Climate change and urban water governance: pathways to social transformation

CLIMWAYS is a multi-disciplinary research project that analysed institutional challenges to climate change adaptation and water resources management in the cities of Durban and Cape Town. The project run from July 2014 to August 2017. The project was a collaboration between NIBR (lead in Norway), UKZN (lead in South Africa), UCT, and UiO. Cf. project web-site/blog https://blogg.hioa.no/climways/. The project focused on how changes in institutional frameworks brought change to urban governance, and the implications of these changes for the role and practice of interactive governance in relation to adaptation and water/storm water management at different scales. The project had the following primary objectives: 1. Produce and disseminate high quality knowledge about the relationship between climate change adaptation and water governance in metropolitan societies, and: 2. Build research capacity among historically disadvantaged groups in South Africa. The project also aimed to create public awareness about the challenges that the climate change creates and identify the relevant multi-level governance regimes to promote effective climate change adaptation. Furthermore, the project would produce journal articles, and support student theses and hold public dialogue and workshops. The project brought out new knowledge on the specific forms of governance and experiments in the two cities and compared adaptation processes and collaborative governance at different scales, including at community levels. CLIMWAYS also brought in a comparison of climate governance between Durban, Cape Town and the city of Oslo through a paper that explored the application of the concept of co-creation in analysis of urban climate governance. The research findings indicate striking similarities between Cape Town and Durban in institutional design and leadership of water and climate adaptation agendas, although there are several differences in how governance was operationalized on the ground. It was found that leadership in both cities acted as brokers across traditional sector silos and public-private divides, and gradually included a greater diversity of actors in pursuing climate adaptation goals. Innovative networks for collaborative learning, innovation and capacity sharing emerged in both cities and resulted in co-production of knowledge. This has likely contributed to a strategic agenda to climate change in both cities that encompasses broad resilience and sustainability goals. None of the cities have, however, exhausted the potential inherent in strong stakeholder involvement and empowerment of citizens, and thus fully exploited the public value involved in the collaborative stakeholder networks. Climate adaptation is not fully integrated in city-level governments flood risk management strategies, nor always in contextually relevant adaptation projects at the community level. While the cities seem to move towards greater resilience, more collaborative governance that engages citizens and stakeholders more firmly would be required if the goal is to pursue pathways that combine social and climate transformation. The research findings have been presented in various articles and lectures internationally and at city level. More than 20 journal articles and book chapters have been completed or are underway. The project supported 7 South African students, two PhD students and five master students (mostly from disadvantaged groups) and two Norwegian MA students (human geography and political science, UiO). Four SA students also engaged in a two-weeks exchange program in Norway and field work in Oslo (facilitated by the NIBR team). Most of the students have finalized their theses. Several of the students have produced journal articles based on their theses. In both cities, CLIMWAYS researchers are today closely involved in the overall resilience strategy work of the cities, and thus able to take the experiences from CLIMWAYS into the strategic work of the city on climate change. The project has lead to new research programmes in each of the participating institutions.

CLIMWAYS is a multi-disciplinary research project that analyses institutional constraints on water resource management and urban climate change adaptation in the cities of Durban and Cape Town. These two cities are at the forefront internationally in prom oting climate change adaptation. The research focuses on two issues and scales; the local and the multi-level dimensions of urban climate governance - with reference to how local societies and city authorities interact and respond in policy and everyday practice to the impacts of climate change as it interfaces with water resources management. The research will combine the theoretical frames of multi-level governance and social mobilization to unpack governance constraints (polycentric approach. The pr oject's primary objectives are to produce and disseminate high quality knowledge about these topics; build research capacity among historically disadvantaged groups in South Africa and among women; and develop a longer term climate and water governance co llaborative program between the partner institutions and the municipalities based on existing long-standing research relationships. The empirical findings will help identify the relevant multi-level and multi-actor governance regimes for climate change an d water management structures and analyse how they enable or constrain local water resources management and effective climate change adaptation. Policy and research implications of the theoretical and empirical findings will be clarified. The project wi ll produce four papers for international referee journals, 6 master theses, one PhD, policy briefs and capacity building workshops and public dialogue events. The project builds on earlier research by each of the partners on similar topics and long standi ng relationships between key researchers and partners.