Walking and Cycling Index 2023
![Man and woman cycling in a cycle lane, wearing high-vis, smiling.](/sites/default/files/styles/card_medium/public/2024-04/Man%20and%20woman%20cycling%20in%20cycle%20lane%20smiling.jpg?h=3ed9a09f&itok=oiLjOXxS)
BSI commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), in partnership with Water Foundry, to undertake scoping research around the concept of water stewardship. There are a number of existing frameworks and approaches associated with water stewardship, but a comprehensive summary of these approaches and any gaps, limitations and disagreements within and between them is lacking.
The aim of this research, therefore, was to synthesise existing research and expert knowledge on water stewardship, clarify thinking on key issues and ultimately identify whether there is a need for a new water stewardship standard that is applied at the level of a whole organisation, rather than focusing on individual sites related to the business where water is used.
The key questions that guided the research were:
There is a broad consensus on the value of standards in water stewardship. Views on whether a new standard is needed were divided between those who believed it would be a helpful step to ensure action reaches the pace needed to meet current climate challenges, and those who offered reasons for caution.
Reasons given in support of a new standard in water stewardship included:
Challenges raised around the creation of a new standard in water stewardship included:
The findings from this research suggest four main areas of focus for national standards bodies in the immediate future:
This research comprised a small-scale literature review and in-depth online interviews with key stakeholders working in water stewardship. The research took an iterative approach, with learnings from the literature review informing the design of the interview topic guide.
Relevant literature was located using Scopus, Google Scholar and web searching. The final source list consisted of 16 sources: seven academic sources and nine grey literatures sources.
Key stakeholders were located and approached by BSI and Water Foundry. Those who expressed interest were then contacted by NatCen to arrange an interview. At total of 20 interviews took place with people working in international and non-governmental organisations, in environment or sustainability consulting roles, within businesses and within government.
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