Knowledge Brokers Research Articles

The implementation of the substitution principle in European chemical legislation: a comparative analysis

BackgroundThe substitution of hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives is an important objective in European chemical policy, but implementation has been slower than expected. We conduct a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the implementation of the substitution principle in European regulations for pesticides, biocides, and industrial chemicals. Specifically, we examine and compare the criteria and processes associated with the identification of candidates for substitution and the assessment of alternatives.ResultsWe find only minor differences in the criteria applied to identify candidates for substitution amongst pesticides, biocides, and industrial chemicals, but larger differences concerning the processes used. While all substances that are to be approved as a pesticide and biocide are systematically evaluated against the established criteria for substitution, the substitution process for industrial chemicals only focuses on those substances identified as substances of very high concern. The main reason candidates for substitution remain on the market is the lack of identified safer chemical alternatives and the insufficient consideration of non-chemical alternatives, caused, at least to a large extent, by the comparatively weak incentives provided by current regulations.ConclusionsThe systematic approach for the identification of industrial substances of very high concern (SVHC) under ECHAs “Integrated Regulatory Strategy” is much welcome. However, no final conclusion on SVHC properties or the need for regulatory action has been drawn for approximately 90% of the REACH-registered substances, as often even basic hazard and exposure data are missing. Hence, at least a screening-level evaluation of SVHC properties should become a mandatory part of the substance registration under REACH. To reduce the risk of strategic behaviour in the search for alternatives to industrial chemicals identified as SVHC, a setup in which regulatory authorities play a larger role as information and knowledge brokers should be considered. Investments in innovation as well as improved sharing of information and a better distribution of the workloads amongst European authorities might also improve the identification of safer alternatives. However, without stronger incentives, making it more costly for companies to continue using hazardous substances relative to safer alternatives, initiatives to promote substitution are likely to have limited success.

Broker roles in open innovation

Knowledge brokers play a crucial role in open innovation. We use exponential random graph models and qualitative analysis of semi-structured interview data to contrast knowledge brokerage in three open innovation partnerships. Our analysis considers both tacit and explicit knowledge exchanges. Significant broker role effects occur mainly in tacit knowledge-sharing networks. This result implies that brokerage in open innovation is primarily about connecting know-how rather than know-what. We see that trust is crucial for both tacit and explicit knowledge sharing. Adding broker roles to exponential random graph models offers a more nuanced explanation of the observed network structure.

Diet-Related Disease Prevention in a Rural Australian Setting: Understanding Barriers, Enablers, and the Role of Rural Health Services in Supporting Changes in Local Rural Food Environments

Bold and comprehensive action is needed to prevent diet-related diseases in rural areas, which includes improving food environments to enable healthier dietary practices. Rural health services are integral to the health of rural populations, yet their role in community disease prevention is not swell understood. This study sought to understand health service, local government, and food outlet stakeholders’ perspectives on (1) the drivers of unhealthy retail environments in a rural setting; (2) the role of rural health services in supporting changes in local food environments; and to (3) identify characteristics of potential interventions. Two Group Model Building workshops were held with health service and local government leaders (n = 9), and interviews were conducted with local food outlet participants (n = 13). Key themes included ‘enablers to healthier food environments’, ‘barriers to healthier food environments’, ‘Rural health services are a leading broker of knowledge for healthy food environments’, and ‘characteristics of desirable healthy food environment interventions.’. Rural health services can play a key role in addressing the current barriers to healthy food environments in rural areas. Effective promotion of healthier diets in rural populations will require consideration of key stakeholder perspectives and the development of further evidence on the role that rural health services can play in improving the healthiness of food environments.

Evaluations of training programs to improve capacity in K*: a systematic scoping review of methods applied and outcomes assessed

