Exploring operational attributes of governance for change

Building a pathway to achieve widespread institutionalisation of water sensitive urban design requires, among other elements, a shift in conventional governance and management practices. Current academic scholarship regarding broad governance trends focuses predominantly on appropriate modes and principles for practice, with little attention directed towards developing operational pathways for change. This paper draws on critical insights from three major research phases of a national, social research program undertaken between 2004 and 2011, which collectively aimed to assist urban water managers in generating socio-institutional change towards water sensitive cities. Through detailed historical and contemporary research, which investigated the institutionalisation of water sensitive urban design in Melbourne, the importance of experimentation and learning, and current governance practices in Australian cities, eight key attributes for enabling a governance shift were identified. The key attributes included: establishing a narrative and metaphor; organisational and individual leadership; policy framework and institutional design; regulatory and compliance agendas; an economic and business case; capacity building and demonstration; public engagement and behaviour change; and, research and policy/practice partnerships. Importantly, these eight areas of operational governance demonstrated a strong interplay between core governance structures and processes; suggesting there is a need to have all factors aligned before a system-wide transition can be successfully expedited. These key operational governance factors provide the basis of a future reform agenda related to mainstreaming water sensitive urban design in Australian cities.