Sustainable development and urban stormwater practice

The traditional use of piped systems for stormwater management is increasingly criticized as being unsustainable'. These systems are part of the water domain where much research has focused on sustainable development indicators to support decision-makers in selecting systems that are more sustainable. However, the interest in sustainable development indicators is low. This paper identifies conditions to engage the practitioners to inform their actions in regard to sustainable stormwater management. Empirical evidence has been obtained from interviews with water professionals from Swedish municipalities. The environmental-technical discourse of sustainable stormwater development is a strong barrier in the change process, to the neglect of the social aspects. In the interviews, reframing the discourse was possible in visions of future sustainable stormwater systems embracing green infrastructure. In action, primary conditions can support sustainable pathways in realizing this vision. The paper suggests further incentives for increased implementation of non-structural measures by developing the identified conditions.