Mainstreaming stormwater NBS: a study in transition governance

“Sustainability transitions challenge established governance models, in terms of balancing short- and long-term objectives, adaptation and mitigation, local and global perspectives, and fostering innovation, while maintaining stability. Recent research calls for more knowledge on managing such trade-offs and tensions. We address this gap through a study on stormwater management, where current efforts to mainstream nature-based solutions (NBS) challenge existing governance systems. NBS are increasingly promoted to sustainably manage ecosystems. However, their governance, at the interface between social, technical, and ecological systems, comes with multiple challenges. The paper sheds new light on these challenges, based on interviews and workshops in two European case studies. The nature-based innovation system framework is applied, to assess system-level interactions influencing the uptake of NBS, and their governance implications. In line with recent studies on transition and transformative governance, we show that governance enabling NBS must provide increased coordination and collaboration across sectors and levels, inclusion of diverse stakeholders and knowledge systems, and new financing mechanisms. Furthermore, we highlight the need for flexibility and context-sensitivity. In the studied cases, place-based dynamics are influential, and self-organisation to address tensions and experiment with new instruments and business models is an important enabler.”

(Citation: Damman, S., Glotzbach, R., Gomes, C., et.al. – Mainstreaming stormwater NBS: a study in transition governance – Water Policy (2025) wp2025238 – DOI: 10.2166/wp.2025.238 – (Open Access))