Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T06:42:53.569Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

RESEARCH ARTICLE: Capacity, Capability, Collaboration, and Commitment: How Social Networks Influence Practitioners of Municipal Water Demand Management Policy in Ontario, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2008

Sarah E. Wolfe
Sarah E. Wolfe*
Affiliation:
Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
*
Address correspondence to: Sarah E. Wolfe, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave. W., Waterloo, Ontario, CanadaN2L 3G1; (fax)519-746-0292; (e-mail)sewolfe@fes.uwaterloo.ca
Get access

Abstract

Water demand management (WDM) practitioners will always need sufficient political will and financial resources to implement their WDM agenda. In addition, however, this research found that those elements, even when supported by a local champion, are insufficient to initiate and sustain municipal WDM. The research results affirmed that social networks have dynamic structure and function. The network's function is critical to WDM because it establishes membership parameters (e.g., deciding who is included and excluded), facilitates and regulates information exchange (e.g., through defining research questions and undertaking a research agenda), and reinforces the community's knowledge (e.g., through meetings and articulation, either implicit or explicit, of priorities and norms). These findings support the premise that adjustments in WDM research and practice is valuable. The research has shown the Ontario network makes a significant contribution to generating additional data, information, and knowledge and is a source of momentum behind the implementation of a municipal water efficiency agenda. The results indicate that a closer focus on the individuals who are responsible for implementing programs is necessary to help make WDM programs more successful. Understanding the social networks of those actively engaged in WDM implementation will be essential.

Environmental Practice 10:42–52 (2008)

