Skip to content
Image showing irrigation sprayer

Publication

 
1st June 2015

How do we increase public understanding of the benefits provided by SuDS?

Child's drawing of water cycle; Cover photographs courtesy of: Patsy Dello Sterpaio, Abertay University

There is a need to increase awareness of the benefits that water provides and how our actions can help protect and improve them. Concerns over water quality and quantity are increasing around the world and these are exacerbated by climate change and other pressures. Arguably, and having a plentiful supply of water from rainfall, Scotland has not been severely affected by these issues. Consequently there is a perception that public understanding of water and the benefits provided is often low. Recent Scottish Government policy is to develop Scotland as the world’s first Hydro Nation which places more emphasis on water as central to our national identity. This agenda is increasing the international profile of Scotland’s skills and experience in supporting the good stewardship of water resources, and increase public awareness of the benefits that water provides and how our actions can help protect and improve them.CREW is developing a programme of knowledge exchange activities to help improve public understanding of water and the benefits that water provides, of which this project is a part.

This project was a public outreach activity that targeted primary and secondary school children located to the north of Dundee where there are excellent examples of SUDS. The key objective was to raise awareness of the Hydro Nation agenda with a scope that was twofold: 1) explain the urban water cycle; and 2) promote awareness and understanding of the local SUDS and related benefits.