Browsing by Author "Enqvist, Johan"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Exploring impacts and effectiveness of the City of Cape Town’s interventions on household water use practices during the drought
    (2019) Matikinca, Phikolomzi; Ziervogel, Gina; Enqvist, Johan
    The occurrence of water crises in many parts of the world raises the need to consider more efficient and sustainable consumption of water resources. As such, many cities have prioritised water demand management strategies, which are based on price and non-price mechanisms. The literature shows no consensus as to which of these measures are most effective for managing residential water demand. To understand the impact and effectiveness of these mechanisms, there is a need to understand how people respond to them. This requires understanding materials, meanings and competences (skills and know how) that people have, which constitute elements of social practice. In 2017 and 2018, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) ramped up their price and non-price mechanisms to encourage people to save water in response to a severe drought. These mechanisms included water restrictions, increased water tariffs, and the Day Zero communication campaign. However, little is known about how effective these measures were at encouraging people to save water. There is no clear documentation of how the public understands, interprets and incorporates these mechanisms into their own household water use practices. This study explores the impacts and effectiveness of the City of Cape Town’s price and non-price mechanisms on household water use practices during the water crisis. Using information obtained through semi-structured interviews with 20 individuals living in houses where they paid their water bills, a version of social practice theory is used as a lens to understand how respondents interpreted and responded to these mechanisms when it comes to residential water use practices. This allows for an assessment of which of the CoCT’s actions are more effective in achieving sustainable water use practices. Results show that price mechanisms (water tariffs) were considered to be ineffective and did not encourage people to save water. Non-price mechanisms (water restrictions and Day Zero communication campaign) were seen as having more impact on respondents, encouraging water conservation behaviour; especially when it comes to household indoor water use activities related to hygiene. Compared to other studies which have used estimates for the water demand function, this study conducted interviews directly with households on the impact of the mechanisms. This enabled this study to explain how and why household water use practices change in response to these measures. Such qualitative information is important and contributes to a field that often uses quantitative data to suggest whether price or non-price mechanisms are effective.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    The role of values, norms and affect in relation to water-scarcity risk perceptions and water conservation behaviours in the Western Cape
    (2024) Tredoux, Aimée; Pasquini, Lorena; Enqvist, Johan; Steynor, Anna; Jack, Christopher
    The effects of accelerating climate change are already being felt globally. Sub-Saharan Africa is at high risk of extreme hydrological events, and increasingly severe and frequent droughts pose a threat to water security in the region. As the impacts of climate change are expected to increase, it is important to promote adaptation to drought events by studying the factors that can influence water saving behaviour. The present work studied how three categories of risk perception determinants namely values, social norms and affect, influenced water scarcity risk perceptions and water saving behaviour during the Western Cape drought of 2014-2017 in an urban population living in formal housing in the City of Cape Town. The outcomes of this study are two-fold. Firstly, this research provides evidence for the usefulness of a conceptual framework rooted in risk perceptions literature for understanding how affect, social norms and values fit together with risk perceptions to explain pro-environmental (water saving) behaviour. Secondly, the findings add to the literature on risk perception determinants, water scarcity risk perceptions, and water saving behaviour by showing that fear, self-transcending values, hedonism, and descriptive and prescriptive norms were important factors in shaping water scarcity risk perceptions and water conservation behaviour during the drought. In future drought contexts, the revised framework and the risk perception determinant findings could be drawn on to help understand how values, social norms and affect interact with water scarcity risk perceptions to influence water conservation behaviour.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Understanding multiple health risks for low-income communities in Cape Town: water stress, COVID-19, and climate change
    (2021) Foggitt, Alice; Ziervogel, Gina; Enqvist, Johan
    Climatic hazards, such as flooding and drought, are expected to increase in frequency as a result of climate change. Growing evidence suggests that climate-induced water challenges will interact with health concerns, compounding pre-existing challenges for vulnerable populations in low-and middle-income contexts. Due to the novel nature of COVID-19, limited research has focused on the combined impact of the climate crisis and COVID-19 on human health, particularly in South Africa. Thus, there is an urgent need to enhance understanding of the adverse health impacts linked to climate-related water stressors. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study drew upon multiple datasets to explore water-related health risks prevalent during the Cape Town drought, and in the subsequent period up to and including the current COVID-19 pandemic. Data sources include qualitative stories from a community resilience project, video interviews from the drought response in Cape Town, quantitative COVID-19 water service delivery data from informal settlements, and a document analysis of the Cape Town Water Strategy. Data was analysed using inductive and deductive research approaches to piece together different perspectives on how the pandemic interacts with pre-existing hazards. The study uses the climate-water-health nexus framing to investigate some of the critical health risks present during and after the drought. The study also explores how the COVID-19 pandemic interacted with health and water issues, providing a snapshot of the lived experience of the urban poor during an emerging public health crisis. The study subsequently considers the implications for the Cape Town water sector in view of the drought and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Results from this study show that inadequate sanitation and exposure to wastewater are the most commonly cited health risks for low-income households in the study sites. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing water-associated health risks by indirectly widening health inequalities and increasing poverty levels. Moreover, compound risks have limited the ability of low-income households to cope with additional shocks and stressors. The findings of this study contribute to a critical research gap and expand the evidence base on the relationship between climate change, water, health, and compound risks in the South African context. The study calls for the adoption of a cross-sectoral, integrated approach to address health threats at the climate-water-health nexus.