Engaging communities
The community feel strongly about the importance of their role in securing Sydney’s water supply, which is demonstrated by the Community Planning Principle: ensure government and community take joint responsibility for water management.
The Water for Life Education Program is an integrated component of the NSW Government's Metropolitan Water Plan.
The focus of Water for Life is to support, engage and encourage the greater Sydney community to play their part and to use water wisely.
To enable the community to play a key role, an important part of the program is to increase understanding of the range of strategies being implemented through the Metropolitan Water Plan.
Through Water for Life, the Government coordinates water education across greater Sydney. It focuses on a number of key areas including:
- Social marketing campaigns and website to reach the wider Sydney community, encouraging them to keep up their water saving efforts and informing them about the range of initiatives being carried out by the Government
- a coordinated capacity building program providing professional learning opportunities, resources & tools, and building a water educators network to support leading practice water education projects
- targeted on-the-ground education projects in innovative partnerships to engage different sectors of the community, such as non-English speaking communities, teachers and schools, the property sector and 18-35 year old householders
- community consultation to provide opportunities for the community to participate in the decision-making process and engage them in water management planning
- working to coordinate water education across the greater Sydney region through inter-agency partnerships and the development of the Water Education Plan for greater Sydney 2008-2012 (PDF).