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    Nationa Urban Water Governance Program   Monash University


Research Projects

The National Urban Water Governance Program comprises a number of closely related and complimentary research projects, across Australia and overseas, aimed at advancing Water Sensitive Cities.
The program also hosts an active postgraduate research community, supporting a number of PhD, Masters and Honours student projects. Higher degree scholars are encouraged to undertake research that will have direct and tangible benefits to the urban water sector.

1. Current NUWGP Research  

2. Current Postgraduate Student Research

3. Completed Postgraduate Student Research

1. Current NUWGP Research  

Comparative Study of Urban Water Governance in Australia
This research project aims to test the significance of different institutional arrangements and other factors in terms of how they constrain and/or enable progress towards Water Sensitive Cities. The project involves an in-depth and comparative analysis across Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.

Australia Map

These three cities were selected as case studies because they are underpinned by differing urban water governance structures and bio-physical systems, while having similar drivers for re-examining and reforming their water management options in response to contemporary sustainability challenges (drought, waterway degradation, increasing populations and climate change).

New thinking such as the Australian innovation of Water Sensitive Urban Design and Integrated Urban Water Management are gaining prominence and this is leading to change and reform agendas (i.e. the Australian Government's National Water Initiative). However, at the same time there is a growing and diverse group of local and international commentators suggesting that this shift has, at best, been slow and that many of the impediments to change are institutional and social, rather than technical.

The research draws from a number of social science theories to better understand and explain:

  • the transition factors required to move from 'traditional' to 'new' more sustainable forms of urban water governance;
  • the barriers creating institutional inertia to further change; and
  • how to improve institutional capacity and organisational change.

Related Publications
Brown, R., Farrelly, M. and Keath, N. (2007) Summary Report: Perceptions of Institutional Drivers and Barriers to Sustainable Urban Water Management in Australia. Report No. 07/06, National Urban Water Governance Program, Monash university, December 2007, ISBN: 978-0-9804298-2-4 PDF (2988KB)

Research partners
Australian Research Council, Victorian Water Trust, Municipal Association of Victoria, Smart Water Fund (established and operated by Melbourne Water, City West Water, South East Water, Yarra Valley Water and the Department of Sustainability and Environment), Western Australian Planning Commission, Department of Water, Water Corporation, City of Armadale, Brisbane City Council, South East Queensland Healthy Waterways Partnership and Maroochy Shire Council, International Water Centre, DOW Chemical Company

Advancing Policy and Organisational Receptivity to Water Sensitive Urban Design
This interdisciplinary research project brings together researchers from three Monash University Faculties: Arts, Engineering and Science. The research is focused on advancing the adoption of Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) principles in practice, through improving knowledge of the design and operation of water biofiltration systems. In partnership with the Facility for Advancing Water Biofiltration (FAWB), the NUWGP team has conducted socio-technical and historical research on how the policy context over the last forty years has influenced the uptake and implementation of WSUD for urban stormwater quality improvement. Further Information at: www.monash.edu.au/fawb/

Related Publications
Brown, R. and Clarke, J. (2007). The transition towards Water Sensitive Urban Design: The Story of Melbourne, Australia, Report of the Facility for Advancing Water Biofiltration, Monash University, Melbourne. PDF (1201KB)

Brown, R. and Clarke, J. (2007). The Transition Towards Water Sensitive Urban Design: a socio-technical analysis of Melbourne, Australia, Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Sustainable Techniques and Strategies in urban Water Management, NOVATECH 2007, 25th-27th June 2007, pg 349-356. ISBN : 2-9509337-7-7-7.

FAWB Research Partners
EDAW, Melbourne Water, The Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board, Landcom, VicRoads, Manningham City Council and Brisbane City Council

Advancing Policy and Organisational Receptivity to Diverse Water Sources
This research project examines the critical socio-institutional and technical factors that influence the use/supply of diverse water sources by Victorian urban water agencies. This knowledge will be used to develop enabling frameworks, with strategic plans for each of the critical factors, for these organisations to implement the Victorian Government’s White Paper Our Water Our Future.

Research Partners
Victorian State Government's Victorian Water Trust

Community Sustainable Water Planning
This research project involves trialling a deliberative and local community planning process for sustainable water management. The trial includes different communities across eight municipalities within the Cooks River Catchment in Sydney. The project aims to gain insight into alternative planning approaches often advocated in theory but rarely put into practice. Deliberative planning processes focus on in-depth involvement of the community for the identification of local water issues, and the subsequent co-design and co-management of solutions.

