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water sensitive cities transition theory WSUD collaboration

Water sensitive practice – how far has your organisation come in the last 5 years?

Transition Framework for Water Sensitive Cities

Baw Baw Shire Council transitions workshop Baw Baw Shire Council transitions workshop

Transitions theory is a body of interdisciplinary research that the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities draws on to assess a city’s water sensitive transition.  E2Designlab in partnership with Briony Rogers and the Living Rivers team at Melbourne Water has modified the WSC Transition Framework to assess an organisation's capacity to deliver Integrated Water Management / WSUD in mainstream practice. 

The evidence-based evaluation framework sets out five enabling factors that underpin a successful WSC transition.  The enabling factors are;

  • champions,
  • platforms for connecting,
  • knowledge,
  • projects and applications, and
  • tools and instruments.

Together, these five factors are mapped against six transition phases.  We are currently piloting the framework with three Victorian councils.  Surveys and face-to-face discussions with council staff provide the data to measure the extent to which a series of indicators associated with each transition phase and enabling factor is present.  The findings help industry to identify where to strategically invest in actions that will be most effective to embed and stabilise water sensitive practice based on the individual needs of the organisation.