What's your story? Practitioners' tacit knowledge and water demand management policies in southern Africa and Canada

摘要

Water efficiency research has focused on consumption rates and the tools—for example, pricing—designed tonmodify consumers’ demand. But municipal practitioners can also be a highly influential group and have beennneglected in the conventional water demand management (WDM) research.nTo understand better how to make WDM policy implementation more successful, practitioners “tacitnknowledge” must be identified and examined. Tacit knowledge consists of deep beliefs and values about the waynthe world works and is important. Grounded in practical experience, tacit knowledge is informal, unspoken andnoften difficult to articulate. People may not even be consciously aware of their tacit knowledge; rather, theirndeepest beliefs and values operate as an implicit and unquestioned background understanding that shapes how theynsee the world and act within it. Tacit knowledge influences why practitioners are concerned about WDM, how theynact on that concern and what they say about the issue when they talk to their colleagues.nIdentifying and understanding the potential influence of tacit knowledge would be tremendously valuablenfor day-to-day practices in growing municipalities and for government agencies that are responsible forninfrastructure and sustainable development. By understanding practitioners’ learning processes, their rationale fornaction and the organizational cultures in which they operate, it will be possible to make more informed policynrecommendations.