Governance regime factors conducive to innovation uptake in urban water management: Experiences from Europe

Innovative ways to manage the urban water cycle are required to deal with an ageing drinking and waste water infrastructure and new societal imperatives. This paper examines the influence of water governance in enabling transformations and technological innovation uptake in urban water management. A...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rouillard, Josselin, Vidaurre, Rodrigo, Brouwer, Stijn, Damman, Sigrid, Antorán Ponce, Alberto, Gerner, Nadine V., Riegels, Niels, Termes Rifé, Montserrat
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/108063
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/108063
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Water--Government policy
Water--Law and legislation
Sustainable urban development
water governance
sustainable cities
adaptation
Desenvolupament urbà sostenible
Aigua--Dret i legislació
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses::Impacte ambiental
Descripción
Sumario:Innovative ways to manage the urban water cycle are required to deal with an ageing drinking and waste water infrastructure and new societal imperatives. This paper examines the influence of water governance in enabling transformations and technological innovation uptake in urban water management. A governance assessment framework is developed and applied in three case-studies, examining different scales and types of innovations used to tackle challenges in European urban water management. The methodology combines documentary analysis and interviews to reconstruct historical storylines of the shift in the water governance of urban water management for each site. The research provides detailed empirical observations on the factors conducive to innovation uptake at the local level. Critical governance factors such as commitment to compromise, the necessity to build political support, and the role of “entrepreneurs” and coalitions are highlighted. The paper also explores the role of discursive strategies and partnership design, as well as that of regulative, economic and communicative instruments, in creating barriers and opportunities to initiate and secure change. A number of recommendations targeted at innovators and water managers are presented in the conclusion.