Arts Faculty » Geography & Environmental Science » Research » Nuwgp »

News and Events Archive (2006)

November 2006

On-line 'Sustainable Urban Water Management' Questionnaire

The National Urban Water Governance Program is currently conducting an anonymous on-line questionnaire. This questionnaire focuses on the perceived 'barriers' and 'drivers' experienced by urban water professionals with advancing sustainable urban water management across Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. If you represent one of these regions, it would be fantastic if you could spare 30 minutes to participate.
The links to the on-line questionnaires for each city are below (you may need to copy and paste the appropriate link into your internet browser):
Melbourne: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=278542711579
Perth: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=397852607006
Brisbane: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=333352731917

By completing the questionnaire, YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN one of three prizes:

APPLE iPod Nano 2GB MP3 Player (RRP $299)
OLYMPUS Mju 600 Digital Camera (RRP $399)
Professional home "Spring Clean" to the value of $300.

*Please note: The closing date for the questionnaire has been extended until 24th November 2006.
Research findings will be disseminated in March 2007 via a series of workshops as well as written reports, which will be available on our website www.urbanwatergovernance.com .
We appreciate your support!

September 2006

Maroochy Shire Council Joins the Program!

We are delighted to welcome Maroochy Shire Council as a funding partner to the Program. Maroochy Shire Council is located in South East Queensland and is strongly committed to advancing water recycling and Water Sensitive Urban Design in its municipality.

In addition to Maroochy Shire Council, the National Urban Water Governance Program has a number of other partner organisations that are leading the field in more sustainable urban water management, including:

Brisbane City Council (QLD)
City of Armadale (WA )
City West Water (VIC)
Department for Planning and Infrastructure (WA)
Healthy Waterways (Moreton Bay Waterways and Catchments Partnership) (QLD)
Melbourne Water (VIC )
South East Water (VIC)
Victorian Water Trust (VIC)
Water Corporation (WA)
Yarra Valley Water (VIC)

Community Sustainable Water Planning Project wins SIA award

Rebekah Brown was involved in the RiverLife Urban Storm Water Integrated Management (USWIM) project which has recently received an award from the Stormwater Industry Association (NSW).

This research project was a joint initiative of Marrickville Council and The School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, funded by the NSW Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resource (DIPNR). It aimed to gain insight into alternative planning approaches for sustainable water in New South Wales, building on previous research that identified a number of key problems with conventional and expert-led urban stormwater planning which often resulted in poor levels of on-ground implementation.

This project involved trialling a 'bottom-up' local community planning process at the neighbourhood level for sustainable water management. It focused on in-depth involvement of the community for the identification of local water issues and the design of solutions. Through this project, a 'community water vision' for 2050 was planned and developed for a sub-catchment within the Marrickville local government area, the Illawarra Road sub-catchment.

July forum - group work

Using this community water vision, as well as ideas and information from the community, a set of draft goals for 2050 were developed in a community forum. To reach these 2050 goals, community and technical interim goals for 2015 were created so that Council and the community can come up with a 10 year Community Water Plan. These goals now form the basis of actions being prepared to drive and guide the Illawarra Road Community Water Plan for a sustainable water future.

Jan Orton, Manager of Environmental Services at Marrickville Council, needs to be commended for involvement in this project and her commitment and leadership to advancing sustainable urban water futures and partnering communities.

For more information about the project, see:
www.marrickville.nsw.gov. au/csc/environment/riverlife/sustainablewaterplanning.htm

The Program welcomes new research students

Over the last few months, a number of new students have joined the Program to investigate various aspects of urban water governance. We thought that this newsletter would be a good way to introduce them to you all, and they have each provided a summary about their respective projects at the links below:

André Taylo r , PhD research on the Champion Phenomenon
Peter Morison , PhD research on Intergovernmental Program Evaluation and Policy Design
Richard Roberts , Honours research on 'technology diffusion' study of alternative water sources in Melbourne.

Project Partnership with Delft University, the Netherlands

The National Urban Water Governance Program at Monash University has recently entered into a new research partnership with the Living with Water Program at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. The project is called 'Urban Water Sustainability Case Studies' and aims to compare sustainable urban water management practices in new developments across Australia and the Netherlands.

