Premium
Transforming urban water governance through social (triple‐loop) learning
Author(s) -
Johannessen Åse,
Gerger Swartling Åsa,
Wamsler Christine,
Andersson Kim,
Arran Julian Timothy,
Hernández Vivas Dayana Indira,
Stenström Thor Axel
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
environmental policy and governance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.987
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1756-9338
pISSN - 1756-932X
DOI - 10.1002/eet.1843
Subject(s) - corporate governance , flood myth , social learning , threatened species , environmental planning , political science , environmental resource management , business , sociology , geography , economics , ecology , biology , pedagogy , archaeology , finance , habitat
The sustainable development of cities is threatened by a worldwide water crisis. Improved social learning is urgently needed to transform urban water governance and make it more integrated and adaptive. However, empirical studies remain few and fragmented. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse how social learning has supported or inhibited sustainable transformations in urban water governance. On the basis of multiple case studies conducted in urban, flood‐prone areas in Colombia, the Philippines, South Africa, India, and Sweden, we study learning processes related to different aspects of water management and governance. Our results show that transformations in water governance are often triggered by crises, whereas other potentials for transformation are not tapped into. Furthermore, learning is often inhibited by “lock‐ins” created by powerful actors. We conclude that there is a need for more proactive design of governance structures for triple‐loop learning that take into account the identified barriers and supporting principles.