Abstract
Visualising interactions across urban water systems to explore transition and change processes requires the development of methods and models at different scales. This paper contributes a model representing the network interactions of rainwater harvesting (RWH) infrastructure innovators and other organisations in the UK RWH niche to identify how resilience and sustainability feature within niche governance in practice. The RWH network interaction model was constructed using a modified participatory social network analysis (SNA). The SNA was further analysed through the application of a two-part analytical framework based on niche management and the safe, resilient and sustainable (‘Safe and SuRe’) framework. Weak interactions between some RWH infrastructure innovators and other organisations highlighted reliance on a limited number of persuaders to influence the regime and landscape, which were underrepresented. Features from niche creation and management were exhibited by the RWH network interaction model, though some observed characteristics were not represented. Additional Safe and SuRe features were identified covering diverse innovation, responsivity, no protection, unconverged expectations, primary influencers, polycentric or adaptive governance and multiple learning-types. These features enable RWH infrastructure innovators and other organisations to reflect on improving resilience and sustainability, though further research in other sectors would be useful to verify and validate observation of the seven features.
Highlights
Against a backdrop of climate change, population growth and urbanisation, scholars past and present have and are examining the ways in which complex systems cope, or change and adapt to survive [1,2]
This paper contributes a model that represents the network interactions of rainwater harvesting infrastructure innovators and other organisations in the RWH niche operating in the UK, to identify how resilience and sustainability feature within the niche-network
The social network analysis (SNA) identified that some RWH infrastructure innovators have limited direct interaction with higher-level organisations and have a weak influence, instead relying on persuasive intermediaries to influence the regime
Summary
Against a backdrop of climate change, population growth and urbanisation, scholars past and present have and are examining the ways in which complex systems cope, or change and adapt to survive [1,2]. The way in which water is provided and used can be regarded as a complex system, due to the interlinked and interactive nature of social, ecological and technical systems [3]. In order to successfully model these transitions and shifts, a more integrated consideration of water supply and drainage systems, as well as social, ecological and technical systems is required; segmentation fails to recognise interactions and complexities [7].
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