Both countries are representative of the environmental pressures facing many urban areas around the world, and both have experienced similar development towards more sustainable urban water management. In addition, both research programs recognise that the most important challenges to realising sustainable urban water systems are of an institutional and organisational nature. Therefore, exchanging knowledge on this topic in this project will be very beneficial and is expected to provide further advancement of knowledge and implementation in the practice of sustainable urban water management in both countries.

Through this project, we are currently hosting a visiting Masters student,Jeroen Rijke, from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Jeroen arrived in September and will be here until December.

Jeroen will conduct a comparative case study with a focus on urban stormwater management. Firstly, standard practice will be compared in each region, regarding both the techniques that are being used and the governance of the urban water system. Secondly, innovations and the way innovations are being introduced and upscaled will be analysed. It is hoped that this research will provide an indication of the enabling factors that are associated with advancing more sustainable water management, which could be used in both Australia and the Netherlands.

Jeroen's visit will be the first of many student transfers between the two universities and an ongoing sharing of knowledge and research findings between the two programs

leven met water Nationa
Urban Water Governance Program

August 2006

Third Steering Committee meeting, Perth

The third Program Steering Committee meeting was held on 28 August 2006 in Perth. The main aims of the meeting were to provide an overview of the theoretical frameworks for the current research phase, and to provide an update on the Program's research on barriers and drivers to sustainable urban water management. The Steering Committee members had an opportunity to provide suggestions for the research and discussed a range of important issues.
Highlights of the meeting included:

Rebekah Brown explained the distinctions between the social and physical sciences and how this informs the structure and methodology of the research program.
Nina Keath presented preliminary findings of the research interviews conducted in Melbourne throughout August, and Rebekah followed with an explanation of some of the theoretical frameworks that will be applied in the analysis of these findings.
Jodi Clarke presented insights from a social research project on community receptivity to alternative water sources that she conducted within the City of Bayside in 2005.
The Committee discussed a plan for the two-day annual workshop that will take place in early December 2006 in Melbourne to reflect on the results from the research involving barriers to the adoption of more sustainable forms of urban water management. The main purpose of the workshop will be to:
Validate the research findings and streamline the Committee's feedback
Determine a 'research adoption' model that will be used for disseminating the findings to stakeholders.

After the meeting, the Steering Committee visited the Kwinana Water Reclamation Plant in Perth, which is the biggest water recycling plant of its type in Australia. The Committee was given a guided tour of the Plant by an employee, and explained the operation, maintenance, delivery and disposal of the treated water.

Professor Barry Hart is our new Independent Chair

Professor Barry Hart has recently joined the Program to chair the National Urban Water Governance Program Steering Committee.
Barry is Director of the environmental consulting company - Water Science Pty Ltd, having recently retired from Monash University. He is still associated with Monash University as an Emeritus Professor. He also served for 10 years as Deputy Director Research of the CRC for Freshwater Ecology.
Barry has established an international reputation in the fields of water quality management, environmental risk assessment and environmental chemistry. He is well known for his sustained efforts in developing knowledge-based decision making processes in natural resource management in Australia and south-east Asia. We are delighted to be associated with someone of Barry's calibre.

July 2006

New Research Fellow joins the Program

Adriane Pollard is a recent Master's graduate of the Corporate Environmental and Sustainability Management program at Monash University. Adriane joined the Program in July 2006, investigating the current context and institutional history of urban water management in Brisbane.

Prior to this new role, Adriane was the Manager of Environmental Services for a local government in Canada after a long career as a consulting ecologist. Her main areas of expertise are local government environmental sustainability policy and planning, urban ecology, community capacity building, and environmental management. Adriane is a professional member of both the Canadian Institute of Planners and College of Applied Biology of British Columbia.

Research Fellow Position

A Research Fellow is sought to join the National Urban Water Governance Program within the School of Geography and Environmental Science. The successful applicant will have a higher degree within the field of environmental sustainability as well as applied social research experience. The research will involve working closely with the urban water sector, including water authorities, local government, catchment management authorities and state regulatory bodies across Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. The successful candidate will be joining a small and energetic team of social researchers that are committed to advancing more sustainable urban water management.
More information is available at: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/ges/whatsnew/news.html

April 2006

International Workshop on Interdisciplinary Urban Water Research

Dr Rebekah Brown facilitated an interdisciplinary workshop at the recent 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and the 7th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling, held in April at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne. The workshop, entitled Interdisciplinary Urban Water Research: Lessons in How to Integrate the Social and Physical Sciences, focussed on sharing insights across high profile projects that are employing, and attempting to integrate, the social and physical sciences for addressing contemporary sustainable urban water management problems. The workshop was an activity of the international Working Group on WSUD, part of the IAHR/IWA joint committee on urban drainage (Click here to see the workshop programme).

