Title: Towards sustainable urban water governance in Denmark: collective building of capabilities in local authorities

Authors: Susanne Balslev Nielsen; Marina Bergen Jensen

Addresses: Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Building 424, 2800 Lyngby, Denmark ' Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Copenhagen University, Rolighedsvej 23, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark

Abstract: To address the climate adaptation of cities, today's water managers need more than technical skills to drive sustainable urban water projects, which also stimulate demand for post-graduate education so that professionalisation of integrated sustainable water management in the public sector can be achieved. The 'urban water platform' was tested and is hereby presented as a course concept for building collective capabilities for integrated sustainable water design among local authorities in Denmark. The course is an innovation because: 1) it invites urban planners, road and park managers and sewage managers to take part in a dialogue about sustainable urban water projects, while collectively exploring new design solutions; 2) it facilitates an appreciative communication between several disciplines; 3) it promotes careful planning in the early stages of an urban water construction project.

Keywords: sustainable water design; climate adaptation; cities; post-graduate education; public sector innovation; stakeholder dialogues; appreciative communication; transdisciplinary approach; organisational learning; integrated storm water management; sustainable urban water courses; sustainable governance; urban water governance; Denmark; capability building; local authorities; sustainability; urban planning; road management; park management; sewage management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJISD.2016.075532

International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2016 Vol.10 No.2, pp.103 - 119

Accepted: 19 Jan 2015
Published online: 28 Mar 2016 *

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