Water Research Foundation Launches New Project on Forging Relationships Between Clean Water Agencies and the Community.
The Water Research Foundation (WRF), a leading sponsor of innovative research supporting the water community, is pleased to announce a new project that will help clean water agencies explore how forward thinking utilities and companies leverage emotional motivators in public engagement programs to develop sustainable relationships with their customers.
Awareness of water scarcity is disconnected from the deceptive abundance of this resource in many developed countries.
Social scientists such as Paul Slovic and Daniel Kahneman have long recognized the power of emotional involvement (the affect heuristic) in decision making and hence community building.
The project will develop a report and toolkit that provide best practices, lessons learned, and evaluation metrics for utilities to use when developing messages and education and engagement programs to create meaningful emotional connections in alignment with their specific communities using scientific and technical practices.
“There’s plenty of research out there showing that emotional connections lead to long-term bonds between organizations and their stakeholders,” said Rob Renner, CEO of the Water Research Foundation.
Governed by utilities, WRF plans, manages, and delivers scientifically sound research solutions on the most critical challenges facing the water community in the areas of drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, and reuse.
For more information, go to www.WaterRF.org.
About KKS Advisors KKS Advisors is an advisory services firm helping clients to find innovative solutions to create more sustainable business models and communities.
KKS Advisors also worked with Stewart Investors to conduct a research project on water scarcity in global emerging markets.