Community-Based Co-Design of Small-Scale Wastewater System

This project is a collaboration between Scottish Water and Cranfield University. Starting from the stance that rural wastewater systems are socio-technical systems, the key challenge for this project is to develop a better understanding of community perspectives towards such systems, and how communities could be more effectively engaged in their design and delivery.

To that end, working closely with Scottish Water and other stakeholders (e.g. SEPA, local authorities) this project will explore the following questions:

1. How is 'sustainability', along with the nature and scope of 'wastewater services', understood in the context of Scottish rural communities?

2. Can a community-based co-design approach effectively support the design and delivery of small-scale, rural wastewater systems, and if so, how?

3. How might community members be involved in the ongoing management of small-scale, rural wastewater systems, and what governance arrangements are required?

4. How might the balance of risks and responsibilities for such systems be distributed between community members and other stakeholders?

5. How might different mechanisms and strategies for communication and engagement be used in future within an overarching co-design framework?

This research agenda will complement on-going technical research around the development of small-scale, nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment in a rural context. In particular, a demonstration scheme that Scottish Water is developing to showcase a nature-based treatment system concept will be used as a focal point for some of the empirical research (see further detail below).