; and integration of nature in and around our cities. They are actions that are underpinned by biodiversity and designed and implemented in a way that respects the rights, values and knowledge of local communities.

Nature-based solutions can address a number of societal challenges, and, when delivered in the right way, promote greater resilience to climate change, environmental outcomes, economic growth, connecting natural and built environment and sustainable development. They support social inclusion, diversity, equity and justice, connecting communities to nature, providing recreational, health and well-being benefits.

However, the evidence^[1] suggests that this social added value can differ significantly, depending on socio-economic status, location, gender and ethnicity, strongly biased towards affluent groups and geographies. Therefore, minorities and deprived communities living in low-income places, particularly in urban areas where the availability and access to green/blue public spaces is limited, are lesser beneficiaries of NbS, when compared to well-off groups. In rural areas, they have traditionally been associated with private land ownership and control, making NbS a privilege of the few, rather than a benefit to the many, perpetuating social inequality and exclusion. This is seen across how NbS are designed, delivered and funded, often through a siloed and narrow approach, and how their value is assessed, mainly based on financial rather than on multiple metrics.

The Mainstreaming NbS project is aiming to address these systemic failures, by re-thinking how to fairly assess the total value of NbS, stimulating multiple funding sources, promoting participation and collaboration of different groups and unlikely allies, engaging diverse stakeholders and landscapes, exploring enabling policies and regulation, standardising approaches that promote their wider uptake and building capacity and expertise in NbS from all parts of society.

Alongside 22 other partners, including 9 water companies in England & Wales and multiple charities, this project is catalysing innovation, collaboration, inclusivity and diversity of perspectives to drive transformational change, by making NbS more common practice and therefore more accessible, in a way that equitably benefits society and the environment.

^[1] The development of a Gender, Inclusion and Diversity Framework for inclusive Nature-based Solutions in cities (cambridge.org)

Final thoughts – from Tania Flasck

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is absolutely critical for many reasons as highlighted by the projects here. Understanding diverse communities’ relationship with water and ensuring that we adequately serve and consider all people in our communities, ultimately benefits everyone with more equitable, considerate and inclusive societies.

Innovation itself needs diverse thinking to ensure that we meet future needs and address challenges that climate change and water scarcity pose with effective solutions. In the world of AI and digitisation, it’s critical that diverse teams are effectively included in their development and governance so we don’t further compound inequity and bias.

The Ofwat Innovation Fund is driving a more inclusive approach to make sure that EDI is a key aspect for consideration in submissions and I would encourage all future entrants to make sure that they embrace and lead the charge on EDI as their ideas and solutions will be all the better for it!

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We hope this blog has encouraged both existing Ofwat Innovation Fund projects and prospective projects to think more deeply about how they are incorporating equity, diversity and inclusion into project design and delivery, and how they can take this a step further to benefit customers.

If you’re a funded project and are keen to share examples of how your project is thinking about EDI with the rest of the sector, do email [email protected].