A Conceptual Model of ‘Receptivity’ Applied to the Design and Deployment of Water Policy Mechanisms

Abstract

The need to better understand how people and communities understand, interact with, and behave in relation to, water and water management systems has long been highlighted by both national and supra-national governmental bodies. Such understandings are of particular relevance to support the design and deployment of water policy instruments. We argue that, in analysing individual, community and organizational interactions with water as both a natural resource and a commodity, there is a need to move away from policy tool design and deployment perspectives which characterize consumer response as an artefact of social or economic status to one which explicitly incorporates the capacity for response as well as the ambition of policy. A framework for evaluating water management policy instruments based on a conceptual model of ‘receptivity’ is presented in detail and three case studies demonstrating its use in a variety of contexts (regional water management, water recycling, and water filters) are reported on. Comments on the relevance and scope of the approach are provided together with conclusions regarding strengths, weaknesses, and suitable application contexts.

Keywords:

• receptivity
• water management
• water policy instruments