Building the capacity of local government and industry professionals in sustainable urban water management

Abstract

In 2005, Clearwater (the Victorian capacity building program) led two major initiatives to identify the current issues, barriers and trends influencing the implementation of sustainable urban water management (SUWM) practices in Victoria. Outcomes of these two initiatives provided insights into the impediments to adoption and the varying levels of commitment to SUWM by various stakeholder groups in the water sector. Results are now informing state and local decision makers of the organisational and individual capacity issues impacting on widespread implementation.

Now in its fourth year, Clearwater has been building the capacity of local government and industry professionals across Victoria to deliver SUWM and has grown to be recognised as a significant knowledge broker and leader in the design and delivery ofbest practice professional development for SUWM. Clearwater has established itself as a key agent in the transfer and delivery of resources, programs and policy at the state level through to local government and industry professionals. The program is now a model for capacity building, which has informed similar programs internationally and is being replicated by organisations across Australia

Keywords:

• Capacity building
• local government
• Clearwater

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nina Keath

Nina Keath is a Research Fellow with the School of Geography and Environmental Science at Monash University. As a social scientist, she has worked closely with local government, industry, water authorities and state 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.

Jacquie White

Jacquie White is currently the Manager of Community Programs at Melbourne Water, leading a diversity of engagement and capacity building initiatives with Melbourne Water and community stakeholders involved in the protection and management waterways in the Port Phillip and Westernport catchments.

For the past six years, Jacquie has been responsible for the research, design, development, delivery and evaluation of capacity building initiatives to support sustainable urban water management across Australia.

Before her current role, Jacquie managed Clearwater - a capacity building program for local government and industry in water management, now recognised as a significant knowledge broker and provider of cutting edge professional development. Jacquie implemented a range of creative approaches to capacity building, which inform policy development, professional education and leadership.

Jacquie is committed to ongoing research and evaluation into capacity building, particularly around water management issues to support establishing Victoria as a leader in sustainable urban water management.