Our Approach

The RIPPLE project is designed to provide participating cities with practical benefits, including the opportunity to shape the future direction of the WSCA, demonstrate leadership in urban water resilience, and share experiences with a global audience. In addition, we are committed to generating actionable knowledge to support each city’s ongoing water resilience work.

We do this through a knowledge co-production approach, which means

• we engage municipal officials, local collaborators, front-line communities, C40, and the Grundfos Foundation as research partners;

• we do not simply “extract” data from research partners for the purposes of academic research; and

• we work collectively throughout the research process to identify questions, interpret findings, and develop outputs that meet the needs of our partners and provide practical benefits for enhancing urban water resilience. 

Research activities

Each RIPPLE case study involves three main research activities:

1) Online knowledge co-creation workshop where we collectively develop case-specific research questions that provide added value and support for each city’s water resilience efforts.  At the co-creation workshop, we explore how the city engages in the WSCA and identify relevant actors, initiatives, and sites for the onsite field work activities.

We encourage cities to think broadly about participants for the cocreation workshop and interviews. Participants include current and former municipal officials and local collaborators involved in WSCA activities as well as other actors broadly engaged in urban water resilience efforts in the city, including civil society organizations and front-line communities. For some city contexts, they may also invite additional private, regional, or national partners that collaborate with the city on water management.

2) On-site fieldwork (10-14 days) in each city to collect data on the project’s overall research questions as well as the case-specific questions identified during the knowledge co-creation workshop. We will explore the following topics related to the city’s approach to water management and their participation in the C40 Water Safe Cities Accelerator:

• Activities related to the city’s specific WSCA commitments

• Networking and partnerships within the city and beyond

• Policy and planning processes within the municipality

• Funding for implementation of water management policies and projects

• Engagement with related C40 initiatives (e.g. the Water Security Network and other Accelerators)

• Culture and perspectives about water in the city

During the fieldwork, we:

• Conduct interviews with local actors involved in WSCA activities and urban water resilience initiatives within the city.

• Visit WSCA project sites and other places relevant to the city’s water resilience efforts.

• Convene a feedback workshop following the visit with those who participated in fieldwork activities to collectively review and interpret preliminary findings by identifying emerging patterns and themes.

3) Co-creation of research outputs through iterative feedback to produce and disseminate case-specific findings and recommendations in accessible ways to support each city’s ongoing water resilience work.

At the end of the project, RIPPLE will host an online final workshop with all research partners (participants from each case city, C40, and the Grundfos Foundation) to share key learnings and recommendations for enhancing urban water resilience.