Research Partners
Marrickville Council

Dutch-Australian Sustainable Urban Water Futures
The NUWGP, in partnership with the Living with Water Program at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, is undertaking research that aims to compare sustainable urban water management practices across Australia and the Netherlands. The focus is on understanding how to build resilience, at the socio-institutional and technical levels, to the effects of climate change in urban environments. By contrasting local priorities against global phenomena, the research partnership aims to identify the common factors most likely to advance progress towards Water Sensitive Cities.

Research Partners
Delft University of Technology, Netherlands

2. Current Postgraduate Student Research

Innovating an Institutional Capacity Assessment Framework for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Governance (PhD)
Drawing on theories of sustainable governance, institutional development and organisational change, in this project Susan van de Meene focuses on the development of an Institutional Capacity Assessment Framework. The framework will be a policy tool to evaluate the ability of the whole institution, from individuals through to organisations and the legislative and policy instruments used to undertake sustainable urban water management. It is expected that this framework will inform the design and implementation of various capacity building efforts for advancing sustainable urban water management in Melbourne and other locations.

PhD Candidate
Susan van de Meene susan.vandemeene@arts.monash.edu.au

Related Publications
Van de Meene, S. and Brown, R. (2007). Towards an Institutional Capacity Assessment Framework for Sustainable Urban Water Management Institutions.Proceedings of the 13th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference and the 5th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Conference , 21-23 August, 2007, Sydney, Australia. For conference info go to: www.rainwater2007.com/

van de Meene, S. (2008) Institutional Capacity Attributes of Sustainable Urban Water Management: the Case of Sydney, Australia. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage, Edinburgh, Scotland, 31st August - 5th September 2008. PDF (300KB)

Research Partners
The Victorian Government through the Department of Sustainability and Environment as part of the Our Water Our Future Initiative.

Sustainable Urban water Management: The Champion Phenomenon (PhD)
André Taylor is undertaking a research project on the leadership dimensions of sustainable urban water management. Specifically, he is using leadership-related research techniques to investigate emergent leaders (‘'champions') who operate as change agents in Australian water agencies to accelerate the adoption of sustainable urban water management. He is also using knowledge about these leaders and the leadership process to develop practical guidance on ways to build leadership capacity within urban water agencies.

PhD Candidate
André Taylor andretaylor@iprimus.com.au

Related Publications
Taylor, A. (2007). Sustainable urban water management champions: What do we know about them? Proceedings of the 13th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference and the 5th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Conference , 21-23 August, 2007, Sydney, Australia. For conference info go to: www.rainwater2007.com/

Research Partners
The NSW Urban Sustainability Program and core funding partners to the National Urban Water Governance Program

Management of Urban Stormwater (PhD)
In this project, Peter Morison is examining the design and implementation of intergovernmental urban stormwater management programs that are primarily focused on enabling organisational change at the local government level. This is important research given the prevailing complexity of responsibilities for stormwater management in Australia and internationally.

PhD Candidate
Peter Morison peter.morison@arts.monash.edu.au

Related Publications
Morison, P.J. (2007). Managing urban stormwater: Across the catchment and between the cubicles. 5th South Pacific Stormwater Conference, 16-18 May 2007, Auckland, NZWWA. For conference info go to: www.nzwwa.org.nz/indexstormwater.html

Morison, P. and Brown, R (2007). Cooperate or coerce? Intergovernmental approaches to mainstreaming Water Sensitive Urban Design. Proceedings of the 13th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference and the 5th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Conference, 21-23 August, 2007, Sydney, Australia. For conference info go to: www.rainwater2007.com/

Research Partners
Melbourne Water Corporation

Developing Effective Urban Water Governance (PhD)
Annette Bos is undertaking a social research project in which the outcomes, benefits and limitations of a locally-based, multi-disciplinary, participatory approach to integrated, sustainable urban water management are assessed and evaluated. The research project takes place in the context of the Cooks River Sustainability Initiative involving eight local government councils collectively working to address sustainable urban water management in the Cooks River Catchment in Sydney.

PhD Candidate
Annette Bos Annette.Bos@arts.monash.edu.au

Research Partners
Marrickville Council and the NSW Environmental Trust

Community Responses to Water Conservation Measures in Melbourne and Perth (Honours)
Through this project, Lara Weberloff will explore the concept of sustainable urban water management by comparing the different institutional approaches to water scarcity that have been implemented in Melbourne and Perth.  The project will focus on water restrictions and desalination as key institutional responses and explore whether the introduction of desalination will undermine the positive behaviour change that the restrictions have achieved in terms of water conservation.  Additionally, this research will explore the social and political context that resulted in initially differing responses to drought within Melbourne and Perth and the current preference for desalination as a solution to water scarcity in both cities.

