Priorities for promoting domestic water efficiency through behaviour change: A co-created agenda for research and action

The UK water sector wants to embrace behavioural science to alleviate water scarcity. We co-created, with over 100 individuals from 60 organisations within the UK water sector, an agenda to identify behaviour change priorities. Three activities were undertaken: a workshop, online survey, and webinar. Written input (workshop, webinar) was synthesised to identify and thematise key questions. Survey data quantified the prioritisation of questions. Of seven themes identified, five focused on consumers (identifying behaviour change targets, understanding water use perceptions and behaviour, navigating public acceptability, developing behavioural solutions, contextualising behaviour change), and two on the water sector (building capacity and knowledge, moving beyond behaviour change). Fixing leaks, showering, and toilet-flushing were deemed the most important behaviours to change. Prioritised knowledge gaps focused on identifying behaviours to target, and delivering effective and acceptable water efficiency initiatives. The agenda can be used to guide future domestic water efficiency behaviour change research and action.