This paper examines how frequently K* training programs have been evaluated, synthesizes information on the methods and outcome indicators used, and identifies potential future approaches for evaluation. We conducted a systematic scoping review of publications evaluating K* training programs, including formal and informal training programs targeted toward knowledge brokers, researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community members. Using broad inclusion criteria, eight electronic databases and Google Scholar were systematically searched using Boolean queries. After independent screening, scientometric and content analysis was conducted to map the literature and provide in-depth insights related to the methodological characteristics, outcomes assessed, and future evaluation approaches proposed by the authors of the included studies. The Kirkpatrick four-level training evaluation model was used to categorize training outcomes. Of the 824 unique resources identified, 47 were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. The number of published articles increased after 2014, with most conducted in the United States and Canada. Many training evaluations were designed to capture process and outcome variables. We found that surveys and interviews of trainees were the most used data collection techniques. Downstream organizational impacts that occurred because of the training were evaluated less frequently. Authors of the included studies cited limitations such as the use of simple evaluative designs, small cohorts/sample sizes, lack of long-term follow-up, and an absence of curriculum evaluation activities. This study found that many evaluations of K* training programs were weak, even though the number of training programs (and the evaluations thereof) have increased steadily since 2014. We found a limited number of studies on K* training outside of the field of health and few studies that assessed the long-term impacts of training. More evidence from well-designed K* training evaluations are needed and we encourage future evaluators and program staff to carefully consider their evaluation design and outcomes to pursue.

Considerations for Research Funders and Managers to Facilitate the Translation of Scientific Knowledge into Practice.

Research funders and managers can play a critical role in supporting the translation of knowledge into action by facilitating the brokering of knowledge and partnerships. We use semi-structured interviews with a research funding agency, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), to explore (i) ways that funders can facilitate knowledge brokering, the (ii) barriers to, and (iii) enablers for, facilitating knowledge brokering, and (iv) the individual skills and attributes for research program funders and managers to be effective brokers. Based on these findings, we generate three considerations for research funders elsewhere, in particular R4D funders, seeking to build capacity for knowledge brokering: (i) formalise the process and practice, (ii) develop shared language and understanding, and (iii) build individual competencies and capabilities. Our findings complement the existing literature with a context specific analysis of how research funders can facilitate knowledge brokering, and by identifying the barriers and enablers in doing so.

Disseminating health research to public health policy-makers and practitioners: a survey of source, message content and delivery modality preferences

BackgroundUnderstanding the views of policy-makers and practitioners regarding how best to communicate research evidence is important to support research use in their decision-making.AimTo quantify and describe public health policy-makers and practitioners’ views regarding the source, content and form of messages describing public health research findings to inform their decision-making. We also sought to examine differences in preferences between public health policy-makers and practitioners.MethodsA cross sectional, value-weighting survey of policy-makers and practitioners was conducted. Participants were asked to allocate a proportion of 100 points across different (i) sources of research evidence, (ii) message content and (iii) the form in which evidence is presented. Points were allocated based on their rating of influence, usefulness and preference when making decisions about health policy or practice.ResultsA total of 186 survey responses were received from 90 policy-makers and 96 practitioners. Researchers and government department agencies were the most influential source of research evidence based on mean allocation of points, followed by knowledge brokers, professional peers and associations. Mean point allocation for perceived usefulness of message content was highest for simple summary of key findings and implications, and then evidence-based recommendations and data and statistical summaries. Finally, based on mean scores, policy-makers and practitioners preferred to receive research evidence in the form of peer-reviewed publications, reports, evidence briefs and plain language summaries. There were few differences in scores between policy-makers and practitioners across source, message content or form assessments or those with experience in different behavioural areas.ConclusionsThe findings should provide a basis for the future development and optimization of dissemination strategies to this important stakeholder group.

The right to be, to feel and to exist: Indigenous lawyers and strategic litigation over Indigenous territories in Guatemala

ABSTRACT Indigenous communities around the globe increasingly resort to courts to seek protection for their individual and collective rights. Not only has the use of strategic litigation by Indigenous peoples to defend their human rights been underexplored but the role of Indigenous lawyers and experts is also a blind spot. Drawing on interdisciplinary, qualitative and collaborative research with Indigenous lawyers, experts and legal activists who are involved in the legal defence of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Guatemala, we foreground a complex legal ethnographic landscape regarding their intergenerational legal-political battle in a society facing transition from recent mass violence and the imposition of extractive economies. This article explores how their Indigenous lawyering is rooted in their Indigenous being and embedded in Indigenous water and land ontologies. We demonstrate how these Indigenous litigators are advancing through counter-hegemonic legal practice that goes beyond dominant Euro-Western and colonial legal positivistic assumptions about human-water-life relationships embedded in a racialised neoliberal legal structure. We argue that in contrast to human rights activist lawyers, they are occupying and exercising a differentiated role, through their positionality and their non-conventional practices, as transformative connectors of worlds before the courts or political ontological knowledge brokers, without falling into romanticism.