Workshop Speakers & Presentations
Local and international experts (listed below) were invited to speak on the day, drawing from their own experiences with interdisciplinary urban water research projects. The presentations provided important experiential insights into some of the challenges and benefits associated with integrating the social and physical sciences, creating a platform for interactive and open discussion. The links to these presentations are provided below.

Dr Rebekah Brown introduces the workshop and outlines objectives PDF 162KB
Dr Liz Sharp from the Pennine Water Group, United Kingdom PDF 187KB
Dr Govert Geldof from Tauw, the Netherlands PDF 34KB
Prof. Jenny Dixon from the University of Auckland, New Zealand PDF 290KB
Mr Alan Gregory from the CSIRO, Australia PDF 632KB
Mr Gavin Blakey from Brisbane City Council, Australia PDF 2369KB
Dr Jonathan Chapman from the Environment Agency, United Kingdom PDF 583KB

The workshop was well-received, attracting a diversity of local and international participants from the UK , South Africa, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria and Germany. The disciplinary mix provided for engaging discussions between engineers, social scientists, environmental scientists, regulators, policy experts, economists, planners and landscape architects representing research institutions, water authorities, government organisations (national, state and local), and regional capacity-building organisations. A number of our National Urban Water Governance Steering Committee members actively participated, with Gavin Blakey (Brisbane City Council) being one of the invited speakers.

Group Discursive Sessions
Two group-wide discursive sessions were held focussed on interdisciplinary thinking and how to integrate the social and physical sciences. The first discussion considered the most important elements for achieving successful interdisciplinary research projects and in the second session, the group brainstormed possible scenarios for 2025 if we did not pursue interdisciplinary approaches to urban water management and went 'back into the silos'. Click here to view the ideas and outcomes from the group discussion sessions.

Professor Richard Ashley and Dr Rebekah Brown facilitate a group-wide
discursive session about the most important elements for achieving successful
interdisciplinary research projects.

Victorian Water Trust Grant Success

On 28 April 2006, the Program was amongst four recipients to be awarded funding through the Victorian Water Trust. The Minister for Water, John Thwaites, presented the team with a certificate of recognition at the Rossdale Golf Club, which is the site of an aquifer and storage and recovery project funded by the Smart Water Fund. The purpose of the $320 million Trust is to provide a secure source of funding for investment in Victoria's water resources by funding major innovative projects that help set a new direction for water use in Victoria.

The funding has been provided to the Program to establish the Advancing Organisational Receptivity to Alternative Water Supplies Research Project. This three-year research project examines the critical factors that prevent or encourage the use of alternative water sources by Victorian urban water management organisations. It will use this knowledge to develop practical guidelines for managers within organisations so that they can deliver the intent of the Victorian Government White Paper 'Our Water Our Future'.

Recipients of Recent Victoria Water Trust Awards with the Victorian Minister for Water, John Thwaites

For more information, see "Research Projects"

Nina Keath Joins the Program

The Program is delighted to announce that Nina Keath has joined the team as a Research Fellow.
Nina is a social scientist who has worked closely with local government, industry, water authorities and State government agencies to identify current impediments to sustainable urban water management as well as options for improving implementation practices. She has been responsible for managing a range of capacity building projects involving in-depth stakeholder research, targeted interviews and case study development in addition to resource and training development and delivery. Nina has also provided policy advice to State and Federal governments particularly around local government capacity issues and the role of knowledge brokering and capacity building to achieve sustainable urban water management.
Nina's addition to the team helps the Program achieve its objective of securing the services of two full time Research Fellows to help deliver the core research.

