Building the capacity of local government and industry professionals in sustainable water sensitive urban design
Urban stormwater management in Australia has traditionally been seen as an engineering issue with supply, stormwater and wastewater each managed as independent systems, often based on the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ philosophy. However, issues such as drought, ageing infrastructure and water quality decline have brought significant changes in urban stormwater management thinking.
The development of Stormwater and Wastewater Management Plans by municipal councils in Victoria has highlighted the need for knowledge building specifically tailored to key water management issues such as water sensitive urban design (Gutterridge et al, 2002).
With funding through EPA Victoria’s Stormwater Action Program, the Municipal Association of Victoria and Stormwater Industry Association of Victoria jointly manage the ‘Clearwater Program’ - a statewide capacity building program for local government and industry professionals, supporting sustainable urban water management.
Clearwater is an exciting opportunity to broaden and improve current approaches to integrated urban water management in Victoria. Clearwater brings together individuals and organisations across the public and private sector, building the skills and knowledge of local government and industry professionals in sustainable urban water management, facilitating an environment for cultural change.
Clearwater moves beyond the development of municipal plans to deliver tailored education and training - transforming principles into practice. Clearwater aims to:
1. Challenge traditional approaches and practices to water cycle management;
2. Engage a wide, diverse and often entrenched audience;
3. Build trust, partnerships, organisational and management support to maintain commitment and motivation;
4. Develop innovative approaches to education/training that enhance technical understanding and competence of local government and industry;
5. Disseminate information and resources across Victoria.
Arguably, the most significant achievement of the program to date is the clear shift in how Clearwater is viewed within the industry. From being an unknown, low influence organisation at the periphery of decision-making and information dissemination, it has, in a very short period of time, come to be seen as a relevant and central authority on stormwater management best practice. Recent research identified Clearwater as a key industry driver for the implementation of water sensitive urban design in Victoria and focal point for information and training in sustainable urban water management (Ecological Engineering, 2005).
A feature of Clearwater is the ‘Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) Program’, dynamically designed based on direct feedback from participants. The WSUD Program was initially developed from market research results indicating the need for technical based information and exchange, with participants wanting to hear the challenges and success stories directly from the developers, consultants, project managers and councils involved (ResearchWise, 2002).
At each WSUD event participants are asked to rank:
1. issues identified as being key hurdles to widespread implementation of WSUD;
2. a proposed list of training topics in order of importance/relevance
3. preferences for the delivery of WSUD training material and information.
This provides Clearwater with an indication of demand for future information and training, what is needed, where and how it is to be delivered. Results for 2005 indicate the key issues in the adoption and implementation of WSUD include a lack of technical design standards, WSUD provisions in local planning schemes and an inadequate level of technical skills to design and assess schemes.
Evaluation results (Context 2004) suggest that the Clearwater program has been tracking well with the expectations and audience needs. As audience needs have shifted, the program elements have shifted with them. The target audiences for this Program are diverse and multi-disciplined, with accordingly diverse and complex needs. The approach of a blended communication strategy, based on a range of tools and approaches built around a central model of change, has proved effective with most audiences - participants have reported consistently high satisfaction levels with the program deliverables (Context 2004).
The Clearwater WSUD Program for 2006 will remain dynamic, establishing new projects to meet the ongoing issues and changing needs of local government and industry professionals in sustainable urban stormwater management.
The 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design provides an opportunity to demonstrate the range of WSUD professional development opportunities created through Clearwater and the integrated delivery of training to both local government and industry professionals across Victoria.
For more information on the Clearwater Program visit the Clearwater InfoExchange at www.clearwater.asn.au.
References:
Context Pty. Ltd (2004), Clearwater Program: Report on Evaluation 2003, Context Pty. Ltd. Melbourne, Victoria.
Ecological Engineering (2005). State Environment Protection Policy (Waters of Victoria) Implementation Project, Final Report. Report by Ecological Engineering and Ark Partners to the Municipal Association of Victoria. Ecological Engineering, Sydney.
Gutterridge Haskins & Davey (2002), Municipal Association of Victoria Review of Stormwater Management Plans. Gutterridge Haskins & Davey Pty. Ltd. Melbourne, Victoria.
ResearchWise (2003), Stormwater Industry Information Needs and Delivery Strategy: A qualitative market research report for MAV Stormwater Capacity Building Program. ResearchWise. Melbourne, Victoria.