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The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) outlines an integrated framework for water management. The major objective of the WFD is that member states should achieve at least good ecological status of all national waters. This ambitious target can only be achieved with efficient water management governance because water quality is complex and sources of pollution are manifold. Within countries, multiple institutions are responsible for water management, often operating within a hierarchical structure, in which each level has different responsibilities. The top levels of the hierarchy outline the strategy for water management at national level, however most actions with direct impact on water quality occur at the lower levels of the hierarchy. Therefore, it is essential that knowledge and awareness of water management is effectively transferred through the hierarchical structure to the staff responsible for day-to-day activities. In Ireland, daily operations of water quality management are undertaken by the employees of the Local Authorities (i.e. local government), amongst others. This study investigates the level of knowledge and awareness of water quality issues among Local Authority staff within Ireland and the extent to which water protection measures are implemented within core functions of local government. Staff are knowledgeable about high level issues and policy, including institutions responsible for water management, awareness of WFD and river basin management plans. Knowledge and awareness levels are considerably lower on more specific details, including on water quality status and protection measures being implemented within their jurisdictional areas. Overall, the study suggests that there is considerable scope for improvement in knowledge and awareness, and therefore priority towards, water quality and protection issues among Local Authority staff.

Pollution and environmental depletion are often caused by human behaviours, where if behaviours were modified, environmental pressure could be substantially reduced. Many public programmes aim to influence people to change their unsustainable behaviours but few undertake ex-post evaluations of behavioural change programmes. This paper undertakes an evaluation of a 5-year programme to understand whether community engagement activities lead to more sustainable practices. Using a treatment and control experiment, the research investigates whether programme participants are representative of the wider population, whether participation leads to sustainable practices, whether pro-environmental behaviours are sustained over time and the relative effectiveness of different types of events on individual behaviours. Overall, results suggest that water engagement event participants are more likely to adopt sustainable behaviours, however, attendees only represent a small cohort of the wider population, which possibly hinders a wider adoption of good practices. With respect to individual behaviours, different outcomes were detected for different behaviours, which suggests that not all behaviours were equally amenable to change. When comparing the impact of different events, events that are focused on building community ties were more successful than events with simple provision of information. Finally, new pro-environmental behaviours tend to be abandoned after a period of time, therefore re-engagement at regular time intervals is advised.

Previous research finds that moving home can serve as a starting point for more sustainable living practices, specifically lower energy consumption. This research examines whether changes in occupancy or tenure at residential properties is also associated with decisions on overhauling a property's heating system. Properties are almost twice as likely to switch to gas as the primary heating fuel when occupancy changes. The likelihood almost quadruples when there is also a change in tenure. Beyond occupancy and tenure, family size is the most notable occupant characteristic associated with a higher likelihood of switching to gas. In properties with six or more family members, and where occupancy changes, the likelihood of switching to gas is 7 percentage points higher than properties with 1-2 family members. The research extends the understanding of energy-related decisions associated with moving home and that property owners are more likely to invest in energy retrofits during this transitional period. This creates the opportunity for certain policy supports to be designed.