Strategic project communication
for BWV

Providing four million people in Baden-Württemberg with top-quality drinking water at any time of the day or night – that is the mission of Bodensee-Wasserversorgung (BWV). To ensure this continues to be the case in the future, the association is expanding its drinking water extraction facilities, which have been in operation for 60 years. The project is scheduled to run for 15 years. Since autumn 2019, we have been supporting the forward-looking project “Zukunftsquelle. Wasser für Generationen” (Source of the Future. Water for Generations) on the shores of Lake Constance, together with our partner agency Carta, by handling comprehensive communication tasks in the area of public engagement. After all, a major construction project of this scale requires well-orchestrated project communication. 

Objectives: 

• To keep all key target groups regularly informed in order to ensure transparency 

• Explain complex issues and approval procedures in an understandable way 

• Listen and facilitate public dialogue to foster trust 

Stakeholder mapping for dialogue on equal terms 

The “Zukunftsquelle. Wasser für Generationen” project is relevant to many different people: local residents, landowners, political contacts, public authorities, associations from the fields of nature conservation, agriculture and leisure/water sports, as well as tourists and, of course, all water consumers who receive their water from BWV. To build understanding and acceptance of the project, systematic and early dialogue with all stakeholders is crucial. To this end, we researched all relevant issues and positions and, on this basis, established a systematic communication process. The aim: a successful dialogue on equal terms.  

Kick-off: Information cascades and dialogue and information events  

We have defined and implemented information cascades as follows: internal before external, and those directly affected before the media and the public. We have also tailored the content appropriately for all stakeholders: ranging from accessible to the general public to technically detailed. The key messages presented in the information materials helped contacts from politics and associations to answer initial questions from interested parties. A Q&A section on the website also provides all the key questions and answers.  

In addition to planning and providing information tailored to specific target groups, face-to-face discussions with BWV experts remain the most important way of explaining the reasons for the project to local residents. To this end, we organised an information fair on the BWV site in Sipplingen on Lake Constance in July 2020. With a sophisticated hygiene plan in place, including mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing, the experts were available to answer visitors’ questions in a marquee, spread across various themed stations. Thanks to schematically presented maps, posters with overview and detailed information, and video recordings, visitors were also able to inform themselves independently.  

Project progress: Continuous process communication  

Following the initial communication, perseverance is key: stakeholders want to stay up to date on the project’s progress. We ensure this through continuous process communication. This is achieved via the website, announcements in the local newsletter, regular letters and, where necessary, mailings, telephone calls or face-to-face discussions. The aim is to provide transparent project support.