Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world. As a result current water resources face growing pressure from an increase in households and consumption resulting in widespread urban water shortages. Traditional models have focused on either empowering consumers to reduce their demand (Queensland’s target 140 campaign and Melbourne’s target 155 campaign) or designing more efficient supplysystems and household technologies (water efficient showerheads). Through thiswe reinforce a production/consumption relationship that overlooks reasons why peopleuse resources, how these ‘needs’ and ‘wants’ are constituted and how they canchange within the broader context of everyday life where day-to-day practices takeplace. Thus there is a clear gap between consumer beliefs on individual responsibility to conserve water and day-to-day usage behaviour. A gap which this project aims to close.
