a b s t r a c tThis paper discusses the findings of a small scale research project which explored the possibility of adopting eco-design techniques. The paper focuses on identifying how eco-design techniques can be determined as being compatible with new product development processes. Via the development of a five stage 'applicability framework', this study demonstrates how a compatible suite of tools can be identified for application to product development processes. Testing and validation of this 'applicability framework', which was used to identify three key eco-design techniques; namely checklists, guidelines, and a material, energy and toxicity (MET) matrix, is shown to have taken place in relation to the development of a lightweight chemical detector product. It is established that checklists, guidelines and the MET matrix can be used both on a specific product, and also more generally in the design process. In particular, the MET matrix is shown as being used to successfully identify key environmental aspects of the product during its lifetime. The paper concludes by arguing that eco-design techniques may not have been more widely adopted by businesses because such methods are not necessarily generic and immediately applicable, but instead require some form of process-specific customisation prior to use, which can in turn act as a barrier to adoption . It is also highlighted that the shear diversity of pressures that come to bear during the product development process can also act as a barrier to adoption, and that the full integration of eco-design techniques will have to encompass approaches which overcome such pressures.

Students are increasingly subject to a series of learning pressures that prevent effective engagement in assessment. Thus, the aim of this study was to create a multifacetted formative assessment approach that better enabled students to engage in the assessment process. A formative assessment approach, consisting of six key initiatives, is outlined and shown as being useful in helping to improve student engagement with the subject area of environmental governance. The effectiveness of the assessment approach was assessed via analysis of written student feedback that facilitated analysis of student perceptions of the assessment process. The paper argues that for formative assessment to be more widely embraced, and made more effective in encouraging learning, greater recognition must be accorded the strategies that can be adopted to facilitate the uptake of formative assessment. A reduction in summative assessment burden and the recognition of the need for better 'information' on the aims and objectives of assessment, and subsequent discussion of these, are highlighted as having played their role in facilitating the uptake, and effective implementation of, formative assessment. *

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Aims: Understanding how customers engage with and view their water usage is crucial to the design of more effective water demand management policies and programmes. This paper presents the findings of a small-scale research project that sought to explore customer attitudes to the use of water and its conservation, particularly in the context of seasonal tariffs used during the summer peak usage months (May to August). Study Design: The study adopted a qualitative approach, implemented through a series of faceto-face semi-structured interviews. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted with domestic water users in Bishops Stortford, East Hertfordshire (UK). The research was carried out by staff from the School of Life and Medical Sciences at the University Hertfordshire. The study was conducted over a period of 6 weeks. Methodology: A series of 20 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were carried out with a predefined sample population. The selected customers were split into two equal sized groups depending on their relative water usage to reflect either an increase or a decrease in water usage [as a consequence of Affinity Water's seasonal tariff trial]. Results and Discussion: The study highlights study participants as being disengaged from their water usage and the associated efforts to reduce their usage, so simply increasing water prices at seasonal peak usage times was not, on this occasion, an effective method to adopt to reduce domestic water usage. However, by subsequently exploring customer attitudes towards a selected range of alternative water conservation measures, such as the subsidisation of water efficient appliances, and rebates for reduced water usage, it is established that alternative water conservation measures may have the potential to more effectively encourage a reduction in water usage. However, as the findings of this study also serve to highlight, the issue of 'institutional trust'

The definitive version can be found at: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/ Copyright CIWEMThis paper seeks to address a growing lack of historical knowledge in the water industry of how European Union (EU) water policy has developed and been responded to. It also aims to overcome the lack of comparative studies that explore the role politics has played in the development and application of EU water policy. As a result, this paper develops a historical comparative understanding of how England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland have responded to the Drinking Water Directive (80/778/EEC). It does so from the perspectives of political priority and ideology. Political ideology is shown to have had a greater impact on facilitating the achievement of the Directive's standards in England and Wales. However, it is established that the political priority national governments have accorded compliance has been central to ensuring the application and enforcement of the Directive's standards. Despite the apparent success of political ideology in England and Wales, the paper sounds a note of caution with regard to judging privatisation as being uniformly successful, for it has not, particularly if issues of water charges, customer debt and financial and reporting irregularities are considered. ?? 2009 The Author. Journal compilation ?? 2009 CIWEM

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This paper discusses the findings of a research project which explored the impact of varying organisational arrangements on drinking water quality in England and Wales, and the Republic of Ireland. It is established that drinking water quality has been of a consistently higher standard in England and Wales in comparison with the Republic of Ireland. It is also demonstrated that the associated organisational arrangements in England and Wales have been more successful in tackling certain problematic drinking water quality parameters. The paper concludes by arguing that national governments, and their regulatory agencies, should view the rationalisation of organisations involved in the provision of drinking water as key to ensuring better drinking water quality. It is also suggested that state regulators who are responsible for ensuring the quality of drinking water end their dependency on water providers for quality data. They should instead become capable of directly monitoring drinking water quality via their own sampling regime. It is argued that this organisational arrangement would be representative of a more progressive and robust organisational approach to ensuring the supply of safe high quality drinking water. KeywordsOrganisational arrangements; policy transposition; drinking water quality; Directive 80/778/EEC; England/Wales; and Ireland INTRODUCTION This paper establishes the quality of drinking water in England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland 1 , and the organisational arrangements associated with it, for the period 1970 to 2002. The standards laid down by the Drinking Water Directive 80/778/EEC are used to provide the analytical backdrop for evaluating the quality of drinking water. The quality of drinking water in England/Wales is shown to have been of a consistently higher standard than in comparison with Ireland, which is subsequently revealed as having developed less effective organisational arrangements for the delivery and regulation of drinking water quality. The paper also establishes the organisational provision of drinking water in England/Wales and Ireland to diverge in three broad areas; namely, with regard to the role of government in provision; the role of government in finance; and the role of government in regulation.

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