Honours Candidate
Lara Weberloff lwer1@student.monash.edu

3. Completed Postgraduate Student Research

Mainstreaming innovations in urban water management: Case Studies in Melbourne and the Netherlands (Masters)
Jeroen Rijke undertook his Masters research within the scope of a co-operative research project between the Water Resources Section at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and the National Urban Water Governance Program. The objectives of his research were:
(1) to compare sustainable urban water management practice in new urban developments in Australia and the Netherlands; (2) to analyse and compare enabling conditions and obstacles for realizing sustainable urban water management in practice; (3) to make recommendations for realising more
sustainable water management practices by improving the urban development process of building projects in both the Netherlands and Australia; (4) to make recommendations in order to realize an accelerated transition process towards more sustainable water management practices by improving the urban development process in both the Netherlands and Australia.

Masters Graduate
Jeroen Jijke

Related Publications
J.S. Rijke, J. S., De Graaf, R. E., Van de Ven,  F.H.M., Brown,  R.R., and Biron, D.J. (submitted).  Comparative case studies towards mainstreaming water sensitive urban design in Australia and the Netherlands. Paper Submitted to the 11th International Conference on Urban Drainage, Edinburgh, Scotland, 31st August - 5th September 2008

Understanding the Factors that Influence Domestic Water Consumption in Melbourne (Honours)
This project contributed to enhancing knowledge of attitudes and community receptivity to alternative water-use practices in the domestic context, through a case study analysis of the City of Bayside, Melbourne. An anonymous household mail-out survey tested residential receptivity to rainwater, greywater and seawater for a range of household activities and investigated barriers to the adoption of household-based water reuse technologies. While the community was quite receptive overall to alternative water sources (with receptivity generally decreasing as personal contact with the water increased), the research revealed a number of key challenges (including cost, difficulty and renter status) to the adoption of water reuse technologies.

Honours Graduate
Jodi Clarke

Related Publications
Clarke, J. and Brown, R. (2006). Understanding the factors that influence domestic water consumption within Melbourne, Australian Journal of Water Resources , 10 (3), 261-268.

Clarke, J.M. and Brown, R.R. (2006). Understanding the Factors that Influence Domestic Water Consumption within Melbourne.In:Deletic, A. and Fletcher, T. (eds) Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design and the 7th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling, 3-7 April 2006, Melbourne. For more information or to order a copy of the proceeding, see: www.wsud.org/seminar.htm

Advancing Sustainable Water Futures for Melbourne: Analysis of Expert Opinion on Structural and Non-Structural Approaches (Honours)
This social research project investigated industry leader perspectives and decision values in relation to promoting management techniques to address sustainable water supply issues across urban regions. The results reveal that, within the Melbourne context, industry leaders would not promote non-structural solutions without the primary support of a structural solution, largely due to lack of certainty about social receptivity. This evidence suggests that without social research directed at quantifying both the uncertainties and outcomes of non-structural solutions, it is unlikely that industry leaders will be in a position to effectively promote and resource their implementation as an independent initiative.

Honours Graduate
Megan Coppock

Related Publications
Coppock, M.H. and Brown, R.R. (2006). Advancing Sustainable Water Futures for Melbourne: Analysis of Expert Opinion on Structural and Non-structural Approaches.In:Deletic, A. and Fletcher, T. (eds) Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design and the 7th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling, 3-7 April 2006, Melbourne. For more information and to order a copy of the proceeding, see: www.wsud.org/seminar.htm

Coppock, M. and Brown, R. (2007). Advancing Sustainable Water Futures for Melbourne: Analysis of Expert Opinion on Structural and Non-Structural Approaches, Water Practice and Technology 2(2).

Alternative Water Source Technology Adoption in Melbourne (Honours)
This honours research project looked at the theory of technology diffusion, and the barriers and incentives for the implementation of alternative water sources in Melbourne, specifically focussing on technologies.

Honours Graduate
Richard Roberts

Related Publications
Roberts, R. and Brown, R. (2007). Alternative Water Sources: The keys to unlocking the inhibitors of innovation and diffusion in metropolitan Melbourne.Proceedings of the 13th International Rainwater Catchment Systems Conference and the 5th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Conference , 21-23 August, 2007, Sydney, Australia. For conference info go to: www.rainwater2007.com/

 

  
   
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