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ZARAGOZA |
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ZARAGOZA |
| INTRODUCTION In 1995 there were 11 million city-dwellers in Spain who faced daily water restrictions. At that time there were also demonstrations and confrontations between regions. The dispute was over water. In those years all the discussion was about how to build new reservoirs, the transfer of water that would be carried out, where to find the vast amount of money required to pay for all this ... and a triple paradox emerged: Spain had the world’s third highest water-consumption rate per inhabitant, there was little water, and it was very cheap. This misuse of water resources was part of a vicious circle: the lack of any regulations covering water-saving, government policies based on increasing the supply, ignorance of the existence of water-saving technology enabling more efficient use of water in the home (a survey carried out in Zaragoza before the beginning of the campaign shows that about 60% of those questioned could not remember or were ignorant about water-saving strategies in the home), scant regard for this resource as far as the public was concerned, as well as wasteful water-consumption habits. The Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo aimed to demonstrate, with this project, that it was possible to solve water-shortage problems but using a cheaper, more ecological, faster and socially contentious-free approach: saving water by increasing efficiency in its use. PARTICIPATION STRUCTURE The project was drawn up by the Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo and presented to the European Union LIFE Programme. As a result of the recruitment of participants in the project, the founding partners consisted, together with the European Union LIFE programme and the Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo, of the Zaragoza City Council and the Aragón Regional Government. The campaign was also sponsored by a savings bank, Ibercaja. In addition, from the start, four companies, one per technological sector, were participants (Balay, Jacob Delafon, Contazara and RST). The project had a budget of 87 million pesetas. 46% of the financing was provided by the European Union LIFE programme, with the rest being shared between the Zaragoza City Council (17%), the Aragón Regional Government (17%), Ibercaja (12%), the four companies (6%) and the Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo (2%). OBJECTIVES The project’s purpose was to promote a new water-saving awareness, with a rational management of this limited and life-giving natural resource. Specifically, the objective was a saving of 1,000 million litres of water in the homes of the city of Zaragoza in a period of one year. The project addressed the following topics as being essential to achieve this result: to foster public demand for water-saving technology, to stimulate the water-saving technology market, and to train and inform the sector’s professionals. BASIC CRITERIA OF THE PROJECT Before the start of the campaign, we saw that there was a discrepancy between the technology available in the market and the technology installed in the home. While the technology installed in the home was wasteful, there was a wide range of water saving products on the market without any demand. The supply sector argued that there was no specific demand for water-saving products, and the demand claimed not to be aware of them. In order to achieve a change, we needed to inform about the existence of water-saving products and promote their use by means of information and consciousness-raising. To this end we concentrated on a series of criteria on which to base the project:
METHODOLOGY Work on the project was divided into two separate phases: February 1997 saw the start of the preparation phase in which we configured the promotion structure (promotion partners, sponsor, promoting companies and the first collaborating bodies). In this stage we paid particular attention to the "prescribers" (professionals in this sector), with the idea of securing their collaboration and participation in the campaign. October 1997 saw the start of the execution phase, in which specific actions were carried out with the different sectors of the public which we shall detail further on. Finally, the campaign ended on 25th January 1999 with the holding of an International Conference on City Water Efficiency. In order to achieve our objective of saving 1,000 million litres, we established six lines of saving strategy on which to base the actions:
In addition, since this was a question of involving all agents determining water culture, we established a classification of the different sectors of the public to work with: "Prescribers": Prescribers is what we call the professionals working in areas connected with domestic water use: manufacturers, distributors, retailers, plumbers, promoters, builders and architects. This group was very important, since it was they who were able to provide information and advice to clients. They knew what was required of the sector, and they were capable of breaking the "vicious circle" of lack of information about water-saving devices on the market. Actions carried out with this group were as follows:
Large-scale consumers: From the beginning, the project aimed for the incorporation of all sectors involved in the water problem, including, of course, the large-scale consumers: hotels, restaurants, bars, gymnasiums, public buildings, etc. These collectives are visited daily by a large number of people, and their water consumption tends to be particularly relevant. For this reason, their savings are particularly spectacular and their water-saving figures are potentially very persuasive.
