Guardians of the bathing waters - Reimagining Bathing Water Investigations Together through a catchment-led approach
How might we create a more collaborative, community-led approach to bathing water investigations that improves understanding, engagement, and environmental outcomes?
Improving bathing water quality is not something any single organisation can achieve alone. Water companies, policy makers, local authorities, businesses, landowners, highways teams, community groups, and the public all influence the health of our coastal and river environments.
Yet bathing water investigations are often carried out through traditional technical processes that can feel disconnected from the communities and stakeholders who both affect - and care deeply about - the outcomes.
Using Littlehaven as the first catchment case study, we will explore how a new partnership-led model could be developed and scaled across other bathing waters in the future.
This dash will bring together community representatives, environmental organisations, local stakeholders, operational teams, and partner agencies to rethink how bathing water investigations are carried out.
Together, we will:
- Explore the different factors that contribute to bathing water quality within a catchment
- Identify how communities, organisations, and local activities can positively or negatively influence outcomes
- Map stakeholders and their role within the bathing water investigation process
- Develop ideas for improving collaboration, communication, and shared ownership
- Create concepts for a scalable Local Governance Group model that could be used in other catchments
The day will include a series of fast-paced collaborative sessions, including:
- Catchment Mapping Workshops
Understanding the Littlehaven catchment, its stakeholders, and contributing pressures. - Stakeholder & Community Insight Sessions
Exploring how organisations, local groups, and the public can play a more active role. - Collaborative Design Activities
Co-designing engagement models, communications approaches, and partnership structures. - Action Planning
Identifying practical next steps for piloting the approach at Littlehaven and beyond.
By the end of the day, we aim to deliver:
- A draft community-led bathing water investigation framework –
- A mapped view of catchment stakeholders and contribution pathways
- Ideas for improving communications and local engagement
- Recommendations for piloting a Littlehaven local action group
- A scalable model that could be adapted for other bathing water catchments
- Local communities, through increased involvement and visibility in bathing water improvement
- Environmental and operational teams, through stronger collaboration and local insight
- Partner organisations, with clearer opportunities to contribute to solutions
- Regulators and local authorities, through improved coordination and engagement
- The environment, benefiting from more connected catchment action