Institutional development · Sustainability and civic impact · Netherlands
Maastricht University trials three-month Be WaterWise campaign to cut water use at two sites
Maastricht University and Limburg water company WML have launched a three-month behaviour-based pilot to reduce water consumption at the University Library and UMSport.
Why it matters: Students and staff using Maastricht University's city-centre University Library and UMSport will be the target of the water-awareness campaign over the next three months.
Maastricht University said it has launched the Be WaterWise pilot together with Watermaatschappij Limburg (WML), a water company, running for three months at the University Library in the city centre and at UMSport.
According to the university, the campaign uses posters, stickers on coffee machines and in toilets, hourglasses in showers and a small exhibition on water, without modifying any taps or installations.
The university said earlier Be WaterWise pilots cut drinking water consumption by an average of 12.4%.
The university said it will measure water consumption on its campus before and after the campaign to assess what the approach achieves.
Editor’s view
Abigail Taylor, Leadership and Governance Editor
Students and staff at the University Library and UMSport are directly affected; if the before-and-after measurements show savings close to the 12.4% reported for earlier pilots, the university will have its own data on whether behaviour prompts alone reduce water use at the end of the three-month trial.
What to watch
- Results of the university's before-and-after measurement of water consumption once the three-month pilot ends.