Second Steering Committee Meeting

Dr Govert Geldof The 2nd Program Steering Committee meeting was held on 6 April 2006 in Melbourne to coincide with the 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design. The main aims of the meeting were to review progress on the Program's research and administration, as well as provide representatives from the Program's funding bodies the opportunity to raise suggestions for future directions.
Highlights of the meeting included:

Vera Lubczenko from the Victorian Water Trust joined the Committee (as a result of the Trust agreeing to fund a project within the Program).
Dr Govert Geldof from TAUW in the Netherlands was a guest presenter. Dr Geldof was one of the keynote presenters at the 4th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Conference and delivered a presentation to the Committee titled "From optimising to adapting".
An explanation was provided on how the Program's core research are linked with a number of related research projects that are being directly funded through funding sources in Victoria, including the Victorian Water Trust and the Facility for Advanced Water Biofiltration).
A proposal was raised to hold the Program's first two-day annual forum in early December 2006 in Melbourne. At this time, results from the research involving barriers to the adoption of more sustainable forms of urban water management will be outlined.
Dr Rebekah Brown provided a summary of the historical context of water management in Melbourne based on recent research. Gaining a sound understanding of how water has been managed in the past provides important insights into why today's organisational structures and cultures, key processes and systems, behavioural norms, and networks operate they way they do. It also provides an insight into strategies for successful change in the way we manage water.

Institutional Capacity Building Features Strongly at the 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design

UDM & WSUD From 2 to 7 April 2006 the 4th International Conference on Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and the 7th International Conference on Urban Drainage Modelling was held in Melbourne. Staff and students from the National Urban Water Governance Program (the Program) were heavily involved in the organising committee, planning and running workshops, facilitating sessions and presenting papers.
Relevant highlights included:

A welcome speech by Cheryl Batagol (Chairman, Melbourne Water Board) who painted a clear picture of the institutional challenges Melbourne Water has, and is facing, as well as the many positive strategies the organisation has employed. Cheryl saw the move towards more sustainable urban water management practices by Melbourne Water as a "quiet revolution" where managing organizational change was the biggest challenge. Other critical elements for Melbourne Water's success included leadership, networks of champions and taking a partnership approach.
Attendance of respected local and international researchers with similar research interests to Program staff.
A full day workshop titled "Interdisciplinary urban water research: Lessons in how to integrate the social and physical sciences".
Presentation sessions on "Capacity building and policy programs" and "Overcoming institutional and socio-economic impediments to WSUD", as well as a specialist forum on "Understanding institutional capacity and organisational change". All of these sessions were highly relevant to the core research of the Program. Papers presented by Program staff and students are listed at our papers publications page

To order a copy of the conference proceedings, see: www.wsud.org/seminar.htm .

May 2006

Monash University PhD Scholarship

Management of Urban Stormwater: Advancing Program Design and Evaluation
School of Geography and Environmental Science
Advancing Program Design and Evaluation School of Geography and Environmental Science This research project will examine the policy design and institutional implementation of stormwater programs that are principally focused on enabling change at the local government level. In addition to reviewing and assessing the outcomes of these stormwater programs, the research will draw on contemporary intergovernmental program design and evaluation literatures with a specific focus on sustainable governance, organisational change and socio-technical transitions. By applying an 'action research' approach that provides ongoing feedback and evaluation the research would also form a valuable tool for program delivery. This research is likely to require both qualitative and quantitative research techniques involving field work with water management professionals.

Scholarship : $25,000 / year (Tax Free) for 3 years with a possible 6 month extension, plus additional research and travel allowance.

This Project has been assisted by funding from Melbourne Water Corporation.

Candidate: An Australian citizen or permanent resident, with a minimum of an upper second class honors degree or equivalent. A range of disciplinary backgrounds will be considered such as environmental science, geography, policy, social science, political science and civil/environmental engineering.

Contact: For further information please contact Dr Rebekah Brown on 03 9905-9992 (0419-385-556) or rebekah.brown@arts.monash.edu.au

Application: Expressions of interest should be addressed to Dr Rebekah Brown and include a covering letter detailing your relevant experience/interest, CV, copy of academic record as well as information on any other relevant research experience or publications and two referees, no later than Monday 12 June 2006.

Dr Rebekah Brown
Senior Lecturer
School of Geography and Environmental Science
Monash University,
Building 11, Wellington Rd ,
Clayton, Victoria.