Vila-Tojo Sergio, Gómez-Román Cristina, Sabucedo Jose-Manuel
CRETUS, Department of Social Psychology, Basic Psychology and Methodology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Front Psychol. 2024 Nov 5;15:1445320. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1445320. eCollection 2024.
Decentralized wastewater treatment systems are a potential solution to the water crisis. However, in addition to advanced technology, successful implementation of these systems requires broad public willingness to use them. This paper presents the results of a three-phase psychosocial intervention with the users of a business building where a decentralized wastewater treatment plant was installed. The intervention, motivated by complaints from users due to their lack of knowledge about the existence of the plant, aimed at understanding and improving users' perceptions of the building's decentralized system. In the first phase, we conducted a focus group with a sample of workers ( = 6) to understand their knowledge and perception of the building's decentralized wastewater treatment system. Once the main obstacles and facilitators were identified, we designed a second phase where a group of employees ( = 46) were exposed to environmental priming to improve attitudes toward the decentralized plant installed in the building. Finally, in the third phase, a bidirectional informative session was proposed, conducted by experts, to another group of workers ( = 25). Findings suggest that implementing specific psychosocial strategies, such as promoting environmental awareness and providing informative sessions, along with incorporating potential users throughout the process, contributes to better acceptance of the decentralized wastewater treatment plant. This work presents a real case in a pilot plant that can serve as a guide for addressing psychosocial resistance in similar projects.
分散式污水处理系统是解决水危机的一个潜在方案。然而，除了先进技术外，这些系统的成功实施还需要广大公众愿意使用它们。本文介绍了对一座安装了分散式污水处理厂的商业建筑用户进行的三阶段社会心理干预的结果。由于用户对该厂的存在缺乏了解而产生抱怨，促使了此次干预，其目的是了解并改善用户对该建筑分散式系统的看法。在第一阶段，我们对一组工人样本（n = 6）进行了焦点小组访谈，以了解他们对该建筑分散式污水处理系统的了解和看法。一旦确定了主要障碍和促进因素，我们设计了第二阶段，让一组员工（n = 46）接受环境启动，以改善他们对安装在该建筑内的分散式处理厂的态度。最后，在第三阶段，由专家为另一组工人（n = 25）举办了双向信息交流会。研究结果表明，实施特定的社会心理策略，如提高环境意识和提供信息交流会，以及在整个过程中纳入潜在用户，有助于更好地接受分散式污水处理厂。这项工作展示了一个试点工厂的实际案例，可为解决类似项目中的社会心理阻力提供指导。