How can we help law enforcement agencies learn? A look at CALEA police accreditation

PurposeThis study explores the benefits of accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), according to those who are engaged in the practice.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected data through open-ended, semi-structured telephone interviews. The authors analyzed the data using an inductive methodology.Findings The authors found that CALEA police accreditation enhances organizational learning through the development of knowledge brokers, the creation of communities of practice, support for knowledge repositories, support for knowledge managers and greater levels of transparency.Originality/valueThis qualitative study, which focuses on the perceptions and experiences of those involved in the CALEA process, provides a valuable complement to the quantitative literature on accreditation by shedding light on the organizational learning resulting from accreditation.

Understanding capacity for implementing new interventions: A qualitative study of speech and language therapy services for children with speech sound disorder.

Many speech sound disorder (SSD) interventions with a long-term evidence base are 'new' to clinical practice, and the role of services in supporting or constraining capacity for practice change is underexplored. Innovations from implementation science may offer solutions to this research-practice gap but have not previously been applied to SSD. To explain variation in speech and language therapy service capacity to implement new SSD interventions. We conducted an intensive, case-based qualitative study with 42 speech and language therapists (SLTs) in three NHS services (n = 39) and private practice (n = 3) in Scotland. We explored therapists' diverse experiences of SSD practice change through individual interviews (n = 28) or self-generated paired (n = 2) or focus groups (n = 3). A theoretical framework (Normalization Process Theory) helped us understand how the service context contributed to the way therapists engaged with different practice changes. We identified six types ('cases') of practice change, two of which involved the new SSD interventions. We focus on these two cases ('Transforming' and 'Venturing') and use Normalization Process Theory's Cognitive participation construct to explain implementation (or not) of new SSD interventions in routine practice. Therapists were becoming aware of the new interventions through knowledge brokers, professional networks and an intervention database. In the Transforming case, new SSD interventions for selected children were becoming part of local routine practice. Transforming was the result of a favourable service structure, a sustained and supported 'push' that made implementation of the new interventions a service priority, and considerable collective time to think about doing it. 'Venturing' happened where the new SSD interventions were not a service priority. It involved individual or informal groups of therapists trying out or using one or more of the new interventions with selected children within the constraints of their service context. New, evidence-based SSD interventions may be challenging to implement in routine practice because they have in common a need for therapists who understand applied linguistics and can be flexible with service delivery. Appreciating what it really takes to do routine intervention differently is vital for managers and services who have to make decisions about priorities for implementation, along with realistic plans for resourcing and supporting it. What is already known on the subject Many SSD interventions have an evidence base but are not widely adopted into routine clinical practice. Addressing this is not just about individual therapists or education/training, as workplace pressures and service delivery models make it difficult to change practice. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This paper applies innovations from implementation science to help explain how what is going on in services can support or constrain capacity for implementing evidence-based SSD interventions. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Service managers and therapists will have a clearer idea of the time and support they may realistically have to invest for new SSD interventions to be used routinely.

Blurring boundaries of expert knowledge and stakeholder agenda – News media as a knowledge broker in the Finnish alcohol policy debate

The news media are central to discussion on public policy as journalists regulate the flow and exchange of policy-relevant knowledge. In this article, we concentrated on the media’s role as a knowledge broker, giving voice to and operating between different policy actors during the 2018 Alcohol Act reform in Finland. Particular attention was given to the way the alcohol industry stakeholders were positioned as information sources in the news reporting concerned with the evidence base for alcohol policy. Our study of four Finnish news media outlets shows how especially politicians and alcohol industry stakeholders are given voice in the news media. In addition, we identified three different ways in which the boundaries between commercial interests and research expertise were blurred. We argue that the news media blur these boundaries through what we call penetration, assimilation, and juxtaposition, and further that these ways of positioning stakeholders are embedded in the way news media handles conflicting evidence, presents facts, and quotes different sources without evaluating them. Using the reporting from alcohol policy debates as an example, we argue that the position of news media as a knowledge broker is vulnerable to stakeholder influence.

