Attitude and Actual Behaviour towards Water-Related Green Infrastructures and Sustainable Drainage Systems in Four North-Western Mediterranean Regions of Italy and France

Abstract

Water-related green infrastructures (WrGIs), also known as blue infrastructures, and sustainable drainage systems (SuDSs) offer services such as stormwater runoff management, water purification, water storage at the intersection of the built environment, and natural systems by mimicking natural hydrological processes. While several papers document the reliability of such infrastructures in providing a variety of water-related services, few studies investigated the actual behaviour and the attitude of different stakeholders to understand the limitations and barriers in WrGIs/SuDSs implementation. In this paper, we investigated these issues by posing a set of questions to 71 qualified stakeholders in three Italian regions (Toscana, Liguria, and Sardegna) and one French region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur) in the northwestern Mediterranean. The results of the investigation largely show a lack of knowledge on these innovative solutions, although there is a general interest in their implementation both in the Italian and French regions. Barriers are also constituted by the scarcity of the demonstrators implemented, little knowledge on construction and maintenance costs, the absence of a proper regulatory framework, and of fiscal and financial incentives to support private citizens and companies. We finally suggest tools and soft measures that, in our opinion, may contribute to supporting the implementation of WrGIs/SuDSs, especially in view of adapting Mediterranean territories to the challenges posed by climate change. The results of our analyses may be reasonably up-scaled to the whole Mediterranean coastal region.

Mitigation of Urban Pluvial Flooding: What Drives Residents’ Willingness to Implement Green or Grey Stormwater Infrastructures on Their Property?

“…Several scholars observe that a resident's lack or low level of information matters in affecting their willingness to implement stormwater infrastructures to mitigate the impact of pluvial floods [11]. Regarding this, in their systematic literature review Venkataramanan et al [35] explicitly include 'prior knowledge' among the crucial factors explaining the willingness to implement these measures, under the theory of a planned behaviour framework, even if they conclude that only a few studies have so far explored this factor.…”

“…Despite the large increase in flood occurrence over time, people living in the area (as well as those in other Italian Regions) lack proper preparedness for future floods, and seem to adopt limited ex-ante mitigation actions. In addition, comparing Italian and French regions, Piacentini and Rossetto [11] show that also local stakeholders share a limited knowledge of innovative GreenSIs and their positive effects in mitigating future events. Such a lack of knowledge is the basis for the LIFE BEWARE project (Better Water Management for Advancing Resilient-communities in Europe), funded by the EU Life Programme.…”

“…Moreover, little attention is paid to pluvial flooding adaptation measures, when compared to river flooding ones. In addition, the European literature on the issue focuses more on experiences across Northern Europe than those in the Mediterranean countries, such as Italy [11].…”

Assessing the Effectiveness of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS): Interventions, Impacts and Challenges

“…Many of the barriers to SuDS are often perceived; based on assumptions or estimates, (e.g., perceived cost, site constraints and land requirements), rather than quantitatively evidenced through monitoring and analysis of deployed schemes. This is often a consequence of the scarcity of demonstration sites, which could provide an evidence base to address such barriers [26]. Thus, a lack of data collection, and uncertainty around the assumptions being made, may limit the uptake and implementation of further SuDS schemes.…”

A Case Study of the Retention Efficiency of a Traditional and Innovative Drainage System

“…However, this way of dealing with excess stormwater is considered inefficient and does not have the characteristics of the facilities that are framed in the standards of sustainable urban development [25][26][27]. In order to reduce the risk of urban floods and the impact of urban growth, it is necessary to take measures aimed at increasing the efficiency of underground infrastructure management in cities [28][29][30][31].…”