Abteilung Umweltsozialwissenschaften

Überwindung institutioneller Barrieren für netzunabhängige städtische Wassersysteme (BARRIERS)

Barriere vor Wand (Samuel Zeller, unsplash)
Photo: Samuel Zeller, Unsplash

Der Klimawandel und die rasante Urbanisierung erfordern eine radikale Neugestaltung der Art und Weise, wie Wasser aufbereitet und wiederverwendet wird. Städte stehen unter besonderem Druck, flexiblere, widerstandsfähigere und modularere Wassermanagementsysteme zu entwickeln. Trotz vieler vielversprechender Experimente mit alternativen Systemen, stehen sie auch vor großen Herausforderungen. Insbesondere Barrieren auf institutioneller Ebene wie bestehende Gesetze, Technologiestandards oder Benutzerroutinen behindern die schnelle Verbreitung neuer - und potenziell nachhaltigerer - UWM-Lösungen. Das vorliegende Projekt zielt darauf ab, unser Verständnis für diese Barrieren zu verbessern und neue Strategien zu deren Überwindung zu entwickeln, basierend auf den Erfahrungen aus "Leuchtturmstädten" in Industrie- und Schwellenländern. Durch Fallstudien mit gemischten Methoden in San Francisco, Paris und Göhteburg und eine strukturierte Neuinterpretation bestehender Erkenntnisse aus Peking und Bangalore werden die wichtigsten institutionellen Barrieren und Treiber rekonstruiert, die die Legitimierung von nicht-netzbasierten UWM-Lösungen beeinflussen. Es wird Wasserexperten eine Reihe von Maßnahmen zur Verfügung stellen, um die Legitimität netzunabhängiger städtischer Wasserbewirtschaftungsoptionen zu erhöhen und generische Szenarien zu skizzieren, durch die WINGS-Lösungen in Städten sowohl in Industrie- als auch in Schwellenländern verbreitet werden könnten.

Publikationen

Institutional barriers to on-site alternative water systems: a conceptual framework and systematic analysis of the literature

Scientists are increasingly exploring on-site water systems to supplement conventional centralized water and wastewater infrastructure. While major technological advancements have been achieved, we still lack a systematic view on the non-technical, or institutional, elements that constitute important barriers to the uptake of on-site urban water management systems. This paper presents a conceptual framework distinguishing between institutional barriers in six key dimensions: Equity, Knowledge and Capabilities, Financial Investment, Legal and Regulatory Frameworks, Legitimacy, and Market Structures. The analysis of the existing literature covering these barriers is translated into a typology of the socio-technical complexity of different types of alternative water systems (e.g., non-potable reuse, rainwater systems, and nutrient recovery). Findings show that socio-technical complexity increases with the pollution load in the source water, correlating to potential health risk, and the number of sectors involved in the value chain of an alternative water system. For example, greywater reuse for toilet flushing might have systematically less complex institutional barriers than source separation for agricultural reuse. This study provides practitioners with easily accessible means of understanding non-technical barriers for various types of on-site reuse systems and provides researchers with a conceptual framework for capturing socio-technical complexity in the adoption of alternative water systems.
Hacker, M. E.; Binz, C. (2021) Institutional barriers to on-site alternative water systems: a conceptual framework and systematic analysis of the literature, Environmental Science and Technology, 55(12), 8267-8277, doi:10.1021/acs.est.0c07947, Institutional Repository

Navigating institutional complexity in socio-technical transitions

Transitions from one socio-technical regime configuration to another entail long phases of institutional complexity, where two or more field logics co-exist in a sector and induce incompatibilities and frictions. This paper presents a dynamic phase model, which characterizes the types of institutional complexity that may build up and settle across various phases of a transition, illustrated with a case study from the diffusion of onsite water reuse in San Francisco. Results from semi-structured expert interviews and a focus group demonstrate that different forms of institutional complexity may follow each other in a transition trajectory and that formidable strategic agency is needed by the actors in a field in navigating prolonged phases of competing cultural demands. Gaining a more balanced perspective of both organizational and field-level reconfigurations may help better explain why transitions succeed in some places and fail in others.
Hacker, M. E.; Binz, C. (2021) Navigating institutional complexity in socio-technical transitions, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 40, 367-381, doi:10.1016/j.eist.2021.09.003, Institutional Repository

Actor roles and networks in implementing urban water innovation: a study of onsite water reuse in the San Francisco Bay Area

As climate change and rapid urbanization stress our aging water infrastructure, cities are under increasing pressure to develop more flexible, resilient, and modular water management systems. In response, onsite water reuse practices have been adopted by several cities globally. In addition to technological innovation, these novel water treatment systems also require new stakeholder collaborations, relationships, and processes to support them. There are, however, few models for stakeholder arrangements that support and encourage the adoption and success of such infrastructure. In this paper, we use interviews with stakeholders involved in onsite water reuse projects in the San Francisco Bay Area to create a social network map that describes the interactions between stakeholders at large and during specific phases of project implementation. Using qualitative content analysis of expert interviews and social network analysis, we identify four actor roles that are key to the functioning of this novel water infrastructure paradigm─specialists, continuity providers, program champions, and conveners - and discuss the importance of each role through the course of project implementation. These findings can be helpful for policy interventions and outreach efforts by other cities and communities looking to implement onsite water systems.
Wagner, T. R.; Nelson, K. L.; Binz, C.; Hacker, M. E. (2023) Actor roles and networks in implementing urban water innovation: a study of onsite water reuse in the San Francisco Bay Area, Environmental Science and Technology, 57(15), 6205-6215, doi:10.1021/acs.est.2c05231, Institutional Repository