Context

We are facing water, climate and nature emergencies. None of the UK’s rivers are in good health and our water system is under a variety of pressures, from agriculture and sewage discharges to drought and poor drainage in the built environment. There is a tension between the water industry and the environment sector, which has delayed any truly collaborative progress. 

With the water sector has under significant pressure to improve environmental performance, Wessex Water first sought to understand what success would look like to its key stakeholders and identify how and where it could improve and how to communicate its ambition to stakeholders. We were then faced with the challenge of how to unite diverse voices from across the sector, with the aim of rethinking how we finance, regulate and reform our water system to deliver better societal outcomes. 

Our activity

Seahorse conducted a review of Wessex Water’s sustainability approach to understand its strengths and weaknesses, including a full reputation audit from a wide range of stakeholders. 

The audit included assessing current plans and KPIs, benchmarking these against the market, as well as interviewing key NGOs, market influencers, clients, and other key stakeholders. 

Working with Wessex Water, we then co-convened environmental, farming and water industry stakeholders (groups traditionally at odds) to bring cross-sector expertise together and develop a vision for the radical transformation of our water system. Over a year, Seahorse carefully built trust between these stakeholders by encouraging the water companies to take responsibility for pollution caused and share investment plans, and inviting stakeholders to co-develop a system that would channel industry investment into nature friendly solutions.  

This work resulted in the creation of a new coalition – SSWAN, which aims to deliver ‘Sustainable Solutions for Water and Nature’. To date, the project comprises 9 organisations such as The Chartered Institution of Water and Environment, Green Alliance, RSPB, The Rivers Trust and Water UK. Wessex Water entrusted Seahorse with supporting the development of SSWAN’s call to action, messaging, and positioning. 

Our impact

SSWAN was successfully launched at a Water Industry conference, where its chair – Green Alliance CEO Shaun Spiers - presented and discussed the initiative on a panel with regulators and infrastructure experts. 

The initiative was well received by both sides of the water debate, including the industry body Water UK, who have since joined the coalition, and Seahorse client River Action. 

SSWAN has been a tremendous success, praised by both sides of the water debate for being the first coalition of its kind and for offering solutions to one of the most divisive and politicised issues of the day. Bridging gaps, building trust, and finding a new approach, this project stands as a beacon of hope, proving that collective action can lead to sustainable water strategies.