Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) – the peak urban water industry body – is working to better understand water’s role in enabling liveable communities and to demonstrate how the liveability concepts can be brought to life. The focus is on how the industry can contribute and co-design sustainable and liveable urban areas of the future, in partnership with others.
A program is being developed by the Liveable Communities (Board) Committee. The key objectives are to understand the drivers and ambitions of decision makers and key stakeholders, transpose that into how that would look on the ground in a future urban area, and then develop the pathways to achieve that vision. This is not a utopian exercise, rather a way that the urban water industry can identify what can be achieved by encouraging the sharing of ideas and examples that will contribute to a better life for all.
Lochiel Park Green Village. Source: G Ingleton
As the program is being led by the water industry, it is tailored around the water’s contribution to delivering broader value to our communities through collaboration with other stakeholders. This could be in the form of delivering fit-for-purpose water from alternative water sources for urban cooling or green infrastructure or by providing use of its assets for shared recreational use, or doing its part by generating renewable energy.
The first stage of this work program is to transmit this information far and wide to contribute to the conversation, and to assist with the other great initiatives such as those of Water Sensitive SA, CRC for Water Sensitive Cities and the many practitioners that are moving us toward liveable communities of the future.
WSAA’s members have already published a series of papers and developed case studies to demonstrate the contribution water is already making that you might find useful. These include:
- Global goals for local communities: Urban water advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals
- Next Gen Water: The role of urban water in vibrant and prosperous communities
- Liveability indicators
- The role of the urban water industry in contributing to liveability
- Health based targets
More reports are available through the WSAA website.
Take some time to look at these publications and see if they can help you and your organisation in moving towards liveable communities, not for the future, but for today. For further information please contact Jennifer Bartle-Smith.
Adelaide parklands irrigated by Glenelg Adelaide Pipeline recycled water. Source: G.Ingleton