As the UK edges closer to a water-stressed future, the question facing the sector is no longer just how to manage supply, but how to bring customers with it.

Our upcoming webinar on Lived Experience Co-creation in Drought Planning is set to explore exactly that, offering fresh insight into how water companies can better understand, engage and support customers in the face of severe drought.

The session builds on a major research programme delivered by Explain Market Research on behalf of six water companies across the South East, supported by Water Resources South East. The project set out to answer a critical question: what does drought really look like in people’s everyday lives?

Focusing on level 3B drought conditions (where water scarcity begins to significantly impact daily routines) the research moved beyond traditional consultation to explore how people actually respond when the availability of water can no longer be taken for granted.

For many customers, this is unfamiliar territory. Water is rarely something people consciously manage, and that gap between assumption and reality presents a major challenge for the sector. If severe drought conditions arise, customers will need to act quickly, differently and collectively, but without a clear understanding of behaviours, expectations and barriers, even well-designed strategies risk falling short.

The findings revealed a critical insight: many people believe they are already water-efficient, yet underestimate the scale of change required in a severe drought scenario. This disconnect has significant implications for communication strategies, highlighting the need for messaging that is not only informative, but meaningful, practical and rooted in real experience.

The webinar will bring these insights to the forefront, exploring how co-creation can help water companies move beyond assumption and towards strategies built with customers, not just for them.

We’ll be asking ‘How can the water sector design drought plans that truly reflect what customers will face?’ This webinar introduces new research that uses lived experience and co?creation to reveal how people understand, feel, and act during severe drought.

Discover how digital ethnography uncovered the real impacts of drought on households, how customers’ views on risk and fairness shape their priorities for action, and how co?creating communication strategies leads to clearer, more trusted messages.

Perfect for water?sector professionals, researchers, planners, and policymakers, this session will show how human?centred evidence can strengthen drought resilience and deliver strategies that work in the real world.

Book your space at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lived-experience-cocreation-in-drought-planning-tickets-1986320257360?aff=oddtdtcreator