Achieving water sensitive cities: institutions as building blocks of collective action

There is wide recognition of the paradigmatic changes needed to move toward water sensitive cities, and water management discourse often views institutions as barriers to such a shift. Institutions are social constructs which guide and tie societal activities, providing building blocks for collective action. This broader definition of institutions provides opportunities to address the multiple facets of water management, by understanding the institutional settings and dynamics that underpin adaptive governance. This paper seeks to identify such arrangements by exploring the institutional setting behind the rise of stormwater harvesting in Adelaide. This innovative practice change enabled an empirical exploration of the institutional dynamics that underpinned this change. Data from practitioner experiences, gathered through interviews and focus groups, was used to identify the formal and informal 'rules-in-use' of the institutional setting. Preliminary results reveal that flexible rules at an operational level enabled practice innovation, while a 'collective-choice' level of institutional activity cemented innovation into mainstream practices by changing rules-in-use. Actors interpreting and enacting the rules-in-use within and between these two levels of institutional activity created the interplay that lead to rule change. Understanding these institutional dynamics provides ingredients for building adaptive governance arrangements and to develop pathways to water sensitive cities.