Redesigning the water system with Public Design

A new theme was added to the Joint Research Programme of KWR and the water utilities (‘Waterwijs’) for the 2024-2029 research period, namely: Environment and Transitions. Public Design for Water offers this theme a number of leads, says KWR researcher Nicolien van Aalderen. ‘What I see is that the drinking water utilities are trying hard to define their role in transition processes. To do so, they need to render explicit the implicit value trade-offs, for example, regarding safety, justice and sustainability, and to transform them into perspectives for action. We improve the possibility of making these trade-offs by together discussing these complicated issues. My hope is that we can use Public Design for Water to build learning communities, consisting of researchers and water professionals who jointly address the water system challenges.’

New perspective on problem definition

In a technically-oriented environment such as the water sector, solutions-oriented thinking is self-evident. A solution is sought in response to the problem. With Public Design things are different, explains Jan Starke, a KWR researcher with a legal and policy background. ‘It can happen that a conceived solution doesn’t work, or that it generates new problems. That’s why we don’t automatically accept the problem definition, and we dig deeper. We look at problems and the different perspectives in a new light. This frequently opens the path to innovative solutions. It sometimes turns out that there are more possibilities than the collaboration partners or clients had thought at the beginning of a project. Besides options A and B, which were imagined at the outset, there is also for instance a surprising option C. This option only becomes apparent along the way. What is great about this design process is that it is based on collaboration, reflection and inclusivity. You try to learn from each other within a varied group of people.’

Role performance of drinking water utilities

One Public Design initiative within the new Environment and Transitions theme is the Role Performance and Stakeholder Strategies project, which was launched in 2024. ‘Our goal is to clarify how the role performance of drinking water utilities comes about,’ says Van Aalderen. ‘For both the drinking water utility and for the stakeholder context, it is important that this performance be clear and consistent, and not depend on a specific stakeholder manager. This can make process engagements more effective. The role identity and the stakeholder context lead to a particular role performance. We have elaborated how one determines this role in a tool for stakeholder managers. They can use it to engage in discussions and reflect about this role performance.’

User-friendly conversation starter

One of the tool’s co-developers and users is Eva Aarts, strategic stakeholder manager at Dunea. She actively participated in the learning group that was put together for this purpose, based on the concept of ‘joint learning’. From a water-practice perspective, Aarts agrees about the importance of uniformity in role performance. ‘Many different colleagues work at Dunea, and we articulate in all kinds of context what we, as an organisation, want, can and need. In these turbulent times, we face transitions that affect us as drinking water utilities, and which we encounter everywhere in our environment. It is therefore important that we, as an organisation, work in a stakeholder-oriented manner with a commonly shared story.’ Aarts found participating in the learning group to be very inspiring, both with regard to her assistance in the tool’s design, and to the opportunity she had to discuss with colleagues from other drinking water utilities. She describes the tool as an attractive board game that you use, within a self-defined case, to initiate a discussion about the drinking water utility’s possible roles in its environment. ‘KWR has designed a well-conceived and user-friendly conversation starter, which is practically self-explanatory. I look forward to working with it.’ 

Solving entrenched problems with ‘change knowledge’

Another project that works with learning groups and began in 2024, is the Water Transition Factsheet (Dutch). The project approaches the challenges and solution pathways for the water transition from different perspectives, and thereby goes beyond system knowledge. ‘One achieves greater clarity by engaging in discussions about needs and making trade-offs,’ says Van Aalderen. The need for those other kinds of knowledge is explained by colleague-researcher Starke. ‘You see that people in the water sector are running into entrenched problems. Because the beaten paths are no longer useful, it is preferable to tackle these problems with “change knowledge”. I see a good example of this in the Future Perspectives on Peat Polders project, which aims to create a vital countryside by means of a reflective and interactive design approach. Following the completion of an area-planning process, we have now started with the development of design scenarios. We use Public Design and a thinking framework in searching for connections outside of the water sector. And how valuable it is to be sitting next to a farmer at the table, with all the Water Authority, provincial and area-cooperation stakeholders present!’

Joint learning in the DNA

All the reviewed example projects have community building as a common thread. To achieve this, ‘joint learning’ needs to become part of the DNA of organisations. Researcher Van Aalderen notices that the receptiveness to this is growing, and that young professionals play an important role in this regard. ‘Last year the GRROW lab was launched under the auspices of Waterwijs. This was the result of the achievements of GRROW, in which an intergenerational dialogue led to the development of three futures scenarios for drinking water. The new generation is by nature open to the joint learning process that our time calls for. In the GRROW lab we want to develop a new language for drinking water. Because in the way we now talk to each other, our relation with water is absent. While this is precisely what a perspective on the future badly needs.’

Public Design for Water Conference

What KWR is most looking forward to in 2025 is the Public Design for Water Conference, which will be organised and hosted by the water institute. ‘The conference is primarily intended to connect the international community in this field,’ says Starke. ‘On that day we will also provide the opportunity to make contributions to a special issue that KWR will organise for the scientific journal Ambio.  The publication will follow in 2026. We hope in this way to establish a good foundation for the specialty field, and for a significant network of scientists, designers and practice professionals.’