Sustainable soil management: Soil knowledge use and gaps in Europe

AbstractSoils are the foundation of agricultural production, ecosystem functioning and human well‐being. Bridging soil knowledge gaps and improving the knowledge system is crucial to meet the growing EU soil policy ambitions in the face of climate change and the ongoing trend in soil degradation. The objective of this article is to assess the current state of knowledge, knowledge use and knowledge gaps concerning sustainable soil management in Europe. This study is based on interviews with 791 stakeholders and 254 researchers and on a comprehensive review of >1800 documents carried out under the European Joint Programme on agricultural soils. Despite differences in stakeholder groups, the conclusions are rather consistent and complementary. We identified major knowledge gaps with respect to (1) soil carbon stocks, (2) soil degradation and fertility and (3) strategies for improved soil management. Transcending these three areas, particularly the loss of soil organic carbon, peatland degradation and soil compaction, are most critical, thus, we stress the urgency of developing more models and monitoring programmes on soils. Stakeholders further report that insufficient transfer of existing soil research findings to practitioners is a hindrance to the adoption of sustainable soil management practices. In addition to knowledge production, soil knowledge gaps may be addressed by considering seven recommendations from the stakeholders: (1) raising awareness, (2) strengthening knowledge brokers, (3) improving relevance of research activities and resource allocation for land users, (4) peer‐to‐peer communication, (5) targeting advice and information, (6) improving knowledge access, and (7) providing incentives. We argue that filling and bridging knowledge gaps should be a priority for policymakers and the insights provided in the article may help prioritise research and dissemination needs enabling a transition to more sustainable soil management in Europe.

Charting the path towards a long-term knowledge brokerage function: an ecosystems view

Hybrid networks of actors such as policymakers, funders, scholars, and business practitioners are simultaneous producers and consumers of evidence use. While this diversity of evidence use is a strength, it also necessitates greater collaboration among interested parties for knowledge exchange. To address this need, we investigate how ecotones, which are hybrid networks operating in the transitional area between two distinct ecosystems, such as academic research and policy ecosystems, must involve, disseminate, and integrate different types of knowledge. Specifically, our research aims to unpack how an ecotone’s knowledge brokerage function evolves over its lifecycle. This paper presents the findings of a phenomenological investigation involving experts from the policy and academic research ecosystems. The study introduces a three-stage maturity transitions framework that outlines the trajectory of the brokerage function throughout the ecotone’s lifecycle: i. as a service function, ii. a programme-partnership, and iii. a network of networks. The paper contributes to the theory of knowledge brokerage for policy-making. We reflect on our findings and discuss the theoretical contributions within an ecosystem approach and their associated research and policy implications.

Embedded on-site aged care pharmacists in Australia: Insights from early adopters of a new workforce model.

To explore the roles of early adopters of Australia's embedded on-site pharmacist model in supporting quality use of medications in residential aged care facilities (RACFs). Qualitative semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 pharmacists working as embedded on-site pharmacists, or beyond the scope of traditional consultant pharmacist roles in Australian RACFs. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed independently by two investigators using an inductive approach. Deductive analysis was also undertaken using a knowledge broker framework: knowledge manager, linkage agent and capacity builder. Dominant themes were roles and benefits of embedded pharmacists, factors associated with success and challenges. Roles and benefits included (1) resident-level interventions and an enhanced ability to provide collaborative outcome-focussed resident-centred care, including timely input and follow-up, and improved relationships with residents, family and interdisciplinary team; and (2) system-level interventions such as contributing to clinical governance and quality improvement. Factors associated with success included personal capabilities and approach of the pharmacist, and organisational culture and sector-wide support. Challenges included pharmacist workforce shortages, perceived lack of pharmacist readiness and difficulty determining an appropriate service model. Deductive coding demonstrated roles of embedded pharmacists were consistent with all three activities of a knowledge broker. This study highlights the resident- and system-level roles and benefits of embedded on-site pharmacists, and provides a framework for defining this emerging workforce model in Australian RACFs.

