The Water as Leverage Approach

The Water as Leverage (WaL) approach is a project development approach designed to create transformative and inclusive projects for enhancing urban water resilience. Rooted in the experiences and lessons learned from the WaL programme, which has been active since 2017, this approach addresses the complexity of urban water challenges with a comprehensive and integrative framework.

The WaL framework defines the WaL approach. This framework consists of eight principles for advancing urban water resilience throughout the project cycle. It also offers guidance for six stages in project development. Many real life examples support and illustrate this framework. Discover the WaL Library to learn more!

The WaL framework is an invitation for co-creation, enrichment, and refinement. It evolves by integrating new research, reports, and insights from WaL and non-WaL experiences, introducing innovations to advance urban water resilience. Additional insight are collected as ‘deep-dives’.

Eight guiding principles have been identified to foster urban water resilience. These principles apply throughout the stages in the project cycle to drive the development of transformative and inclusive projects.

Each principle stands strong on its own, providing valuable lessons and insights. But their real strength lies in their combined application and is essential to achieving our goals. et, it remains rare to see all eight principles implemented together. Too often, project designs are developed without engaging financiers, or water systems are addressed in isolation, lacking an inclusive strategy. To maximize their impact, these principles must be consistently applied throughout every stage of the project development process.

Move beyond single projects to drive system change Doing an individual project or solve an isolated problem is not enough, advancing urban resilience requires changing the system and making it more resilient.

Invest early in project development
Investing in the early stages of project development is too often overlooked, while it is consistently needed for better initiatives and outcomes. Allocating time and resources to thorough research, collaborative problem framing, coalition building, and co-creating designs lays the groundwork for integrated, inclusive, and sustainable project proposals.

Be inclusive from start to finish Urban water resilience can only be built through a process that is inclusive from start to finish. Real transformation requires collaboration between many different organisations and individuals. Projects are more effective and sustainable when approached through inclusive practices that prioritise equity and justice.

Design to connect and inspire Design is the instrument to bridge sectors and people, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the water system and envisioning the possible and desirable future.

Shift from fragmentation to integration Water flows across sectors, levels, and scales, yet the siloed structure of our institutions leads to fragmented management approaches, calling for a shift towards integration and bridging these divides.

Embrace water as an opportunity Water is not a ‘problem’; it is a vital opportunity for life. When nurtured with care, it, in turn, sustains and cares for us. Acknowledging that water affects all aspects of life involves recognising and embracing its true value and myriad economic, environmental, social, and cultural benefits.

Ensure projects are bankable Successful projects are ‘bankable’ projects: projects for which funds or finance can be secured. Without this, project proposals remain ideas on paper, never brought to life.

Communicating and discussing designs with potential funders and financing partners from the start allows for iterating the project proposals to become bankable.

Link local actions to global goals Effective water initiatives recognize the multilevel interdependencies and opportunities, ensuring optimal coordination across all levels. Multilevel coordination is a two-way interaction process. Connecting local with national and global actions supports knowledge exchange and spurs innovations.

The project development cycle comprises six distinct stages, inspired by widely recognized project development frameworks but with key adaptations specific to the WaL process. Notably, the WaL project cycle places a strong emphasis on Ideation (Stage 2), incorporating a creative and inclusive design phase. Additionally, Scaling (Stage 6) is highlighted to stress the importance of replicating the project in new locations while embedding it within the institutional environment and culture.

For each stage in the project development cycle the WaL Guidance provides support for the key roles: executive organisations, contractors and change agents.

Stage 1 INITIATION … be inspired, explore and scope, create a coalition An initiative often begins when curiosity and/or urgency arises about exploring new ways for addressing existing water challenges. At its core, initiation is ignited by a spark—the desire to embrace new ways of thinking and doing. When parties agree to explore an initiative, the shaping work begins to lay the groundwork that will enable the future stages of the project development process.

STAGE 2: IDEATION … produce designs and project proposals Ideation is the stage of visioning, designing, and formulating designs and project proposals. In this stage, global climate needs and aspirations intersect with local trade-offs, systematic analysis converges with tangible places, and abstract concepts meet actionable solutions, all united by water as a common thread and design as the instrumental tool.

STAGE 3: FEASIBILITY … ensure continuity and viable plans Urban water resilience projects can only be successful when viable from multiple perspectives, including economic, financial, technical, institutional, social, and environmental perspectives. Feasibility studies are performed to test, proof, compare, and fine-tune project proposals and develop them into implementable plans.

STAGE 4: IMPLEMENTATION … build the project The true test of a project proposal lies in its execution. To affect meaningful change, create local impact, and validate the visions outlined in project proposals, projects must be built. In this stage, the project, as planned in the previous stages, is constructed.

STAGE 5: OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE … maintain the project, adapt to change A project is not complete once construction is finished. Operations and Maintenance (O&M) are critical to preserving functionality, adapting to changing conditions, and optimizing performance over time.

STAGE 6 - SCALING … replicate projects, inform policies, drive change The project development process outlined in this guidance is designed to create projects that generate impact and drive change beyond their immediate scope and location. While scaling is presented here as the sixth stage, it is integral to every phase of the project lifecycle.