Resource demand management initiatives are designed based upon implicit understandings of power and knowledge distribution between formal institutions and resource users. Employing an interpretive account of cultural theory, resource governance modes are developed in order to explore the differing assumptions held by, and means of action employed by, a set of three consecutive domestic resource efficiency initiatives. This framework is advocated as it enables highly pertinent questions to be asked relating to resource ownership and collective responsibilities. It is argued that by better understanding how domestic resource use practices are reproduced and change, and by encouraging public debate about how our water and energy systems should operate, society can begin to alleviate the demands placed upon water and energy systems. However, links between the three initiatives highlight how sectoral segmentation associated with largeBscale utility provision and limited funding opportunities, frequently determine the shape of domestic resource governance.

Sharp, L., Macrorie, R. and Turner, A. 2012 Governance of Resource Efficiency: Insights from Cultural Theory 3S Working Paper 2012-13 Norwich: Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group

3S WP 2012-13 Sharpe et al