STOP, collaborate and listen…

As the clock ticks down on another AMP cycle, the weather starts to change and the political uncertainty continues to dominate news headlines it is hard to think positively about future business prospects. For the water industry though, it is time to think bigger, be braver and look outside their own company walls.

It is hard to truly catapult a business forward if the whole company is caught up in ‘AMP thinking’, making incremental changes year on year to stay within the all constraining regulation. Where is the space for innovation when budgets are tight and margin trimming is the order of the day?

There is one beacon of light within the industry, however, where looking a different way at an age old problem has propelled water and water consumption high up the social agenda. Harnessing the might of global organisations and funding partners as well as mobilising the local community through education and volunteering organisations. Step forward the Hull Living With Water Partnership.

Despite achieving the biggest level of recent economic growth in Yorkshire following the City’s nomination as UK’s City of Culture in 2017 and Hull City Council’s investment in the public realms, Hull remains the second biggest flood risk in the UK outside of the Thames estuary area. The Living with Water Partnership was set up to tackle Hull’s unique flooding challenges and is the perfect example of how extending beyond geographical borders can bring real benefits close to home.

Early on in the project the team won their ambitious bid to become part of the City Water Resilience Framework (CWRF) project. This is a pilot run by the Rockefeller Foundation led by ARUP, with support from the World Bank, University of Massachusetts and Stockholm International Water Institute. Hull is the only European City and one of only five globally working on this pioneering project. The team is able to draw on the knowledge and experiences of the partner cities (Mexico City, Miami, Amman, and Cape Town), by thinking bigger and working collaboratively they recognise that the problems facing Hull are the same as those faced by major cities around the world. By linking up and sharing common problems, it is possible to come up with solutions on a global scale.

Lee Pitcher, Yorkshire Water’s Head of Resilience is the General Manager of the Partnership. He is clear that its success is down to the bravery of the vision and the open mind set of the team. ‘Resilience is not just Grey or Blue/Green infrastructure projects, it is about helping our customers understand how they can help themselves and be part of a more inclusive solution.’

With this is mind the partnership created the HULL-TIMATE Challenge, an urban obstacle course which took in the many sites of Hull and taught participants about flood warnings, planning for flood resistance. In the run up to the main event the team worked with schools, the National Citizen Service and their youth projects as well as mobilising 200 City of Culture volunteers to actually help run the day. A combination of fitness and public education mean the project touched over 10,000 residents and 1,200 children from 21 schools.

The success of this type of event is only possible with close collaboration between City and County councils, the Environment Agency and, in this case, Yorkshire Water. If we are serious about tackling the challenges facing the water industry such as excess consumption, uneven supply and the impact of environmental changes then it is only sensible to engage the wider community in creating those solutions.

Looking at the wider industry, the Living with Water Partnership is an interesting blueprint if what is achievable when a Water Company works collaboratively with external agencies to solve an urgent problem. Generating excitement amongst consumers, harnessing global expertise and looking beyond self imposed barriers. OFWAT stress that resilience and innovation are essential for the industry – it’s time to think bigger and be braver about where future growth lies. AMP-thinking will only take you so far.

This article first appeared in Utility Week on 5th April, 2019.

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