Knowledge‐brokering activities as enactors of innovative constructive deviance in open R&D projects

Despite the two sides of deviant behaviors and the fact that knowledge brokers are sometimes presented in a negative light due to their unique position, this article unveils from an innovation perspective how these two intricate individual‐level concepts bring positive outcomes in complex environments. While previous work has highlighted the positive impact of constructive workplace deviance on organizations and their members, research on the antecedents of such deviance is scarce. We use knowledge brokers as an unexplored and pertinent means of enacting innovative constructive deviance. Indeed, knowledge brokering supports innovation by connecting, recombining, and transferring disconnected pools of ideas. A case study of a high‐tech company was conducted. We focused on three B2C and B2B co‐creation projects as one of the main open innovation strategies. The results suggest that knowledge‐brokering activities with customers or partner firms enact innovative constructive deviance in different ways and accelerate creativity and innovation within the organization. This paper contributes to the debate on deviant behaviors and brokering activities within the open innovation paradigm. We enrich the microfoundational perspective of the open innovation literature, shed light on the determinants of innovative constructive deviance, and provide empirical evidence of the relationship between brokering activities and deviant behavior. On a managerial level, the findings suggest that knowledge‐brokering activities among multiple stakeholders foster innovative behaviors within co‐creation projects.

Understanding the impact of environmental impact assessment research on policy and practice

There is an enormous and ever-growing body of environmental impact assessment (EIA) research, much of which is grounded in practice or seeks to advance it. In this paper we show how the impact of EIA research on policy and practice might be conceptualised and how to set about evidencing it. A framework is developed through literature review to account for impact in four areas pertaining to instrumental impact, conceptual impact, capacity building and knowledge brokerage and co-production. Methods for implementing the framework include citations within policy documents along with content analysis to determine influence and interviews or surveys with policy makers and practitioners; all subsequently presented as narratives. We provide examples and further discussion of each, drawn from recent analysis of the EIA research of one of the authors. Whilst proving impact of EIA research on policy and practice is challenging, we found the framework to be a useful way for structuring and guiding such an investigation. This approach to understanding the uptake and influence of EIA research on impact assessment practitioners and other stakeholders (i.e., government regulators/policy-makers, consultants, proponents or NGOs) could be applied by many professionals in the field to showcase positive impact on policy and practice locally, nationally and internationally. It may also usefully serve academic EIA researchers applying for new positions or for promotion within universities.

Enabling successful science‐policy knowledge exchange between marine biodiversity research and management: An Australian case study

AbstractKnowledge exchange (KE) between research and decision‐making is increasingly demanded for tackling environmental challenges, yet there is still much to learn about how to enable that effectively. Here, we analyze a distributor of research funding (i.e., the Australian National Environmental Science Program Marine Biodiversity Hub (‘the hub’)) which actively coordinated KE between researchers and state‐ and Commonwealth Government end‐users. Through 30 in‐depth qualitative interviews with researchers, hub executives and end‐users we identify enablers of KE engagement, compare what researchers and decision‐makers found most important, and highlight what research programs and funding organizations can learn from this case study. Through an evolution of programs, the hub had a strong governance structure, co‐identified priority setting, and funding for emerging priorities. Additional enablers were a legacy of longstanding interpersonal working relationships, regular engagement, knowledge brokering roles, and the nationally trusted role of the hub. Researchers more so than end‐users found trust, the focus on clear end‐user needs as well as the hub's governance and progress‐monitoring key to success. End‐users more often indicated the early engagement, collaborative nature, and flexibility to adjust as important assets to effective interaction. Visions for future KE included better engagement of Traditional Owners, streamlining direct access to expertise, more accessible outputs, and earlier involvement of researchers in policy development. In sum, we find that time (e.g., pre‐story, early engagement) and boundary roles (e.g., knowledge brokering individuals, engaged research funders or coordinators) are key to success underlining that there are substantial components to KE success that can be nurtured and planned for.

Primary healthcare provider experience of knowledge brokering interventions for mood management

ABSTRACT Background Knowledge brokering is a knowledge translation strategy used in healthcare settings to facilitate the implementation of evidence into practice. How healthcare providers perceive and respond to various knowledge translation approaches is not well understood. This qualitative study used the Theoretical Domains Framework to examine healthcare providers’ experiences with receiving one of two knowledge translation strategies: a remote knowledge broker (rKB); or monthly emails, for encouraging delivery of mood management interventions to patients enrolled in a smoking cessation program. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 healthcare providers recruited from primary care teams. We used stratified purposeful sampling to recruit participants who were allocated to receive either the rKB, or a monthly email-based knowledge translation strategy as part of a cluster randomized controlled trial. Interviews were structured around domains of the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to explore determinants influencing practice change. Data were coded into relevant domains. Results Both knowledge translation strategies were considered helpful prompts to remind participants to deliver mood interventions to patients presenting depressive symptoms. Neither strategy appeared to have influenced the health care providers on the domains we probed. The domains pertaining to knowledge and professional identity were perceived as facilitators to implementation, while domains related to beliefs about consequences, emotion, and environmental context acted as barriers and/or facilitators to healthcare providers implementing mood management interventions. Conclusion Both strategies served as reminders and reinforced providers’ knowledge regarding the connection between smoking and depressed mood. The TDF can help researchers better understand the influence of specific knowledge translation strategies on healthcare provider behavior change, as well as potential barriers and facilitators to implementation of evidence-informed interventions. Environmental context should be considered to address challenges and facilitate the movement of knowledge into clinical practice.

