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Priority water research questions as determined by UK practitioners and policy makers
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Priority water research questions as determined by UK practitioners and policy makers

L.E. Brown, G. Mitchell, J. Holden, A. Folkard, N. Wright, N. Beharry-Borg, G. Berry, B. Brierley, P. Chapman, S.J. Clarke, …
Science of The Total Environment, Vol.409(2), pp.256-266
2010
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.09.040
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Abstract

Several recent studies have emphasised the need for a more integrated process in which researchers, policy makers and practitioners interact to identify research priorities. This paper discusses such a process with respect to the UK water sector, detailing how questions were developed through inter-disciplinary collaboration using online questionnaires and a stakeholder workshop. The paper details the 94 key questions arising, and provides commentary on their scale and scope. Prioritisation voting divided the nine research themes into three categories: (1) extreme events (primarily flooding), valuing freshwater services, and water supply, treatment and distribution [each > 150/1109 votes]; (2) freshwater pollution and integrated catchment management [100–150 votes] and; (3) freshwater biodiversity, water industry governance, understanding and managing demand and communicating water research [50–100 votes]. The biggest demand was for research to improve understanding of intervention impacts in the water environment, while a need for improved understanding of basic processes was also clearly expressed, particularly with respect to impacts of pollution and aquatic ecosystems. Questions that addressed aspects of appraisal, particularly incorporation of ecological service values into decision making, were also strongly represented. The findings revealed that sustainability has entered the lexicon of the UK water sector, but much remains to be done to embed the concept operationally, with key sustainability issues such as resilience and interaction with related key sectors, such as energy and agriculture, relatively poorly addressed. However, the exercise also revealed that a necessary condition for sustainable development, effective communication between scientists, practitioners and policy makers, already appears to be relatively well established in the UK water sector.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#6 Clean Water and Sanitation

Source: InCites

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36 Record Views
62 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Citation topics
6 Social Sciences
6.153 Climate Change
6.153.1330 Water Distribution Systems
Web Of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
ESI research areas
Environment/Ecology
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