Governance experimentation: A descriptive analysis of translating sustainable urban water management in practice

Abstract

The necessity of a shift towards more sustainable urban water management is widely advocated. However, how to generate such a fundamental change in practice is poorly understood. There is a growing body of literature claiming that social learning is of high importance in overcoming system lock-in and enabling restructuring of social-technical systems. In particular, governance experimentation which explicitly aims to develop and/or strengthen informal societal networks is seen to enable translation of sustainability ideas into practice. However, this type of experimentation requires a very different dynamic within societal relations when compared to traditional experimentation. Hence, it nec..