Transitioning toward sustainable cities-challenges of collaboration and integration

Susan van de Meene, Yvette Bettini, Brian W. Head

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The transition towards sustainable cities cannot be solved by individual stakeholders and organisations acting alone. Better governance for tackling such complex problems, including policy change and innovation adoption, will require purposeful collaboration. This is particularly evident in projects that involve integration across scales. Our case-study research compared six waterrelated innovations in large cities in Australia, the Netherlands, and the US. We found that government agencies, water utilities, professional organisations, and industry innovators were all vital actors, along with supportive community education. In the initiation phase of innovation, informal networks were used by sustainable innovation champions to galvanise support. As pilot projects emerged, more formal supportive processes and financial incentives were crucial. For large projects and for the mainstreaming of pilot projects, the role of formal coordination and integration mechanisms became vital for coherent and successful implementation. Various forms of networkbased collaborative work were utilised, but the designation of a key coordinating organisation was found to be helpful in maintaining focus and momentum. Coordination activities across organisations, scales, and time were enhanced by the strength of core values and culture, such as valuing stakeholder engagement, innovation, flexibility, and having a focus on outcomes. Overall, this research demonstrated the need to continually evaluate the innovation process to ensure that key ingredients (suitable for each context) are implemented in a timely manner to strengthen the process and enable effective and purposeful collaboration.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4509
Number of pages23
JournalSustainability
Volume12
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Collaboration
  • Integration
  • Policy innovation
  • Sustainability governance
  • Urban waterr

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