NWG's ‘Legacy, Next Generation Thinking’
Northumbrian Water held their third supply partner event, based on the theme ‘Legacy, Next Generation Thinking’ Focused around NWG’s Five Capitals initiative, the supply partner day had a specific focus on how the community and environment can benefit in the long-term, with respects to NWG’s operating area and beyond, where enough thought, planning and execution can be given at initial stages of a project. The morning was covered by a series of talks including ‘The Environment Bank’ which aims to restore Biodiversity in the UK by the delivery of projects that have a net gain to the environment through Natural Capital Accounting. In this format credits can be obtained through the bank by ensuring if a scheme has an impact on the environment, this is counter-balanced by an initiative elsewhere that has a better effect than that was in place where the project is to be carried out. There was also a ‘Carousel of Case Studies’ where the attendees were split into four groups and circled around four different 15-minute presentations on topics such as previous legacy projects by NWG Supply Partners, to feedback on ‘Design Sprints’ held by NWG with various partners, including Durham University. Following lunch, a detailed presentation titled ‘Drink beer, Give Water’ was given by Brewgooder, who brew ‘Clear Water Lager’ with all profits supporting water initiatives in Malawi. Brewgooder’s goal is to ensure clean drinking water is made available to one million people, who previously had no option but to use contaminated water, with the associated consequences of ill-health. The final part of the day was covered by a two-and-a-half-hour mini Design Sprint where 10no teams competed against each other to challenge a live scheme within NWG’s business to see what changes could be made to incorporate elements of the Five Capitals. The day was extremely interesting and thought-provoking and has set a challenge to Stonbury as to how we can better leave a positive impact on the communities and environment that we affect during the course of our business.
