From rain as risk to rain as resource: Professional and organizational changes in urban rainwater management

Abstract

This article analyzes the recent changes in urban rainwater management practices by analyzing the work of urban rainwater professionals. As a result of climate change, cities are experiencing more frequent and heavier rainfall events. The article shows how professional work on new infrastructures for managing urban climate rain contributes to the transformation of organizational practices. The article shows how a professional group within the engineering profession – climate adaptation engineers – reconceptualize how rain in cities is valued from a risk into a resource. By reconceptualizing urban rain, climate adaptation engineers contribute to the transformation of organizational practices in the emerging field of climate adaptation. Empirically, the article analyses interviews, documents, and fieldnotes from three urban rainwater management projects in Denmark which all deal with excess rainwater resulting from climate change.