Type
FEATURES
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 42 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, N. 2004. Interview. Deputy Director of Local Authorities and Water Services Associations, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria, South Africa. April 28.Google Scholar
Ambrosini, V., and Bowman, C.. 2001. Tacit Knowledge: Some Suggestions for Operationalisation. Journal of Management Studies 38(6):811–829.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barabási, A.-L. 2002. Linked: The New Science of Networks. Perseus Publishing, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
Baumann, D. D., Boland, J. J., and Sims, J. H.. 1984. Water Conservation: The Struggle over Definition. Water Resources Research 20(4):428–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borgatti, S. P., and Foster, P. C.. 2003. The Network Paradigm in Organizational Research: A Review and Typology. Journal of Management 29(6):991–1013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brandes, O. M., and Ferguson, K.. 2004. The Future in Every Drop: The Benefits, Barriers, and Practice of Urban Water Demand Management in Canada. Summary Report. POLIS Project, Victoria, Canada.Google Scholar
Brooks, D. 2004. Interviews. Senior Researcher, Friends of the Earth-Canada, Fergus and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. August 27, October 8, November 25.Google Scholar
Brooks, D. 2006. An Operational Definition of Water Demand Management. International Journal of Water Resources Development 22(4):521–528.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, D. B., and Peters, R.. 1988. Water: The Potential for Demand Management in Canada. Discussion Paper #8. Science Council of Canada.Google Scholar
Bussato, P. 2004. Interview. Director of Environmental Services, City of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. December 22.Google Scholar
Byrne, B. 2004. Chapter 14: Qualitative Interviewing. In Researching Society and Culture, Seale, C., ed., 2ndEdition. Sage Publications, London, 179–192.Google Scholar
Coleman, J., Katz, E., and Menzel, H.. 1957. The Diffusion of an Innovation among Physicians. Sociometry 20(4):253–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Loë, R., and Kreutzwiser, R. D.. 2005. Closing the Groundwater Protection Implementation Gap. GeoForum 36(2):241–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Loë, R., Moraru, L., Kreutzwiser, R., Schaefer, K., and Mills, B.. 2001. Demand Side Management of Water in Ontario Municipalities: Status, Progress, and Opportunities. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 37(1):57–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Young, R., and Robinson, J. E.. 1984. Some Perspectives on Managing Water Demand: Public and Expert Views. Canadian Water Resources Journal 9(4):9–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emel, J., and Peet, R.. 1989. Chapter Three: Resource Management and Natural Hazards. In New Models in Geography: The Political-Economy Perspective, Peet, R. and Thrift, N. J., eds. Unwin Hyman, London, 49–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Etienne, J. 2004. Interview. Director of Environmental Services, City of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. December 22.Google Scholar
Gauley, W. 2006. Interview. Engineer, Veritech, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. April 10.Google Scholar
Georgeopolous, P. 2004. Interviews. Supervisor Water Efficiency, Toronto Water, City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. November 15, November 22.Google Scholar
Georgeopolous, P. 2005. Interview. Supervisor Water Efficiency, Toronto Water, City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. January 20.Google Scholar
Gertler, M. S. 2003. Tacit Knowledge and the Economic Geography of Context, or the Indefinable Tacitness of Being (There). Journal of Economic Geography 3:75–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gombos, S. 2004. Interviews. Water Efficiency Program Director, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. November 16, December 13.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. 1973. The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology 78(6):1360–1380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamilton, L. C. 1985. Self-Reported and Actual Savings in a Water Conservation Campaign. Environment and Behaviour 17(3):315–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamlin, C. 2000. ‘Waters’ or ‘Water’? Master Narratives in Water History and Their Implications for Contemporary Water Policy. Water Policy 2(4–5):313–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawe, P., Webster, C., and Shiell, A.. 2004. A Glossary of Terms for Navigating the Field of Social Network Analysis. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 58:971–975.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hazelton, D. 2004. Interview. TSE Water Services, Pretoria, South Africa. April 6.Google Scholar
Hildebrand, R. 2004. Interview. Water Efficiency Coordinator, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. December 13.Google Scholar
International Conference on Water and the Environment. 1992. The Dublin Statement on Water and Sustainable Development. Available at http://www.wmo.ch/web/homs/documents/english/icwedece.html#enabling. Accessed July 11, 2006.Google Scholar
Johnston, R. J., Gregory, D., Pratt, G., Smith, D., and Watts, M.. 2000. The Dictionary of Human Geography, 4thEdition. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Kasaczij, R. Interviews. 2004. Engineer, Toronto Water, City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. November 15, November 22.Google Scholar
Kotter, J. P. 1996. Leading Change. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Kotter, J. P. 1999. On What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Kreutzwiser, R. D. 1995. Water Resource Management: Canadian Perspectives and the Great Lakes Water Levels Issue. In Resource and Environmental Management in Canada: Addressing Conflict and Uncertainty, Mitchell, B., ed. Oxford University Press, Toronto, 259–285.Google Scholar
