Amount awarded: £868,484
Led by: Northumbrian Water
Partners: Groundwork East, Waterwise Project, Northumbrian Water, DWR CYMRU CYFYNGEDIG, Portsmouth Water Ltd, South East Water Limited, Southern Water Services Ltd, Yorkshire Water, University of Denver, Consumer Council for Water, Consumer Scotland, The Environment Agency, Essex County Council, Kent County Council, Virtual College Limited, Water Research Centre Ltd
The Water Literacy programme is currently live and is offering 2,000 free places to gain a water literacy accreditation. Find out more and book your place on the website.
Water is significantly undervalued and arguably should be considered as valuable as oil or carbon. This limited public understanding of the systems involved in bringing water from source to use can result in inefficient use and pressures on water supplies. We quickly need to raise the awareness of the value of water and connect society’s water use to the environment and its role in reducing the impacts of climate change. The Water Literacy Programme is an accredited learning experience delivered across all aspects of the community. It provides citizens with greater awareness and understanding of the systems involved and techniques to empower positive behaviour changes at home, in the workplace or in their community as well as signposting to further learning around water and climate change.
“This is an incredibly important project that will make a huge difference to customers and we are proud to have been granted funding. Our aim is to protect our precious water resources and our environment for generations to come, and Water Literacy education is a fantastic way to do this.” – Tom Andrewartha, Customer Strategy & Campaign Delivery Manager, Northumbrian Water
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The Water Literacy Programme is progressing really well and is currently on track in relation to the project plan. The programme now fully mobilized, and the regional pilot delivered. The pilot allowed the project team to test the course content, delivery and accreditation process, with rich and constructive feedback provided by the 50 learners. The project team is currently implementing a range of changes based on the feedback and delivering the next key phases of work (i.e. website development, pre-course content and communication strategy) prior to launch of national programme delivery in February 2025. As we approach the national rollout of the Water Literacy Programme, we have focused intensively the development of a communications strategy, working closely with our creative communications partner. This workstream will be key to generating interest, engaging future learners and delivering the programme target of 2,000 accredited learners by the end of 2025.
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For more information on Water Literacy, take a look at the following resources:
