Marisa Manheim (Co-PI), Dave White (PI)
National Science Foundation Webpage for Award #2215639
Abstract
Transitioning to more sustainable use of resources requires residents to make significant shifts in institutional norms, values, and daily practices. The prospect of such changes can provoke public resistance to interventions decision makers view as necessary to regional resilience. Although the principles of participatory decision making are becoming widely embraced in public policy, common methods of participation are insufficient to productively engage with the emotional and embodied foundation of risk perceptions. To address this gap, this research project explores a novel approach to deliberation that uses embodied methods and collaborative design to help communities make informed decisions about sustainability transitions.
The researchers apply this approach to the direct potable reuse of wastewater, which municipalities have been slow to adopt because of widespread negative perceptions of the resulting water’s quality. The researchers work with skeptical consumers and water utility professionals to co-design an engagement activity that promotes learning and reflection about the possibilities and drawbacks of potable reuse. The resulting activity is presented at several public festivals and compared to traditional text-based education to assess the learning that occurs. Combining this research with stakeholder interviews will enable researchers to assess the scalability and perceived legitimacy of using embodied engagement methods and collaborative design in the management of sustainability transitions.
Project Outcomes Report Award Title: DDRIG in DRMS: Perceptions in sustainability transitions: planning for the potable reuse of wastewater in Arizona
Federal Award ID: 2215639
This research investigated Arizona stakeholders’ efforts to legitimize the direct potable reuse of wastewater, a process in which wastewater undergoes advanced purification before being returned to the drinking water supply. The research aimed to theorize how to inclusively manage transitions toward urban water sustainability that disrupt everyday practices and social norms. The project’s integrated ethnographic and action research advanced scientific understanding while generating findings relevant to local decision-makers. Project outcomes are described in the co-PI’s doctoral dissertation (Manheim, 2024) and summarized below.
The first study was an institutional analysis of how wastewater managers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders were preparing for the adoption of direct potable reuse. Data included interviews with 34 regional stakeholders and observations at 56 public and private water industry meetings over three years. This study documented how opportunities to directly experience advanced purified wastewater, often through tastings, have become a critical strategy managers use to legitimize this supply. While opportunities to “touch, taste, and see” advanced purified wastewater are valued by managers for increasing consumer acceptance, these findings indicate they are equally important to increase acceptance of policymakers, who are responsible for the regulation, political approval, and funding necessary for project implementation. This study highlights the importance of sensations and emotions in individual and collective efforts to create, maintain, and transform institutions and practices to enhance regional sustainability.
The second study built on the first to develop approaches policymakers can use to intentionally engage sensations and emotions in deliberations about sustainability transitions. In action research with 15 skeptical consumers and 5 reuse industry stakeholders, participants generated ideas for an exhibit to promote curiosity about the direct potable reuse of wastewater. The resulting exhibit, entitled The Future Taste of Water, was presented at three public festivals where more than 1,100 people experienced interactive activities about the justification, treatment, and taste of advance purified wastewater. The action research approach allowed investigators to share consumer feedback on advanced purified wastewater’s acceptability with water reuse industry practitioners, while also examining the structural and institutional challenges associated with implementing deliberative and embodied engagement approaches in water policymaking.