“Nothing for Free”: Intermediary actors and cross-scalar knowledge translation for climate adaptation in the Mekong Delta

In Vietnam, an entire multilevel governance apparatus is now engaged in furthering the climate adaptation agenda, much of it focused on the Mekong Delta. A politics of translation is at the heart of these operations, as differently situated actors reproduce, negotiate, and mobilize knowledge for adaptation in pursuit of varied objectives. In this article, I examine the role of intermediary actors that work as knowledge brokers and translators, transmitting knowledge upwards, downwards, and horizontally within this governance system, influencing adaptation practice in the process. Drawing on cross-scalar ethnographic research with Vietnamese scientists and researchers, development practitioners, agricultural extension agents, and provincial-level bureaucrats, it considers the agency these actors have in shaping the trajectory of socio-ecological change in the delta. Exploring strategies of translation and the interests they reflect, it finds that knowledge for adaptation is largely constrained by the dominant economic development agenda, where neoliberal discourses and state goals of "building socialism" intersect in defining the success of adaptation and its ideal subjects. Finally, the article identifies contestations and switch-points that occur and seeks to identify potential openings for transformative pathways to emerge.

Type 1 Diabetes and Health Information Systems: Lessons from Denmark

One of the components of a health system as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) is data that the health system collects, generates, and uses to improve the health of its population. The aim of this paper is to describe key lessons from Denmark in planning, implementing, and using health system-generated data, using Type 1 diabetes as a tracer. A broad literature search was complemented with a review of grey literature, two series of interviews with Danish experts, and feedback from a presentation of these findings to two expert meetings. Denmark, through its unique identifier and data environment, enables the health system to collect a variety of data on Type 1 diabetes. Facilitators and challenges exist for data collection, data aggregation, use of data, communication of data and results, and intangible factors. For each of these, the environment, infrastructure, health system, and Danish society act as facilitators. Barriers relate to data being collected primarily for clinical and administrative purposes, and not necessarily for research, planning, policymaking, or advocacy. Fora are lacking to facilitate the communication and presentation of these results. An intangible element is the trust Danes have in their system, which is hard to replicate. As shown in the Danish setting, contextual factors cannot be negated in developing and implementing data-related solutions at a population level. The lessons from Denmark show that there is the need to conceive and act on all aspects of the data from its collection, aggregation, use, and communication. The last step of interaction between science and policy and practice requires a range of factors, including networks and knowledge brokers.

Planning nature-based solutions for water management and circularity in Ljubljana, Slovenia: Examining how urban practitioners navigate barriers and perceive institutional readiness

Nature-based Solutions (NBS) and the circular economy offer new opportunities for water management and water circularity in cities. In the process towards circular water NBS planning and implementation, urban practitioners such as urban planners and environmental/water engineers operate as facilitators and change agents due to their technical expertise. Moreover, from their professional standpoint, they can navigate barriers and influence key actors of institutional readiness of cities to uptake NBS. This study aims (i) to explore the barriers that urban professionals face towards the widespread mainstreaming and implementation of NBS for water management and circularity in Ljubljana, and (ii) to understand the perceived institutional readiness for planning NBS for water management and circularity in the city. Through 14 semi-structured expert interviews, and following a content discourse analysis, three overarching topics emerged: urban planning, urban design, and NBS implementation. The findings reveal the institutional readiness of Ljubljana to adopt and upscale solutions like NBS, although barriers still persist: misalignment of strategic goals, institutional fragmentation, lack of supportive policy and legal frameworks (procurement rules, urban design laws), and limited citizen involvement. New approaches and skilled knowledge brokers are required in order to change the narrative of water being perceived as a problem, and to mainstream NBS for water circularity across the city in the future.