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E xecutive Summary
1. This report offers a background review of international literature in English which was conducted to inform Scottish implementation of the Water Framework Directive. It explores the public's perceptions of, and values placed on, the water environment. Its sources are mainly published academic literature, evidence of policy engagement, datasets, and web resources. To conduct the review, a systematic computerised search of academic literature, policy literature and datasets was undertaken.
2. Recurring themes in the literature, which provide the main topics for the review, are: water quality; water quantity and safety; recreation and tourism; aesthetics and landscape; nature; resource management; and education.
3. Various methodological approaches are evident in the literature, with economic valuation and quantitative surveys being particularly common, and it is clear that the water environment has a range of values, both human and non-human, and it has both use and non-use values.
4. Evidence for perceptions of the water environment amongst the general public in Scotland and the UK is sparse, and what is available is largely concerned with perceptions of water quality. English-language texts from European and international sources (largely North America, Australia and New Zealand) offer more varied evidence. Most of the academic literature investigates environmental attitudes on a case-study, site-specific level, and the topics explored can be largely grouped under three themes: recreation, water resources and ecology.
5. Policy thinking and policy-formation in relation to the water environment tend to reflect ecological and economic priorities rather than social values and perceptions. Limited evidence was, therefore, found of the integration and taking account of public perceptions and attitudes in terms of policy-makers engaging with, or commissioning, research. Available information, much of it from Germany and New Zealand, again tended to concern perceptions and views of water quality.
6. Abundant examples were found for the different ways in which people engage with the water environment positively (for example, recreation and education) and negatively (for example, generating water pollution or experiencing flooding). One example is the way in which water can add a positive economic value to the environment. While people value the water environment highly for outdoor recreation, values vary according to the recreation group to which they belong. The presence of vegetation also increases the value placed on water environments by the public.
7. The views and values of different groups of people vary in significant ways. Factors influencing shared and divergent perceptions include: socio-economic and demographic differences; geographical and cultural variables; one's prior knowledge of an environment; the user group involved; and the type of water environment.
8. Although variations in values and perceptions are partly due to the different locations and characteristics of respondents, it should also be recognised that differences and uncertainties can also arise from the different methodological approaches adopted.
9. Water quality clearly emerges as the most important environmental priority in comparison with other concerns about the water environment. Evidence suggests that the public consider themselves to be well informed about this, but that further education and increased awareness are required in relation to particular issues of water quantity.
10. There appears to be a need, across the board, for recognition of education, information-provision and communication as fundamental means by which the values that different groups of people assign to the water environment may be influenced by policy-makers, those responsible for managing the water environment over the long term and those concerned to engage the public in that management.
11. The theme of conflict emerged as important across different themes discussed in the review. Conflicts regularly arise in relation to the water environment. The value of education and awareness-raising in helping to avoid and resolve conflict is clear from the findings.
12. Gaps in the evidence-base for Scotland, based, in part, on analysis of available evidence from elsewhere which was subject to the review, include information about: recreational and tourist values; the resource manager's perspective of the water environment; the importance that the public attach to nature within water environments; public attitudes to, and perceptions of, water quantity. Primary data-collection would be needed to address many of these gaps.
13. Central to WFD is the issue of engagement and participation, with WFD demanding a high degree of public involvement, placing the people of Scotland at the heart of managing the water environment. In this respect, evidence generated in Australia and New Zealand offers a number of useful perspectives, indicating, for example, that education and awareness-raising can prevent conflict and should be an integral element of river basin management. The review, therefore, identifies a number of important lessons for WFD implementation in Scotland.
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