Children and Young People: Young people tend to be particularly receptive to proposals concerning the care of the environment and its natural resources. It must be remembered that they are the citizens of the future and therefore the guardians of the water culture. But in addition, they can be very persuasive in the home and help to change their families’ habits. This is why we decided to devote a large part of the campaign’s effort to the educational world Teaching materials were produced for teachers to work with their pupils.
The General Public: We realised the need to involve the entire local community in this project and so we devoted various initiatives to publicising the campaign to as many citizens as possible. These initiatives were as follows:
To finalise the project, we brought together important world figures related to water management to Zaragoza, in an international conference. International Conference on Water Efficiency in Cities: In a bid to spread the various experiences and improvements introduced to efficient urban water management, the International Conference on "Water Efficiency in Cities" was held in Zaragoza on January 20th, 21st and 22nd, bringing together the world’s leading experts in the field of water management. As a result of the Conference, the "Declaration on Water Efficiency in Cities" was drawn up, a document which is set to mark the guidelines for action in matters relating to water management in cities and towns in the 21st century. The objective of this document is to distribute it amongst all organisations devoted to water management in cities. Its 13 clauses aim to establish the basic principles for rational management of this resource. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS The project sought to increase water efficiency, and increase its productivity. To do more with less, so that the city's water consumption would be sustainable in spite of periodic drought cycles. The project has been self-efficient. Whilst the cost of water supply and treatment for every 1,000 litres of water in Zaragoza is 169 pesetas, the cost to the project for every 1,000 litres not consumed has been 70 pesetas. RESULTS ACHIEVED The project has already managed to bring about a significant change in water culture in the city. Some of the results obtained from the actions of the various social actors demonstrate this: 1,176 MILLION LITRES SAVED IN DOMESTIC USE IN ONE YEAR After 1 year, an evaluation has been carried out of the savings achieved: 1,176 million litres, 17·6% more than the 1,000 million litres originally projected, which amounts to 5·6% of the city's annual domestic water consumption. These results were obtained from data provided by the Zaragoza City Council (responsible for the city's water supply and treatment) from quarterly meter readings. In addition:
474 TEACHERS AND 70,000 PUPILS IN 183 SCHOOLS, SUPPORTING WATER SAVING Schools have given the water saving campaign and its educational programme a good reception. From the beginning, 474 teachers and some 70,000 pupils from 183 schools have collaborated in the Educational Programme, equivalent to 69% of the city's schools. At the beginning of the campaign educational packs were distributed to teachers covering the various educational levels. Afterwards there were various activities for the pupils as well as for the teachers:
150 BODIES PARTICIPATING IN THE CAMPAIGN By the time the project was completed, 150 bodies were collaborating in saving water. These bodies were many and varied: public institutions, NGOs, private companies, trades unions, small shopkeepers, department stores, schools, professional bodies, local community organisations, business associations and the media. They were all united in the need to make proper and rational use of the scarce commodity that is water. SUPPORT FOR
WATER SAVING FROM THE ADMINISTRATION
THE EXAMPLE GIVEN BY PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND LARGE COMPANIES The involvement of large public buildings and companies is an important objective in the "Zaragoza, the water-saving city" campaign, since in these centres the water consumption is extensive, with the numbers of people visiting, working or living in them. There are various companies and institutions which have been pioneers in this respect. They have attained a double objective: solidarity in the consumption of a scarce resource, together with monetary savings in their running expenses. WATER SAVING AND
THE BUSINESS SECTOR
THE FUNDACIÓN ECOLOGÍA Y DESARROLLO WATER EFFICIENCY PROGRAMME With the "Zaragoza, the Water-saving City" project now over, the Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo proposes to continue working on water efficiency in the city. At present we are developing an Efficiency Programme which aims to protect such a valuable resource as water. Up to now, we have worked in the area of internal domestic use, but now we are planning to go one step further and continue working in what is called external domestic use (parks and gardens), industrial use and pricing structures. Furthermore, just as our sphere of
influence was confined to Zaragoza, our future projects
are oriented towards working at a national and
international level. Fundación Ecología y Desarrollo EFFICIENCY PROGRAMME Pza. San Bruno, 9, 1º 50001 Zaragoza (Spain) Tel.: +34 976.29.82.82 Fax: +34 976.20.30.92 |
