Questions about the future of domestic water consumption Traces of Water Workshop 5 6 th April 2006 Will Medd and Elizabeth Shove

Unpacking implicit assumptions From water customers »to the negotiation of consumer identities From demand constituted by decisions »to the routines of everyday life From domestic demand in the home »to the structuring of options From demand and supply management »renegotiating roles and responsibilities

The future meaning and status of domestic water consumption From the citizen through to consumer From economic to the environmental, social and cultural From the individual through to the collective Needs, rights and responsibilities

The changing dynamics of practice How are different practices changing and with what implications for the future? Are people engaging in practices in different ways? What might be the impact of changing technologies?

The future structuring of options How far are existing practices taken for granted (by regulation, resource management?) and embedded in the infrastructure? What forms of infrastructure provision are being explored for the future: Changing scales of provision? Moves to the co-production of supply and demand? Generalised versus specialised systems of provision What kinds of organisations might be involved? How might they be structured?

Future crisis points How are current interventions likely to shape future responsibilities? How do failures in forecasting translate into a crisis of provision? What might be the scale and scope of future crises and of strategies for managing them? What future crises are already in the making?

A research agenda What are the baselines of current water practices? In what ways are they changing> How are they being shaped? What are the different pathways through which options are structured? What pathways are being constructed for the future? How to balance the demand for certainty in supply side management, and supply of uncertainty generated by demand side management?