Module governance

Objective: Transformation of institutions, processes, and actor constellations for blue-green urban development
Political science expertise, for example on the effective and legitimate organization and networking of relevant actors (as well as through capacity building)
Coach Dr. Frank Hüesker (UFZ)

The potential advantages of the sponge city are largely undisputed; rather, it is a question of implementation. The paradigms of the sponge city with coupled and decentralized infrastructures encounter the centralized wastewater infrastructures that have developed over centuries, including the associated urban structures. Adapting the regulatory system connected to this (consisting of formal and informal institutions, processes, power relations, and actors), which we call “Unpacking the Sewer,” “presents a tremendous transformation challenge, comparable to the public sewerage expansion in the 19th century” (UBA study “Goals and Policy Instruments for Climate-Resilient Sponge Cities,” p. 9).
The goal associated with this is what we refer to as the institutionalization of a BlueGreen Governance in cities, which also requires improved framework conditions at higher political levels. At the municipal level, clear political will in the direction of urban climate adaptation and the concrete setting of quantitative and qualitative goals is central. This requires the systematic procurement of information (see above), as well as the targeted use of existing and newly created funding instruments (see below). The classic instruments of urban development and planning can be used in adapted form. New institutions and/or processes need to be organized that bring the relevant actors together effectively and legitimately, and suitable measures need to be initiated to create public acceptance for the new infrastructures. New patterns of conflict over water resources, for example with the urban periphery, must be taken into account.
For the BlueGreen City Coaching, a political science assessment of the status quo of BlueGreen Governance is important; in addition, social science scenario techniques are used to define the objectives and the path toward them (see Constellation Analysis Difu). This is carried out in the foundational workshops. In the actual toolbox, policy instruments are included, especially those developed in the BMBF project Leipziger BlauGrün:
Steering network for water-sensitive urban development Leipzig.
However, tools from other sources will also be reported through the review of related research projects, studies, and concepts.