Kreutzwiser, R. D., and Feagan, R. B.. 1989. Municipal Utilization of Water Demand Management: The Ontario Experience. Water Resources Bulletin 25(3):667–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lavictoire, M. 2004. Interview. Water Efficiency Program Coordinator, City of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. December 14.Google Scholar
Lefrancois, E. 2004. Interview. Director of Water Awareness and Water Conservation, Environmental Conservation Service, Environment Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. November 24.Google Scholar
Maas, T. 2004. What the Experts Think: Understanding Urban Water Demand Management in Canada. POLIS Project, Victoria, Canada.Google Scholar
Manolakakis, T. 2005. Interview. Public Relations, City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. January 20.Google Scholar
March, J. G., and Simon, H. A.. 1958. Organizations. John Wiley & Sons, New York.Google Scholar
McGuire, M. 2002. Managing Networks: Propositions on What Managers Do and Why They Do It. Public Administration Review 62(5):559–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKenzie, R. S., van Rooyen, P. G., and Stoffberg, F. A.. 1999. The Importance of Water Demand Management in South Africa. Water Supply 17(3/4):113–120.Google Scholar
Ministry of the Environment (Ontario). 2006. Green Facts: New Water Conservation Requirements for Permits to Take Water. Available at http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/programs/5303e.pdf. Accessed July 25.Google Scholar
Nancarrow, B. E., Smith, L. M., and Syme, G. J.. 1996–1997. The Ways People Think about Water. Journal of Environmental Systems 25(1):15–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newman, M. E. J. 2001. The Structure of Scientific Collaboration Networks. Proceedings from the National Academy of Sciences 98:404–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Connor, D. 2002. Part Two—Report of the Walkerton Commission of Inquiry: A Strategy for Safe Drinking Water. Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General. Available at http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/about/pubs/walkerton/part2.Google Scholar
Ontario Practitioner. 2006. Interview. Water Efficiency Practitioner, SuburbTown, Ontario, Canada. April 20.Google Scholar
Ontario Water Consultant. 2006. Interview. Private Company, Ontario, Canada. April 20.Google Scholar
Pleasance, G. 2004. Interviews. Water Efficiency Programme Coordinator, Region of Durham, Ontario, Canada. October 13, December 10.Google Scholar
Pleasance, G. 2006. Interview. Water Efficiency Programme Coordinator, Region of Durham, Ontario, Canada. April 10.Google Scholar
Polanyi, M. 1966. The Tacit Dimension. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Putnam, R. D. 2000. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon and Schuster, New York.Google Scholar
Rogers, E. M. 1983. Diffusion of Innovations, 3rdEdition. The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Rothert, S. 2000. Water Conservation and Demand Management Potential in Southern Africa: An Untapped River. International Journal of Water 1(1):118–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sawyer, S. W. 1983. Water Conservation: Conflicting Attitudes of Planners and Utility Managers. The Environmental Professional 5:124–133.Google Scholar
Schmitt, T. 2005. Interview. Commissioner of Transportation and Environmental Services, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. January 7.Google Scholar
Seale, C. 2004. Chapter 23: Coding and Analyzing Data. In Researching Society and Culture, Seale, C., ed., 2ndEdition. Sage Publications, London, 305–323.Google Scholar
Sewell, W. R. D., and Burton, I.. 1972. Perceptions and Attitudes in Resources Management. Policy Research and Coordination Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada.Google Scholar
Sharratt, K., Wardle, B., and Fiotakis, G.. 1994. Ontario's Water Efficiency Strategy. In Every Drop Counts: Based on Canada's First National Conference and Trade Show on Water Conservation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, February 4–6, 1993, Shrubsole, D. and Tate, D., eds. Canadian Water Resources Association, Ottawa, 73–83.Google Scholar
Soroczan, C. 2004. Interview. Senior Researcher (Water), Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. November 25.Google Scholar
Stein, J. G., Stren, R., Fitzgibbon, J., and MacLean, M.. 2001. Networks of Knowledge: Collaborative Innovation in International Learning. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.Google Scholar
Thompson, B. 2004. Interview. Former Water Efficiency Coordinator, City of Barrie, Ontario, Canada. October 26.Google Scholar
Thompson, S. C., and Stoutemyer, K.. 1991. Water-Use as a Commons Dilemma: The Effects of Education That Focuses on Long-Term Consequences and Individual Action. Environment and Behavior 23(3):314–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trumbo, C. W., and O'Keefe, G. J.. 2001. Intention to Conserve Water: Environmental Values, Planned Behaviour, and Information Effects: A Comparison of Three Communities Sharing a Watershed. Society and Natural Resources 14:889–899.Google Scholar
Turton, Anthony (Tony). 2004. Interviews. Pretoria, South Africa. February 6, April 21.Google Scholar
Waller, D. H., and Scott, R. S.. 1998. Canadian Municipal Residential Water Conservation Initiatives. Canadian Water Resources Journal 23(4):369–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenger, E., and Snyder, W. H.. 2000. Communities of Practice: The Organizational Frontier. Harvard Business Review 78(1–3):139–145.Google Scholar
Wescoat, J. 1984. Integrated Water Development: Water Use and Conservation Practice in Western Colorado. Research Paper No. 210. University of Chicago, Department of Geography.Google Scholar
Wescoat, J. 1985. On Water Conservation and Reform of the Prior Appropriation Doctrine in Colorado. Economic Geography 61:3–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, G. 1961. The Choice of Use in Resource Management. Natural Resources Journal 1:23–40.Google Scholar
Wolfe, S. 2008a. A Social Innovation Framework for Water Demand Management Policy: Practitioners' Capabilities, Capacity, Collaboration and Commitment. Forthcoming in Society and Natural Resources.Google Scholar
Wolfe, S. 2008b. What's Your Story? Practitioners' Tacit Knowledge and Water Demand Management Policies in Southern Africa and Canada. Forthcoming in Water Policy.Google Scholar