Water Forum Survey is published this week
A Water Forum survey to measure public interest and understanding of water quality in Ireland was published this week. The objective was ‘to gain an understanding of what people know about their local waterways and gather learnings from individuals and communities about what information and supports are needed to help them get involved in protecting and conserving water’.
The survey was carried out by CORE Research as an online survey with 1,000 adults in the Republic of Ireland. The sample is nationally representative of the adult population based on age, gender, region and social class and has a margin of error of +/- 3% at the 95% confidence level.
Importance of healthy waterways
The importance of healthy waterbodies is universally acknowledged. 79% stating healthy waterways was very important and 12% somewhat important. That is ‘very important’ for waterbodies to be clean, healthy and unpolluted.
Younger people are less engaged with water health, with only 66% agreeing on its importance compared to 89% of those aged 55 and over.
Public knowledge of waterways
Despite recognising the importance of clean waters the public are not informed about water quality with only:
- 28% of the general public knowing how clean or healthy their local waterbody is
- Just 7% can name its ecological status
- And 57% say they wouldn’t know where to find that information
Most are not engaged in water related initiatives
While 57% of respondents say they walk or sit by waterways regularly, and 29% are concerned about local water quality only 26% report being involved in water initiatives. People report being much more likely to be involved in sports clubs, tidy towns or charities at local level.
Willingness to get involved
The public are a bit on the fence about this with 46% interested and 44% not interested. Barriers include lack of awareness of what is going on, time limitation and knowledge of the impacts of engagement.
Personal responsibility
67% do not believe their daily activities pollute water with only 47% of younger people believing their actions pollute water. On a positive note, 58% say they would change behaviour to protect water quality.
Learnings for the Forum are that:
- It is important not to over-estimate baseline public knowledge when designing water communications.
- Public willingness to get involved is strong but easy access points with greater visibility have to be provided.
- Engagement actions should aim to convert interest into action but need to be structured, visible, low-barrier opportunities with identified outcomes.
- Communications need to be through multiple channels, with tone, accessibility, and relevance calibrated for each audience.
